Snowshill Travel

In the morning, drive 10 minutes from Broadway or hike along the Cotswold Way to reach Snowshill. Entering the village along winding stone lanes, you'll first see St Barnabas Church – a Victorian-era church built in 1864, hiding an octagonal Tudor Rose font and Jacobean carved oak pulpit within honey-stone walls. Cross the Village Green, surrounded by ivy-covered honey-stone cottages and the iconic red telephone box (filming location for Bridget Jones's Diary), with a war memorial beside the churchyard. Then explore Snowshill Manor – a 16th-century stone manor bought in 1919 by Edwardian architect and poet Charles Paget Wade, who filled it with over 22,000 treasures: 26 suits of Japanese samurai armour, precision mechanical clocks, musical instruments, toys and ship models, displayed in themed rooms named "Zenith" and "A Hundred Wheels". The gardens, designed by Wade in collaboration with Arts & Crafts architect Baillie Scott, are laid out as conceptual "rooms" with clipped hedge walks, wildflower meadows, kitchen gardens and a miniature harbour village "Wolf's Cove" by the lake. In summer (mid-June to early August), visit Cotswold Lavender – less than a mile from the village, 45 acres of purple blooms with 35 varieties and 250,000 lavender plants. Tour the distillation shed and walk the beech woodland trails. End the evening at the 15th-century Snowshill Arms pub with Donnington Brewery real ale and traditional British pie, finishing your Snowshill tour.

If time allows, combine Snowshill with surrounding Cotswold classics for a 2-day 1-night trip. In the morning, hike south along the Cotswold Way on a 3.7-mile circular route through Littleworth Wood and Buckland Wood to reach Stanton – widely considered one of the Cotswolds' prettiest villages, with a Norman church, 17th-century pub and honey-coloured limestone cottages lining the street. Continue to Broadway Tower – perched at the highest point of the Cotswold escarpment (1,024 ft / 312 m), offering panoramic views over 16 counties. The tower displays WWII spy radio history. In the afternoon, drive 5 minutes to Broadway village – "the Cotswolds' high street" – where honey-stone houses, independent galleries and antique shops line the High Street, one of England's widest. Alternatively, visit Stanway House – a late 16th-century Jacobean manor with England's tallest gravity-fed fountain (spouting 100m high). End the evening at Russell's restaurant for modern British cuisine, concluding your Cotswolds tour.