Things to do · Stroud
Museum in the Park
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
A free and rewarding hour in Stroud, with the lido and miniature railway in the same park. Step-free, with a lift, hearing loops and a wheelchair to borrow.
- Good: Free, with no ticket needed
- Good: Step-free, with a lift to the first floor and hearing loops
- Good: Free parking about 260m away, with accessible bays outside
- Worth knowing: Closed on Mondays
- Worth knowing: Closed 21 December 2026 to 22 January 2027
- Worth knowing: Dogs only in the front courtyard; assistance dogs welcome inside
About
The Museum in the Park is in Stratford Park, Stroud, in a house built in the late seventeenth century for the Gardiner family. It opened in 2001 and is run by Stroud District Council with the Cowle Trust. More than 4,000 objects tell the story of the people and landscape of the Stroud district, and a gallery holds changing exhibitions.
Entry is free, with no ticket needed. It opens Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4.30pm, and at weekends and on bank holidays from 11am to 4.30pm; it is closed on Mondays. Its last day of 2026 is 20 December, and it reopens on 23 January 2027. There is a walled garden, a gift shop and a mini café.
The museum is step-free, with a lift to the first floor, hearing loops, an accessible toilet and a family toilet with baby changing, and a wheelchair to borrow. It is busiest in the school holidays, when family activities run. Dogs can wait in the front courtyard, where there is water; assistance dogs are welcome inside.
Opening hours and season
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Thursday | 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Friday | 10:00 to 16:30 |
| Saturday | 11:00 to 16:30 |
| Sunday | 11:00 to 16:30 |
Bank holidays 11am to 4.30pm. Last day of 2026 is Sunday 20 December; reopens Saturday 23 January 2027.
Facilities
- Mini café
- Gift shop
- Lift and step-free accessWheelchair to borrow free; book ahead
- ToiletsGround floor, with an accessible toilet and a family toilet
- Car parkFree, in Stratford Park, about 260m away
The details
- Features
- Café · Shop · Garden or terrace
- Awards
- Nominated, Cotswolds Awards Best Museum and Best Free Attraction (2026)
- History
- A late seventeenth-century house; a museum since 2001
- Parking
- Free in the main Stratford Park car park, about 260m on a gently sloping path, with accessible bays outside the museum reached through a barrier with an intercom.
- Without a car
- Bus 67 from Merrywalks stops at Tesco, across the road. Stroud town centre and Merrywalks are a 10 to 15 minute walk, Stroud station 15 to 20 minutes.
Photos
The walled garden 
Stroud's woollen industry 
Stratford Park 
Jurassic fish fossils
Location
Accessibility
- Step-free access
- Accessible toilet
- Hearing loop
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Parking within 50 metres
Step-free throughout, with a lift to the first floor (door 0.78m) and a narrowest doorway of 0.70m. Ramp to the walled garden, without handrails. Hearing loops at reception and in the gallery. The nearest Changing Places toilet is at Allsorts, Brunel Mall.
Places to stay nearby
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Premier Inn Stroud
Hotel · Stroud
A Premier Inn in the Grade II-listed Stratford Lodge, opposite Stratford Park in Stroud, with free parking and a pub next door for meals.
Verified Oct 2026
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The Clothiers Arms
Inn · Stroud
A pub with seven rooms at the bottom of Rodborough Hill in Stroud, a pub since 1891, with a beer garden, an adventure play area next door and a family suite.
Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
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The Bell Inn, Selsley
Inn · Stroud
A chef-owned 17th-century inn, listed Grade II, with two bedrooms at Selsley, two miles from Stroud, with two AA Rosettes and dogs welcome throughout.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Premier Inn Stroud 0.2 km away
- Cotswold Canals Trust boat trips, Stroud 0.7 km away
- Salt Bakehouse 0.7 km away
- Woodruffs 0.8 km away
Sights nearby
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River Frome, Stroud
Sight · River · Stroud
The River Frome runs along the bottom of Stroud, where four streams join it to make the town's five valleys. It drove the mills of the Stroud cloth trade, and today a riverside path through Frome Banks and the canal towpath follow it below the town.
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Subscription Rooms, Stroud
Sight · Historic building · Stroud
Stroud's Subscription Rooms on George Street, paid for by public subscription in 1833 and now an arts venue run by a charity: a pedimented stone front with a carriage porch and balcony, where election results were once read out, and a bar open daily.
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St Laurence's Church, Stroud
Sight · Church · Stroud
Stroud's parish church, beside the Shambles: a fourteenth-century tower and spire with a High Victorian church of 1866 to 1868 behind it, carved by Joshua Wall, with a Weatherley rood screen, a screen by Peter Waals and about 80 brass plates on its north wall.
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Old Town Hall, Stroud
Sight · Historic building · Stroud
Stroud's market house of the 1590s in the Shambles beside St Laurence's, with an eight-light oriel on scrolled brackets, lion-mask arches and Victorian battlemented stair towers. Grade II*; seen from the market place.