Withington

What to see

St Michael's is listed Grade I and keeps its twelfth-century plan: the lower stage of the central tower, the north and south doorways with their chevron mouldings and the corbel table of the chancel are all of that century, the tower was heightened in the thirteenth and finished in the fifteenth, when the tall clerestory went on the nave. Inside is the monument John Howe of Cassey Compton put up in 1651 to his wife Bridget, carved by Edward Marshall; David Brandon restored the church in 1872 and 1873. The six bells were cast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester in 1738 and 1739.

The Mill Inn by the bridge is listed Grade II, early and late eighteenth century with a big extension of about 1960, and inside are firebacks dated 1588 and 1699. The mill across the road, a seventeenth-century building on a site that may have had a mill by the end of the twelfth, ground until the early 1930s, and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries one man was both miller and publican. The River Coln runs past on its way down to Chedworth, Bibury and the Thames, and the inn's garden lies along the mill stream.

The Roman villa was discovered in 1811 and excavated by Samuel Lysons, south of the village near Wall well by the Chedworth road; it is a scheduled monument, and nothing of it is open to visitors. Mosaics were lifted after the excavation and placed in the British Museum's care, and in 2026 fragments of its Orpheus mosaic were reunited, on long-term loan, at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester. Withington Woods, in the south of the parish, covered 473 acres in 1819, were felled in the First World War and replanted in the Second by prisoners of war.

An afternoon here

Start at the church on the west bank and walk down past the manor house to the bridge and the Mill Inn, whose garden runs along the mill stream. Cross to Brockwell End for the other half of the village, then take the lane south along the river towards Cassey Compton, the house Sir Richard Howe remodelled about 1700 and Kip drew a few years later, seen from the road; the house is listed Grade II, and so are its stable block, barns and ice house. From there the Coln runs on to Chedworth and the woods below the Roman villa.

Walks

The walk is up or down the valley. Downstream, footpaths and the quiet Compton road follow the Coln past Cassey Compton to the woods beneath Chedworth Roman Villa, about 2 miles by road. The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens have led a 6-mile guided circuit from the village along the Coln, up through Chedworth Woods and back through Withington Woods to the Mill Inn, with steep slopes in places; in June 2026 they led the 6.5-mile Withington to Chedworth leg of the Coln River Trail from the Mill Inn's car park, out by the river and quiet lanes to the Roman villa and back through the woods and over the old wartime airfield. Their guided walks take no dogs except assistance dogs. Further down,our Bibury and the River Coln walk follows the same river through Bibury. The woodland paths are steep in places.

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Food and drink

The Mill Inn is a Samuel Smith house, which means the Tadcaster brewery's own beers and nothing else, with Old Brewery Bitter on cask, a large garden by the mill stream, open fires and a function room. It is closed on Mondays and opens from noon to 3pm and 5.30pm to 9pm from Tuesday to Thursday (9.30pm on Fridays), noon to 10pm on Saturdays and noon to 4pm on Sundays. Food times are not published, so ring 01242 890204 before a long drive for a meal. Andoversford, about 3 miles north by road on the A40, has the nearest shop, Dales Stores, and a post office, both on Station Road.

When to come

Spring, when the Coln runs full and the woods come into leaf, or autumn for the colour on the valley sides. The village is quiet in any season; it has no events we have confirmed, and the maypole that stood here by the 1840s came down in the 1970s. The buses are few: the 78 from Cirencester on Wednesdays and Fridays, one each way, and the 832 from Andoversford on Wednesdays, one each way, so check bustimes.org or come by car.