Andrew Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Upper Slaughter
A village of stone houses round a ford on the River Eye, about a mile above Lower Slaughter, with a twelfth-century church, a Grade I manor house and almost nothing to buy.
- Parking
- No public car park; walk in from Lower Slaughter or Bourton-on-the-Water
- Best time
- Any time; it is the quieter of the two Slaughters
- Toilets
- None in the village; the nearest are at Rissington Road car park in Bourton
About Upper Slaughter
Upper Slaughter is a small village on the River Eye, about a mile upstream of Lower Slaughter. Its houses are all of stone, with stone roofs, and they sit on the slope above a ford, where the road crosses the stream and walkers use a footbridge. There are no shops and one hotel, and for most of the day it is quieter than its neighbour.
St Peter's church
St Peter's stands above the village, with the old castle mound on the bend of the brook below it. The nave is twelfth century and the tower fourteenth, and the church is listed Grade II*. Inside is the Witts family's mortuary chapel of 1854. Francis Edward Witts was rector here from 1808 to 1854, and his journals were published as The Diary of a Cotswold Parson.
The manor and Baghots Square
The manor house is listed Grade I. It dates from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, over an older vaulted basement, and it is a private home. In the middle of the village, the cottages of Baghots Square were remodelled from 1906 in work attributed to Edwin Lutyens.
A thankful village
Upper Slaughter is one of the few villages in England where everyone who went to fight came home, in both world wars: 25 in the first (24 men and one woman) and 36 in the second. Villages like it are called thankful villages, and doubly thankful when it happened twice.
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Walking here
Walk up from Lower Slaughter on the footpath beside the Eye, about a mile through gates and over a footbridge, or come all the way from Bourton-on-the-Water by Lower Slaughter, about 2 miles. The Wardens' Way goes on from here to Naunton and Guiting Power. The path is one of our dog-friendly walks; dogs paddle in the Eye. Walkers on AllTrails report the riverside path muddy after rain and through the winter, and sheep with lambs in the fields in spring, so keep dogs on a lead there. Our one-day North Cotswolds trip crosses the ford here at about 9.45am, on the circuit from Bourton, before the crowds. Lords of the Manor takes bookings for afternoon tea from non-residents as well as guests, from noon Monday to Saturday and from 2.15pm on Sundays; our guide to afternoon tea in the Cotswolds has the times and the other hotels.
Last verified 1 November 2026 by our editors
Part of
The North Cotswolds
The high wolds between Chipping Campden and Bourton-on-the-Water: the Fosse Way towns, the Windrush villages, the Slaughters and the escarpment at Broadway.
Things to do in Upper Slaughter
Family days out · Bourton-on-the-Water
The Model Village, Bourton-on-the-Water
A one-ninth scale model of Bourton-on-the-Water as it was in the 1930s, itself listed Grade II, in the garden of the Old New Inn.
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Birdland Park and Gardens
Wildlife and nature · Bourton-on-the-Water
A bird park on the Windrush at Bourton-on-the-Water since 1957, with what it calls England's only breeding King Penguins, flamingos, pelicans and a nature reserve.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Oct 2026
Where to stay in Upper Slaughter
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The Slaughters Country Inn
Inn · Lower Slaughter
An inn in Lower Slaughter, bought and renamed by the Brownsword family in 2011, with dog rooms and a Field Kitchen from April to September.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
Where to eat and drink in Upper Slaughter
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The Willow
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A Fuller's pub on the High Street in Bourton-on-the-Water, open from 10am, with a garden and outside seating, food all day, and dogs and families welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Duke of Wellington
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A village inn with rooms on Sherborne Street, Bourton-on-the-Water, serving food from noon to 9pm every day, with deal nights in the week, a Sunday carvery and live sport.
Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Kingsbridge
Pubs · Bourton-on-the-Water
A Marston's pub on the River Windrush in Bourton-on-the-Water, with a beer garden by the water, food from noon to 8pm every day, cask ales and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Walks in and around Upper Slaughter
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Bourton-on-the-Water and Wyck Rissington
Walk · Starts in Bourton-on-the-Water · 2 hrs · Circular
A 4-mile (7km) circular walk from the war memorial in Bourton-on-the-Water, about two hours, easy and without stiles but muddy at times. It passes a roundhouse on Greystones Farm, crosses the Eye and the Dikler to Wyck Rissington's church, and returns by Rissington Mill.
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Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters and Naunton
Walk · Starts in Bourton-on-the-Water · 5 hrs · Circular
A 10-mile (16.4km) circular walk from Bourton-on-the-Water, four to five hours of moderate walking with stiles and steep slopes. It follows the Wardens' Way through Lower and Upper Slaughter to Naunton, then comes home down the Windrush valley on the Windrush Way.
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Bourton, Salmonsbury and the lakes
Walk · Starts in Bourton-on-the-Water · 45 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly
A 2-mile (3.1km) circular walk from the middle of Bourton-on-the-Water, flat and easy, in 45 minutes to an hour. It goes out along Rissington Road and back through Greystones Farm reserve, past a replica roundhouse and the banks of Salmonsbury Camp, and is often wet underfoot.
Sights in and around Upper Slaughter
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Manor House, Upper Slaughter
Sight · Historic building · Upper Slaughter
Upper Slaughter's Elizabethan manor house, Grade I, home of the Slaughter family until 1741: gabled Cotswold stone over a fifteenth-century vaulted basement, with a two-storey porch of the early seventeenth century covered in fretwork. A private house, seen from the lane.
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St Peter's Church, Upper Slaughter
Sight · Church · Upper Slaughter
Upper Slaughter's church, above the ford over the River Eye: a twelfth-century nave, a tower built from reused Norman stone, and the mortuary chapel of the diarist Francis Witts, rector here for 46 years. Grade II*; open every day.
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Upper Slaughter castle mound
Sight · Castle or ruin · Upper Slaughter
The motte of a small Norman castle in the middle of Upper Slaughter, on a low hill in a bend of the River Eye below St Peter's church: a flat-topped mound about 22m across, its ditch and bailey still traceable. A scheduled monument, seen from the lanes.
Stories about Upper Slaughter
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Afternoon tea in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 10 minute read
Where to have afternoon tea in the Cotswolds: country house hotels at the Slaughters and Buckland, old inns in Woodstock, Broadway and Malmesbury, and tearooms in Chipping Campden, Stow and Bourton, with times, prices and booking.
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Father Brown in the Cotswolds: Blockley as Kembleford
Story · Guides · 6 minute read
Where the BBC's Father Brown is filmed in the Cotswolds: Blockley as Kembleford, its church as St Mary's, and the railway station, villages and tower that have appeared since 2013, with how to visit each.
Getting to Upper Slaughter
- By bus
- No timed bus stops here; the Robin, a minibus you book by phone (0345 263 8139) or app, calls in the village.
- Parking
- There is no public car park. Park at Rissington Road in Bourton-on-the-Water and walk about 2 miles, by Lower Slaughter and the footpath along the Eye.
Places near Upper Slaughter
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Lower SlaughterA small village along the River Eye, crossed by low stone footbridges, with a red brick watermill at its western end and a field path to Upper Slaughter.
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Bourton-on-the-WaterThe River Windrush runs shallow through the middle of the village under a run of low stone bridges. The county council puts visitors at around 10,000 a day at peak times, so arrive before ten.
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NauntonA long, quiet village on the floor of the upper Windrush valley, with a sixteenth-century dovecote by the river, a Donnington pub and the Windrush Way on the hill above.