Christopher Hilton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sheepscombe
A former weaving village in a steep side valley above Painswick, with the Butchers Arms on the hillside, the cricket ground Laurie Lee bought on the top, and the beechwoods of the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods reserve behind.
- Nearest station
- Stroud, about 6 miles; the 65A (Saturdays) and 228 (Thursdays) buses stop by the church once or twice a day
- Parking
- The Butchers Arms has ample parking for customers, with two EV charge points; there is no public car park, and the lanes are narrow
- Best time
- Spring for Frith Wood bluebells; summer Saturdays for the cricket
- Toilets
- None public
- Dogs
- On a lead in the garden and bar of the Butchers Arms, and under close control in the beechwoods, where livestock graze the grassland
About Sheepscombe
Sheepscombe fills a steep side valley 2 miles (3km) east of Painswick, its cottages strung along lanes that climb from the brook to the beechwoods. It was a weaving village until the middle of the nineteenth century, and it is Laurie Lee country: he drank at the Butchers Arms and bought the cricket ground so the village could keep playing on it.
What to see
St John the Apostle, at the Green, was built in 1820 by John Wight and altered in 1872 by Francis Niblett: a plain ashlar church with a small west tower over the porch, a clock and an ogee cupola, listed Grade II. Over the west door is cut "The Rich and the Poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them all". The Methodist chapel, also listed, was built in 1820 as a Baptist chapel and sold to the Methodists in 1831.
On the hilltop above is the Laurie Lee Field, the cricket ground where the club has played since 1896. Lee bought it in 1971 in memory of his uncles, who were founder members, so that the club could go on playing there for as long as it wanted, and after a village fundraising effort the club bought it outright in 2013. Sheepscombe play in the Gloucestershire County Cricket League on Saturdays, with the odd Sunday and evening match.
Behind the village rise the beechwoods of the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods national nature reserve, the largest nature reserve in the Cotswolds: Workmans Wood, Blackstable Wood, Saltridge and Lord's and Lady's Wood are managed by Natural England with the National Trust, and Buckholt Wood, where more than 780 kinds of fungus have been recorded, lies towards Cranham. The beechwoods are a European Special Area of Conservation.
An afternoon here
Start at the church by the Green and walk up through the village to the Butchers Arms on the hillside. From the pub, climb to the cricket field for the view and, on a summer Saturday, the match. The lanes are steep, and the pub shuts in the afternoon from Monday to Thursday, so time the walk round its hours.
With more of the day, carry on into the woods. Natural England warns that beech branches fall in strong wind and after hot weather, that the slopes are steep and slippery when wet, and that ticks live in the long grass from April to September, so wear repellent and check afterwards. Phone signal is poor on the lower slopes.
Walks
The Butchers Arms keeps a leaflet of six circular walks from its door, at the bar or to download from its website, from a 1-mile stroll to Far End to a 13-mile circuit on the Cotswold Way, which passes through Pope's Wood and Buckholt Wood north-west of the village. Our walk from Painswick to Painswick Beacon climbs to the hillfort above Painswick, and the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way, a 5-mile circuit of the Slad valley, starts from the layby at Bulls Cross, about 3 miles (4.5km) south-west by road. Our page on bluebell woods has the beechwoods in spring.
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Food and drink
The Butchers Arms is a free house in a mainly nineteenth-century building, listed Grade II. Food is served from midday to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 8.30pm on weekdays, midday to 8.30pm on Saturdays and midday to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. From Monday to Thursday the pub closes between 3pm and 5pm, on Sundays it closes at 6pm, and it says it may close earlier on quiet evenings. Book a table by phone or email, and mention a dog, which is welcome on a lead in the garden and bar. Two shepherd's huts, Annie and Rosie, named after Laurie Lee's mother and the Rosie of his book, stand beside the pub, each with a kitchen, bathroom and patio; the pub says the huts are dog friendly (mention the dog when you book), check-in is from 3pm and check-out by 10am. The Crown, which stood opposite, closed around 1900, and the Plough at Jack's Green shut in 1968.
We found no shop or café in the village; Painswick, 2 miles west, has both.
When to come
Spring brings bluebells and wild garlic to Frith Wood, the Wildlife Trust wood towards Bulls Cross, and early summer the orchids on the reserve's grassland. Cricket runs through the summer Saturdays. October is the beechwoods' other season, when the leaves turn and the fungi come up in Buckholt. In winter the lanes and woodland paths are muddy, and the pub may close early on quiet evenings.
A brass band was formed in the village around 1900. Today there is a village hall with a play area, and the village website lists the cricket club, history society, bridge club and climate action group. The Painswick clipping, on the third Sunday of September, is close enough to combine.
Last verified 1 November 2026 by our editors
Part of
Stroud and the Five Valleys
The steep valleys that meet at Stroud: old cloth-mill country, with Painswick's churchyard of yews, Nailsworth's mills and the commons above Minchinhampton.
Things to do in Sheepscombe
Parks and gardens · Painswick
Painswick Rococo Garden
An eighteenth-century pleasure garden restored from a painting of 1748, with snowdrops in late winter, a café and dogs welcome on short leads.
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Prinknash Abbey
Historic houses and heritage · Painswick
The home of a Benedictine community since 1928 on the wooded hillside at Cranham, between Painswick and Gloucester, with a monastery shop and café open daily, a chapel open for quiet prayer and footpaths across the estate.
Verified Oct 2026
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Miserden Garden
Parks and gardens · Bisley
The seventeenth-century garden of Miserden Park, between Stroud and Cirencester, with some of the longest mixed borders in private hands, a yew walk and a loggia by Lutyens. Closed for winter until April 2027.
Verified Oct 2026
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Museum in the Park
Museums and galleries · Stroud
Stroud's free museum in a seventeenth-century house in Stratford Park, with a walled garden and a café, closed on Mondays and for a few weeks in winter.
Rainy days · Car-free · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Where to stay in Sheepscombe
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Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms
Glamping · Painswick
Two shepherd huts beside the Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, about two miles by road from Painswick, each with a king-size bed, shower room and kitchen.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
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Woody's Cottage
Self-catering · Sheepscombe
A National Trust holiday cottage for four in the beechwoods half a mile from Sheepscombe, built in the 19th century for the Ebworth estate, with a garden room looking down the valley.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Where to eat and drink in Sheepscombe
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Painswick Golf Club Bar and Café
Cafes and tearooms · Painswick
The clubhouse bar and café of Painswick Golf Club on Painswick Beacon, open to non-golfers and dogs, with a sun terrace, breakfasts, lunches and a monthly carvery.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around Sheepscombe
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The Painswick Stream
Walk · Starts in Painswick · 1 hr, 30 mins · Circular
A 3-mile (4.6km) circular walk from Painswick, moderate, with stiles and one steep climb, in one to one and a half hours: through the churchyard and down Vicarage Street to the Painswick Stream, along it past five old mills, and back up Knapp Lane to the stocks.
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Haresfield Beacon and Standish Wood
Walk · Starts in Stroud and the Five Valleys · 2 hrs, 15 mins · Circular
A 4.5-mile (7.2km) circular walk from the National Trust's Shortwood car park, moderate and two to two and a half hours: south through the beeches of Standish Wood, down across the fields below the escarpment, and a long climb back to the hillfort on Haresfield Beacon.
Sights in and around Sheepscombe
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Painswick Stream
Sight · River · Painswick
The Painswick Stream runs south in the valley below Painswick to the River Frome at Stroud. It drove the town's cloth trade: 25 mills stood in the parish in 1820. Footpaths follow it past Loveday's Mill, Skinners Mill and Kingsmill, old mills that are now homes.
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Snows Farm Nature Reserve
Sight · Nature reserve · Stroud and the Five Valleys
Snows Farm is a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserve of 21 hectares at the head of the Slad valley: old limestone grassland, ancient beech wood and the Dillay Brook, with more than 300 kinds of plant, grazed by cattle and Dartmoor ponies, on the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way.
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Quaker Meeting House, Painswick
Sight · Historic building · Painswick
Painswick's Friends Meeting House is a plain stone meeting house of 1706 off Vicarage Street, built on land given by the Loveday family and still used by Quakers every Sunday. Its walled garden, an old burial ground, is open for quiet reflection. Grade II.
Stories about Sheepscombe
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Laurie Lee and Slad
Story · History · 9 minute read
Laurie Lee's life and the Slad valley he wrote into Cider with Rosie: the cottage, the Woolpack, his grave at Holy Trinity, the Sheepscombe cricket field and the Wildlife Way.
Getting to Sheepscombe
- By car
- From Painswick, take the A46 north and turn right for Sheepscombe within a mile. From Stroud, take the B4070 up the Slad valley and turn left, about 6 miles. The lanes are narrow and steep.
- By bus
- Cotswold Green's 228 loops from Stroud via Painswick and Sheepscombe twice on Thursdays only; its 65A calls on Saturdays only. Both stop by the church; check bustimes.org first.
- By train
- Stroud, on the line from London Paddington and Gloucester, is 6 miles away.
- Parking
- The Butchers Arms has ample parking for its customers and two 7kW EV charge points, paid through the Monta app. There is no public car park in the village.
Access
The village is steep: the church is at the bottom by the brook, the pub and the cricket ground are up the hill, and the woodland slopes are slippery when wet
| Painswick | 2.5 mi |
|---|---|
| Bisley | 4.3 mi |
| Stroud station | 5.9 mi |
| Gloucester | 7.5 mi |
| Cheltenham | 11.5 mi |
Places near Sheepscombe
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PainswickA former cloth town above the Stroud valleys, with a churchyard of clipped yews and carved tombs, a church clipping every September, and the Rococo Garden.
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SladThe village Laurie Lee wrote about in Cider with Rosie, 2 miles up the valley from Stroud: his grave by the church, the Woolpack across the road, and four wildlife reserves on the slopes around it.
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StroudThe cloth town where five valleys meet, with a Saturday farmers' market, a free museum in Stratford Park, a canal coming back to life and Laurie Lee's Slad next door.
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BisleyA high stone village east of Stroud with a row of wells dressed with flowers every Ascension Day, a two-cell lock-up of 1824, and a pub in the old courthouse with a colonnade along its front.