Tim Heaton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wotton-under-Edge
A small cloth town tucked under the escarpment on the Cotswold Way, with almshouses, a Grade I church, council car parks with no published charge and the Tyndale Monument on the hill.
- Nearest station
- Cam and Dursley, about 7 miles; the 60 bus to Wotton leaves from Dursley bus station, not the railway station
- Parking
- The Chipping (short and long stay) and Potters Pond, with 2 charging bays; Stroud District Council lists no charge for them
- Best time
- Spring to autumn for walking the Edge
- Toilets
- Ropewalk, free, 7am to 7pm, with an accessible toilet
About Wotton-under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge is a small town of about 5,600 people under the Cotswold escarpment, in the Stroud district of Gloucestershire. The Cotswold Way passes through it, and it lies inside the Cotswolds National Landscape. It grew on wool and cloth, part of the Gloucestershire trade that made red cloth for army uniforms in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The town
Wotton was first mentioned in a royal charter of 940 and became a borough in 1253. The school Katharine Lady Berkeley endowed in 1384 survives as Katharine Lady Berkeley's School. On Church Street, the Hugh Perry Almshouses, of 1638 and 1712, are built round a courtyard with a small chapel; there are later almshouses opposite the church and on Tabernacle Pitch. The clock on the Tolsey in the High Street marks Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897.
Start at Wotton Heritage Centre, the Historical Society's small museum in the old fire station at the corner of The Chipping car park. It opens from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and on other days by appointment for a donation. On Market Street, the Electric Picture House has shown films since 1913, when it opened in the upstairs room of the old Crown Inn, and now screens new films alongside live and recorded theatre, ballet and opera. Out of the town, the National Trust's Newark Park, a Tudor hunting lodge above Ozleworth, is the house to visit.
St Mary's church
St Mary's is listed Grade I, with late thirteenth-century arcades, a fourteenth-century west tower and a fifteenth-century body. On a table tomb are the brasses of Thomas Berkeley, who died in 1417, and his wife, who died in 1392.
Isaac Pitman and the Ram Inn
Isaac Pitman taught in Wotton, and in 1837, living in Orchard Street, he devised his system of shorthand; a plaque on Orchard House marks it. The Ancient Ram Inn at Potters Pond is listed Grade II*. It is often said to date from 1145, but tree-ring dating shows it was built just after 1495.
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The Tyndale Monument and the Edge
On the hill above North Nibley, about 2 miles away, stands the Tyndale Monument, built in 1866 to William Tyndale, translator of the New Testament into English; its tablet says he was born near here and martyred in 1536. It is about 36m high and listed Grade II*. The new Tyndale Trail, about 28 miles long, runs between Bristol and the monument; it was ready to walk from 31 January 2026, the 500th anniversary of his New Testament. Our story of famous people with Cotswold connections tells his. Below the Edge, Berkeley churchyard holds the jester's tomb.
From The Chipping, the Cotswolds National Landscape's "three peaks" walk crosses Tor Hill, Coombe Hill and Wotton Hill in 6.2 miles, three to four hours, over stiles and kissing gates on paths its leaflet warns can be uneven and muddy, and a gentler 2.5-mile walk goes by Holywell and Coombe. The Cotswold Way circuit from the Jubilee Clock is 5 miles, with stiles and steep sections. The ridge walk to the monument is one of our dog-friendly walks, and the longer day loops are among our long walks.
Food and drink
In the town, the Star Inn on Market Street, which says it has served ale since at least 1572, does lunches and pours Wickwar ales such as BOB; the Falcon Steakhouse on Church Street, a town pub of 1659, does steaks at lunch and every evening from 5pm and takes bookings online; and the Royal Oak on Haw Street is the neighbourhood pub and kitchen, open Tuesday to Sunday from noon. For a picnic before the hills, Relish, the deli and bakery on Long Street, sells its own bread, quiches, pies and cakes, Monday to Saturday. We have not yet eaten in any of them.
Last verified 28 October 2026 by our editors
Part of
The Cotswold Edge
The western escarpment, where the wolds end in a wooded edge above the Severn vale: Winchcombe and Sudeley, Belas Knap, Cleeve Hill and the Cotswold Way along the top.
Things to do in Wotton-under-Edge
Historic houses and heritage · Wotton-under-Edge
Newark Park
A Tudor hunting lodge of about 1550 on the edge of a valley above Ozleworth, near Wotton-under-Edge, restored by the American architect Bob Parsons and now the National Trust's, with a three-level garden, 700 acres and wide views.
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Wotton Heritage Centre
Museums and galleries · Wotton-under-Edge
The Wotton-under-Edge Historical Society's museum, archive and information point in the old fire station on The Chipping, open four days a week.
Rainy days · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Electric Picture House, Wotton-under-Edge
Historic houses and heritage · Wotton-under-Edge
A 100-seat cinema on Market Street, Wotton-under-Edge, opened in 1913 in the old Crown Inn and showing new films and live theatre, ballet and opera screenings.
Rainy days · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Where to stay in Wotton-under-Edge
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The Swan Hotel
Hotel · Wotton-under-Edge
A Grade II listed coaching inn on Market Street in the middle of Wotton-under-Edge, with 18 en-suite rooms, a restaurant and bar, and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
Where to eat and drink in Wotton-under-Edge
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The Royal Oak, Wotton-under-Edge
Pubs · Wotton-under-Edge
A neighbourhood pub and kitchen on Haw Street, Wotton-under-Edge, serving pub classics from South West producers, open Tuesday to Sunday from midday.
Family-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
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The Star Inn, Wotton-under-Edge
Pubs · Wotton-under-Edge
A town pub on Market Street, Wotton-under-Edge, which says it has served ale since at least 1572, with Wickwar beers, lunches from Monday to Saturday, a Sunday roast and live sport.
Walker-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Falcon Steakhouse, Wotton-under-Edge
Restaurants · Wotton-under-Edge
A steakhouse in a town pub of 1659 on Church Street, Wotton-under-Edge, serving locally reared beef at lunch and every evening, with a Sunday roast.
Verified Oct 2026
Walks in and around Wotton-under-Edge
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Wotton, the Tyndale Monument and Coombe Hill
Walk · Starts in Wotton-under-Edge · 4 hrs, 15 mins · Circular
An 8.5-mile (13.5km) moderate loop of four to four and a half hours from Wotton-under-Edge, with three big climbs: to the Tyndale Monument, down to North Nibley, north towards Stinchcombe Hill, round by Hermitage Wood and Waterley Bottom, and back over Coombe Hill.
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Cotswold Way: Wotton-under-Edge to Hawkesbury Upton
Walk · Starts in Wotton-under-Edge · 4 hrs, 45 mins · Dog-friendly
A 7.8-mile (12.6km) one-way walk on the twelfth section of the Cotswold Way, moderate and about four and three quarter hours: from Wotton-under-Edge up past Newark Park, along Wortley Hill, through Alderley and Lower Kilcott to the Somerset Monument and Hawkesbury Upton.
Sights in and around Wotton-under-Edge
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Brackenbury Ditches hill fort
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Wotton-under-Edge
Brackenbury Ditches is an Iron Age hill fort in Westridge Wood on a spur of the Cotswold Edge above North Nibley, with a great inner rampart 3m high and a ditch 14m wide, unexcavated when surveyed in 1976 and now among the trees. Beside public footpaths through the wood.
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Hugh Perry Almshouses, Wotton-under-Edge
Sight · Historic building · Wotton-under-Edge
The Hugh Perry Almshouses on Church Street in Wotton-under-Edge were built in 1638 from the bequest of a London alderman from the town, and extended for Thomas Dawes's charity from 1723, round a courtyard with a small chapel. Grade II; still homes.
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St Mary's Church, Wotton-under-Edge
Sight · Church · Wotton-under-Edge
St Mary's is Wotton-under-Edge's Grade I parish church, with late thirteenth-century arcades, a six-stage fourteenth-century tower, the brasses of Thomas, Lord Berkeley and his wife, and an organ bought in 1800. Open daily.
Stories about Wotton-under-Edge
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Famous people with Cotswold connections
Story · History · 10 minute read
The writers, composers, scientists, queens and prime ministers whose lives are tied to Cotswold places, from Tyndale and Katherine Parr to Laurie Lee, Holst and Edward Thomas, and where to find their traces.
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The best viewpoints in the Cotswolds
Story · Guides · 11 minute read
The best viewpoints in the Cotswolds, from Broadway Tower, Dover's Hill and Cleeve Hill to Haresfield Beacon, Crickley Hill and the Tyndale Monument: what you see from each, where to park and the walk that gets you there.
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The Cotswolds in September
Story · Guides · 8 minute read
The Cotswolds in September: the schools back and the villages quiet on weekdays, the Moreton Show, Heritage Open Days, the Blenheim horse trials and Painswick's clipping, the last weeks of the summer gardens, walks on the edge and where to stay for them.
Getting to Wotton-under-Edge
- By bus
- The 60 from Dursley bus station by North Nibley to Thornbury, two-hourly; the 40 from Stroud and Nailsworth, seven a day, 40 minutes; the Y8 to Yate. Monday to Saturday, no Sunday buses.
- By train
- Cam and Dursley station is about 7 miles away. The 60 does not call there: it starts at Dursley bus station.
- Parking
- The Chipping (short stay, 3 hours 8am to 6pm, and long stay) and Potters Pond, with 2 charging bays; the council lists no charge. Blue Badge holders may park in any bay.
| Tyndale Monument | 2.5 mi |
|---|---|
| Cam and Dursley station | 6.8 mi |
| Chipping Sodbury | 8.1 mi |
| Stroud | 12.4 mi |
