david hall on Unsplash
Tetbury
A wool market town with a Market House on stone pillars, a Georgian Gothic church, Highgrove's gardens nearby and Westonbirt Arboretum 3 miles away.
- Nearest station
- Kemble, about 8 miles, with the 882 bus on some journeys
- Parking
- The Chipping, West Street and Church Street (card or PayByPhone), and the Old Railyard, which is free
- Best time
- Wednesday or Saturday for the market; autumn for Westonbirt
- Toilets
- West Street, 50p, 8am to 7pm in summer and 8am to 6pm in winter, with an accessible toilet (RADAR key)
About Tetbury
Tetbury is a market town in the south of the Cotswolds, inside the Cotswolds National Landscape. It was an important wool market in the Middle Ages, and its centre, a conservation area, still turns on the Market House where the wool was sold.
The Market House and the Chipping Steps
The Market House was built in 1655 and altered in 1740 and 1817: a timber-framed hall lifted on three rows of stone columns. It is listed Grade I, and it still belongs to the Tetbury Feoffees, founded in 1633. Markets are held beneath it on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For bread, Hobbs House Bakery has a shop on Church Street, open Monday to Saturday.
From the corner of The Chipping car park, the Chipping Steps climb into the town between old cottages, probably those of weavers. The town walk on our list of short walks is almost all paved. Our South Cotswolds weekend starts here on a Saturday morning, a market day, and three days in the Cotswolds reaches the town on its last afternoon, on the way to Westonbirt.
St Mary the Virgin
St Mary's was rebuilt in 1781 by Francis Hiorn of Warwick in the Gothic Revival style, as a hall church with box pews. Its tower and spire were rebuilt in 1890 to 1891. It is listed Grade I.
The Woolsack Races
On the late May bank holiday Monday, teams and individuals race up and down Gumstool Hill, which climbs at 1 in 4, carrying sacks of wool weighing up to 27kg. In 2026 the races were on 25 May, with a market, food and entertainment around them all day. By the same pattern the next races fall on Monday 31 May 2027, but the organisers have not yet confirmed that date. Nearby Avening keeps Pig Face Day every other September.
The Cotswolds Info newsletter
Events, new places and the best of the season, about once a month. Unsubscribe at any time.
Highgrove Gardens
Highgrove's gardens, at the King and Queen's private home near the town, can be seen only on a booked guided tour, with parking free for ticket holders. Each season's tours and prices are published when booking opens in March, so the 2027 tours go on sale in March 2027. Chavenage, near Tetbury, has a ghost story of its own. It also played Trenwith in the BBC's Poldark: see Poldark at Chavenage House.
Westonbirt Arboretum
About 3 miles away on the A433 is Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, run by Forestry England and open every day but Christmas Day from 9am. Autumn is its great season: from 25 September to 15 November 2026 an adult ticket was £19 on weekdays and £22 at weekends, falling to £14 and £19 after that, with discounts for anyone arriving by bus, train or bike. The 620 bus from Tetbury stops there a few times a day, Monday to Saturday. For a bed, see where to stay in Tetbury. On selected evenings from late November to New Year's Eve, Christmas at Westonbirt lights a trail through the trees after dark, with timed entry from 4pm to 8pm. Also at Westonbirt, Beaufort Polo Club lets spectators watch free most summer weekends from May to September.
Great Tythe Barn, an event estate on the edge of the town, hosts weddings; our guide to getting married in the Cotswolds has the legal steps.
Food and drink
For an evening meal in the town, Lola & Co at 20A Long Street is a Spanish family's tapas restaurant, open every day from noon to 10pm, with KOKO, its walk-in cocktail bar, next door from 5pm. We have not eaten there yet.
Every place to eat in the town, with what each suits, is on our page of places to eat in Tetbury.
Last verified 27 October 2026 by our editors
Part of
The South Cotswolds
The southern wolds as they fall towards Bath and Wiltshire: Tetbury's Market House, Castle Combe's street by the By Brook, Malmesbury's abbey and Lacock beyond the edge.
Things to do in Tetbury
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
Rodmarton Manor
An Arts and Crafts house built from 1909 to 1929 by Ernest Barnsley and local craftsmen, with an eight-acre garden of outdoor rooms, open in summer.
-
Highgrove Gardens
Parks and gardens · Tetbury
The gardens at Highgrove, near Tetbury, open by booked guided tour from spring to early autumn, with tours that include lunch or tea.
Verified Oct 2026
-
Beaufort Polo Club
Sport and activity · Tetbury
A polo club at Westonbirt near Tetbury, home of the Tomlinson family, where spectators watch free through the summer season, from late April to September.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
Chavenage House
Historic houses and heritage · Tetbury
An Elizabethan manor near Tetbury, finished by 1576 and home of the Lowsley-Williams family since 1891, known on screen as Trenwith in Poldark. Visits by reservation only, and few in 2026 because of filming.
Verified Nov 2026
Where to stay in Tetbury
-
The Close Hotel
Hotel · Tetbury
A hotel on Long Street, Tetbury, set back from the street, part of Cotswold Inns and Hotels, with dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Snooty Fox
Hotel · Tetbury
A hotel, restaurant and bar with 12 rooms on Tetbury's Market Place, with dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Priory Inn
Inn · Tetbury
An Arkell's pub with 14 en-suite rooms, including a large family room, on London Road, Tetbury, with an EV charger in the car park.
EV charging · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
-
Angel Cottage
Self-catering · Tetbury
A holiday cottage for two on New Church Street in the middle of Tetbury, for short breaks or weekly stays.
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Royal Oak, Tetbury
Inn · Tetbury
A late eighteenth-century pub with rooms on Cirencester Road, Tetbury, back in community hands since 2013, with dog-friendly rooms.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
Great Tythe Barn
Self-catering · Tetbury
Lodge rooms, a house and ten cottages at Great Tythe Barn, an event estate on the edge of Tetbury, open for stays outside weddings too.
Wedding venues
Verified Oct 2026
Where to eat and drink in Tetbury
-
The Gilbertine Kitchen
Cafes and tearooms · Tetbury
A café on Long Street, Tetbury, for breakfast and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, with guest-chef and pop-up evenings.
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Trouble House
Restaurants · Tetbury
A bar, restaurant and B&B on the London Road outside Tetbury, family and dog friendly, which says it has been serving since 1754.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Cat & Custard Pot Inn
Pubs · Tetbury
A village pub with eight en suite bedrooms at Shipton Moyne, about 2.5 miles from Tetbury, with well-behaved dogs welcome throughout.
Dog-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Walks in and around Tetbury
-
Tetbury and Ashley
Walk · Starts in Tetbury · 3 hrs · Circular
A 6.5-mile (10.5km) moderate circular walk of about three hours from Tetbury's Goods Shed, with stiles: along the old railway line, over the fields to Ashley and its Norman church, and back on the Monarch's Way past a brick pillbox, walking towards the town's spire.
-
Silk Wood at Westonbirt Arboretum
Walk · Starts in Tetbury · 1 hr · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2.6-mile (4.2km) easy, nearly level loop of about an hour through Silk Wood at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum, from the treetop walkway out to the Waste Gate, round by Oak Avenue and the maples and back along The Link. Inside the arboretum, so entry is paid.
-
Malmesbury and the River Avon
Walk · Starts in Malmesbury · 1 hr · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2.5-mile (3.9km) circular walk from Cross Hayes in Malmesbury, easy and about an hour, mostly level with some stiles: down from the Market Cross past Daniel's Well, along the Avon by the meads and the silk mills, and back round under the abbey.
Sights in and around Tetbury
-
Bath Bridge, Tetbury
Sight · Bridge · Tetbury
Bath Bridge carries the Bath road, now the A433, over the valley south of Tetbury and up into the town: four arches of rubble stone, each a different size, built by Thomas Webb in 1774 to 1776 as part of the town's Georgian improvements. Grade II.
-
Beverston Castle
Sight · Castle or ruin · Tetbury
The ruin of a thirteenth-century castle at Beverston, west of Tetbury, built by Maurice de Gaunt and enlarged by the Berkeleys, twice besieged in 1644 and now part of a private house, its gatehouse, towers and moat seen from the lane and churchyard.
-
Market House, Tetbury
Sight · Historic building · Tetbury
Tetbury's pillared Market House of 1655 stands in the middle of the town: a timber-framed hall on three rows of stone columns, built and still owned by the Tetbury Feoffees, with a cupola, a dolphin weathervane and markets underneath every week. Grade I.
-
St Catherine's Church, Westonbirt
Sight · Church · Tetbury
The former parish church of Westonbirt, south-west of Tetbury, now in the grounds of Westonbirt School beside the Holfords' great house: twelfth to fifteenth century, with Holford monuments including the effigy of Robert Stayner Holford, who began the arboretum.
-
St James's Church, Ashley
Sight · Church · Tetbury
The small Norman parish church of Ashley, a village north-east of Tetbury, with a south doorway carved in dogtooth and horseshoe patterns, an Early English arcade and fine eighteenth-century wall tablets. Grade II*; on the Tetbury and Ashley walk.
-
St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury
Sight · Church · Tetbury
Tetbury's parish church, rebuilt in 1777 to 1781 by Francis Hiorn as a tall Gothick hall with wooden clustered columns, box pews and side passages, under a medieval tower and spire rebuilt in the 1890s. Grade I; open every day.
Stories about Tetbury
-
Antiques and shopping in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 9 minute read
The antiques towns of Stow, Tetbury, Burford, Broadway and Cirencester, the shopping villages, the makers of Chipping Campden and Stroud, the fairs, the bookshops, Daylesford and Burford Garden Company, and what the Cotswolds are known for buying.
-
Autumn in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 10 minute read
Autumn in the Cotswolds, from Westonbirt's maples and Batsford to the beech woods of the escarpment, Blenheim's park and the Slad valley: when the colour comes, the best autumn walks, the October events, how to miss the half-term crowds, what to wear and where to stay for a fire.
-
Pig Face Day at Avening
Story · Strange Things · 4 minute read
Every other September, Avening carries a pig's head in procession, a feast its legend ties to Queen Matilda, a spurned Saxon lord and the founding of its church.
Getting to Tetbury
- By bus
- The 882 runs from Gloucester and Cirencester by Kemble station to Tetbury on weekdays and Saturdays. The 620 links Tetbury with Stroud, Westonbirt and Bath. Neither runs on Sundays.
- By train
- Kemble, on the line from London Paddington, is about 8 miles away; some 882 journeys call there.
- Parking
- The Chipping is free on Sundays; West Street has six charging bays. The Old Railyard is free. Card or PayByPhone only.
| Westonbirt Arboretum | 3.1 mi |
|---|---|
| Malmesbury | 5 mi |
| Kemble station | 8.1 mi |
| Cirencester | 10.6 mi |
Places near Tetbury
-
MalmesburyA hilltop town almost ringed by the Avon, with the great Norman nave of its abbey, King Athelstan's empty tomb, a flying monk and a market cross built for shelter.
-
CheringtonA small village on the plateau north-east of Tetbury, round a green where three roads meet, with a Grade I Norman church, a Georgian manor seen from the lane and a lake in the valley below where snowdrops fill the woods in February.
-
AveningA village in a steep valley between Nailsworth and Tetbury, with a Grade I church its legend says a queen built in penance, a pig's head carried in procession every other September, and Gatcombe Park on the hill above.