James Trickey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Heritage
Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpick Games
Shin-kicking, tug of war and running races on Dover's Hill above Chipping Campden on the Friday evening after the late May bank holiday, games first held in 1612.
Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpick Games are held on Dover's Hill, just outside Chipping Campden, on the Friday evening after the late May bank holiday. The 2026 Games were on Friday 29 May from 4pm; on the same rule the next should fall on Friday 4 June 2027, a date still to be confirmed by the organisers.
What happens at the Olimpick Games
The programme includes shin-kicking, the tug of war, running races and the Championship of the Hill, with an opening ceremony and food and music on the hillside.
A history going back to 1612
The Games are named after Robert Dover, a lawyer who is believed to have started them in 1612, though some sources say 1601. He held them on the hill that now bears his name, about half a mile outside the town. A book of poems in their praise, Annalia Dubrensia, came out in 1636 with verses by Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton, and the organisers suggest Shakespeare refers to the Games in As You Like It and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
The Civil War stopped them in 1642. They came back after the Restoration and ran until 1862, when the land was enclosed. They were revived for the Festival of Britain in 1951, lapsed again, and were restarted in the 1960s by members of the Scuttlebrook Wake committee; they missed 2017 for want of money and volunteers and returned in 2018.
Tickets and getting there
Tickets are sold online, linked from the organisers' website; the price for each year is given when sales open. The organisers' information shows no dogs. Dover's Hill belongs to the National Trust, and the Games happen with its permission. The simplest way up from the town is on foot, on the circular walk to Dover's Hill or along the first stretch of the Cotswold Way, which starts by the Market Hall.
Make a weekend of it
On the first Saturday after Whitsun the town holds the Scuttlebrook Wake, with its fancy dress parade; in 2026 it fell the day after the Games. For both, stay in the town at the Noel Arms, the Eight Bells or Cotswold House, or see where to stay in Chipping Campden.
Offers from businesses near this event
Offers are published by the businesses themselves, which pay to be listed here. We have not checked them, and you deal with the business directly.
Where to stay for Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpick Games
-
The Noel Arms Hotel
Inn · Chipping Campden
A Grade II listed inn with 27 rooms on Chipping Campden's High Street, with a restaurant, parking, accessible rooms and dogs by arrangement.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
Cotswold House Hotel and Spa
Hotel · Chipping Campden
A Grade II listed Regency town house on Chipping Campden's Upper High Street, now a hotel and spa with the Hidcote restaurant.
Hot tubs · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
-
The Lygon Arms, Chipping Campden
Inn · Chipping Campden
A coaching inn with ten rooms on Chipping Campden's High Street, with family rooms, bike storage, free parking at the rear and dogs welcome.
Dog-friendly
Verified Oct 2026