Things to do · Witney
Cogges Manor Farm
A manor house of the thirteenth century with a farm, walled garden, orchard and adventure playground on the edge of Witney, with free parking.
Family-friendly · Dog-friendly · Car-free · Wedding venues
A family day out on the edge of Witney, with animals, a playground and a manor house to poke around. While the Manor House is shut in winter a cheaper grounds-only ticket applies, and Christmas brings a market and events.
- Good: Free parking, with a separate Blue Badge car park
- Good: Dogs on leads in the grounds and the café
- Good: Ten minutes' walk from Witney along the Windrush
- Good: Cheaper grounds-only tickets while the house is shut
- Worth knowing: From 2 November the farm opens only 9.30am to 1pm
- Worth knowing: Manor House upper floor not accessible
About
Cogges, on the eastern edge of Witney, is a manor house of thirteenth-century origin, remodelled in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with eighteenth-century barns, a working farm, a walled garden, an orchard and an adventure playground in about 17 acres. It is run by the Cogges Heritage Trust, a registered charity set up in 2011, and relies on donations and volunteers.
Families come for the animals and the playground: Cotswold Lion and Kerry Hill sheep, goats, and heritage ducks and hens that roam the farmyard. The Manor House's rooms show life at Cogges from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, including its years as a boys' boarding school in the eighteenth century, and its ground floor is reached by ramps. There is a café, Cogges Kitchen, a shop selling the farm's eggs and crafts (neither needs a farm ticket), and picnic benches in the orchard. Dogs on leads are welcome in the grounds and the café but not in the house.
Day tickets can be bought online or at the gate; an adult annual ticket (£32.75 in 2026) costs less than three day visits. While the Manor House is shut (12 to 21 October, and from 2 November apart from Christmas at Cogges) a cheaper grounds-only ticket applies, bought at the Welcome Desk, and from 2 November the farm opens only in the mornings. The Christmas Market is on 28 and 29 November, and Christmas at Cogges runs on weekends from 5 December and daily from 21 to 23 December.
It is easy to reach without a car: buses stop at the top of Church Lane, and a path by the Windrush runs from the town centre in about ten minutes. Next door is St Mary's Church, and the Witney Lake and Cogges walk takes in both.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 9, 09:30
| Mon | Opening | Café |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Tuesday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Wednesday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Thursday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Friday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Saturday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
| Sunday | 09:30 to 17:00 | 09:00 to 16:30 |
Café: Closes at 3.30pm from 1 November.
Hours are for the open season. From 2 November 2026 the farm opens 9.30am to 1pm and the Manor House is shut, except for Christmas at Cogges, 5 to 23 December.
Facilities
- Cogges Kitchen9am to 4.30pm; 3.30pm from 1 November
- Car parkFree, Cogges Hill Road, OX28 3FR
- Adventure playground
- ToiletsAccessible toilets by the Blue Badge car park, with a ramp, and by the farmyard; baby changing in all toilets
- ShopEggs from the farm and crafts; no ticket needed
- Dogs on leadsNot in the Manor House; assistance dogs everywhere
- Ramps to the ground floorManor House ground floor; folding wheelchair to borrow
The details
- Time to allow
- Half a day
- Features
- Café · Shop · Play area · Picnic area · Parking · Garden or terrace · Events and meetings
- Parking
- Free car park on Cogges Hill Road (OX28 3FR), a short signed walk from the entrance; follow the brown signs from the A40. Blue Badge parking at the end of Church Lane. No other parking on Church Lane.
- Without a car
- S1, S2/H2 and S7 buses from Oxford stop at the top of Church Lane, 3 to 5 minutes' walk. Witney Market Square is about 10 minutes' walk by the Windrush path.
Photos
Sheep at Cogges 
The walled garden 
The goats 
The walled garden
Location
Accessibility
- Accessible toilet
- Assistance dogs welcome
Ramps to every ground-floor room of the Manor House, but they are short and steep and doorways are narrow (wheelchairs up to 610mm). The first floor is stairs only; a film of it is shown. A folding wheelchair can be borrowed, subject to availability, so book ahead. Blue Badge parking at the end of Church Lane, and accessible toilets in the block there.
Places to stay nearby
-
The Fleece, Witney
Inn · Witney
An inn with ten rooms on Church Green, Witney, run by Peach Pubs, with breakfast from 7.30am and food all day.
Verified Oct 2026
-
The Blue Boar
Inn · Witney
A 17th-century coaching inn on Witney's Market Square with twenty rooms, breakfast from 7am and a grill and wood-fired pizza menu.
Family-friendly · Car-free
Verified Oct 2026
-
Premier Inn Witney
Hotel · Witney
A Premier Inn on Ducklington Lane, Witney, off the A40, with double, twin, family, accessible and Premier Plus rooms, a restaurant and free parking.
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Fleece, Witney 0.5 km away
- San Marzano 0.5 km away
- Huffkins, Witney 0.6 km away
- The Blue Boar 0.6 km away
Sights nearby
-
Butter Cross, Witney
Sight · Historic building · Witney
The Butter Cross is Witney's open market house in the Market Square, built soon after 1606 on 13 stone pillars, probably round an older cross, with a clock turret and sundial added in 1683 by William Blake of Cogges. Grade II* and scheduled; free to walk under.
-
St Mary's Church, Cogges
Sight · Church · Witney
St Mary's at Cogges, across the Windrush from Witney, is a Grade I church of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, once shared with a small priory, with an octagonal-topped tower, a chapel frieze of stone musicians and the busts of the Blake family.
-
St Mary's Church, Witney
Sight · Church · Witney
St Mary the Virgin is Witney's cross-shaped parish church at the south end of Church Green, rebuilt in the thirteenth century around a central tower and broach spire, with a late Norman porch and a fine fourteenth-century north transept. Grade I; open daily.
-
Witney Lake and Country Park
Sight · Nature reserve · Witney
Witney Lake and Country Park is a Local Nature Reserve on the south side of Witney: a former gravel pit and Windrush meadows run by the town council, with a lakeside path of under 2km, wildfowl in winter and terns in spring. Free.