Car-free aventures aroundWitneyThe Cotswolds
For centuries Witney was famous for making blankets. An important centre for the wool trade from medieval times and all through the industrial revolution, the new-fangled duvet finally smothered the town’s world-famous industry and the last looms stopped in 2002. Today’s Witney is still a friendly market town surrounded by the quintessentially English countryside of the Cotswold fringes. With strollable streets and regular buses, there’s no need to drive to enjoy the town’s riverside walks, pubs, cafés and independent shops. You can visit a characterful farmhouse or paint your own plates, explore Witney’s blanket-making heritage and take home some unique souvenirs. Here are some car-free ideas for all ages.
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1. How to get to Witney without a car
Buses to Witney run regularly from Oxford, Cheltenham, Chipping Norton and more. Forget struggling through the traffic on the A40 with a view of the car bumper ahead. Sit on the top deck of a comfortable modern bus instead and enjoy views over woods and lakes.
- Bus S1 to Witney and Carterton sets off from Oxford’s Frideswide Square (Stop S7) just outside the railway station. It currently runs every 20 minutes from early morning until late evening with the last bus back to Oxford leaving Witney’s Market Square (Stop D) just before midnight.
- The journey from Oxford to Witney takes about fifty minutes and passes some interesting sights. Look out, as you head down Oxford’s Woodstock Road, for the octagonal Radcliffe Observatory, where the university’s astronomers observed the heavens for two centuries. Soon after, you’ll have views across lakes and meadows to Wytham Woods, a wildlife-rich forest with areas of ancient woodland. The bus winds through Eynsham, a pretty market town, once home to one England’s most important abbeys.
- Quicker but less frequent, bus S2 to Cheltenham leaves Oxford’s Gloucester Green bus station (bay 8) every two hours and takes about 40 minutes to reach Witney. From Cheltenham, bus S2 leaves the Royal Wells bus station (Bay B) and takes just over an hour, passing Northleach and Burford. Bus H2 from Headington also runs regularly to Witney via Summertown.
- Visitors coming from London could also catch bus S7 from Hanborough railway station on the Cotswold Line. Bus X9 is hourly from Chipping Norton (fewer on Sundays) and there are buses from local villages too.
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2. A car-free day out in Witney
All these buses stop at Market Square in the heart of Witney. From here it’s easy to explore the town and reach the sights on foot. Buses 214 and 215, which circle around the town might be useful for people who want to walk a bit less. Just by the bus stops are the old Buttercross and Corn Exchange with Church Green stretching beyond them to St Mary’s. You can find out more about these and other interesting buildings on the excellent Witney Wool and Blanket Trail.
- Have a stroll around town. Walking away from the church, you can follow the High Street to Witney Museum and Blanket Hall, where you can pick up paper copies of different town trails and nearby walks. Sights include the chimney and former offices of Witney Mill, the town’s last working blanket family, which closed in 2002. History-lovers could happily spend hours in the two museums.
- With small kids, you might prefer to head to Cogges Farm for animals, heritage crafts, and Poohsticks on the way there. For more family-friendly options see 3 below.
- Check out the shops (see 6 below). Witney has lots of independent stores like Lily’s Attic, The Shop Witney, the SOTA gallery, and the antique shops along Corn Street.
- Fine day? Take the bus to lovely Minster Lovell for lunch in The Old Swan and walk back along the little River Windrush into Witney. See 4 below for directions.
- Raining? Check out our wet weather options at number 5 below.
- Hungry? Witney’s got you covered. From afternoon tea at Huffkins through to evening drinks at the Eagle Tavern (“the Tav”) or The Fleece by leafy Church Green, there are all kinds of options.
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3. Car-free fun with kids
There are plenty of child-friendly places in walk-able Witney that you can reach without a car.
- The Leys park, just beyond the church, has a colourful paddling and splash-park area with fifteen water jets in summer, crazy golf, tennis and more. The playground has a multidirectional swing, zipwire, tunnels and huge Witney Towers climbing frame. There’s a café too and, for more places to eat, try Part and Parcel, a central pub with a great kids’ menu that is down the road from the park in the shopping area. There’s a choice of sweets in the nearby Shake Shop.
- If it’s a nice day, why not stock up for a picnic at Huffkins and head off on one of these day-long adventures?
- Cogges Manor Farm is home to sheep, goats, Shetland ponies, heritage ducks and chickens – all in the grounds of a historic manor house. How do I get to Cogges without a car? It’s easy to walk from central Witney, crossing the bridge over the River Windrush onto Langel Common, where there’s another playground. You can stop off to see the ducks and play Poohsticks on the way. To get closer by bus, just follow Good Journey’s directions.
- Daisyroots Pottery in Crawley is a slightly longer walk, but a pleasant one in fine weather. You can also get there on bus 233 or 234. Do call ahead before you set off to make sure they have room for you (call 01993 771617 or text 07769 227055). It’s about two miles (an hour or so’s walk) on paths near the River Windrush – there’s a map here.
- What if it’s raining? Scroll down to 5 for more suggestions!
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4. Walk back from Minster Lovell
One of Oxfordshire’s prettiest villages Minster Lovell is just a couple of miles west of Witney. You can get there on buses 233 and 234 from the Market Square, which between them run every half an hour (hourly on Sundays). The old village has lovely thatched cottages, old beamed pubs and the impressive ruins of a fifteenth-century hall.
- Get off the bus outside The White Hart pub in Minster Lovell. Cross Burford Road into a fenced footpath right of School Hill. Turn right down the lane at the bottom, left over the old stone bridge and right near Minster Mill to pass The Old Swan pub – an excellent place for lunch and you can sample classic real ales like Hobgoblin IPA or Brakspear’s Oxford Gold.
- Keep on past thatched cottages for about 200m. Just after Windrush Cottage, turn right into a stony track and soon left through a gate to continue along the edge of a field. Towards the end of the field, turn left over a footbridge and follow the path right. Keep straight through the churchyard to reach ruined Minster Lovell Hall. Don’t miss a look inside St Kenelm’s Church with its old tombs, stained glass and unusual medieval pews.
- From here, you can either walk back to the White Hart bus stop or keep on for about three miles to Witney via a riverside ramble. Here’s a map of the walk from Minster Lovell’s White Hart bus stop to Witney Museum. The hike leads over little footbridges through fields of ancient willows and peacefully-grazing cows.
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5. What if it’s raining?
If the weather’s not right for riverside walks and picnics in the meadows, there are still plenty of options.
- Witney and District Museum and the nearby Witney Blanket Hall are both worth exploring. Don’t miss the Pie Shop in the Blanket Hall, a wonderfully time-warped café where pies, scones and cakes are all cooked on site daily. The bus stop called High Street is closer to the museums than Market Square if you want to go straight there.
- The Windrush Leisure Centre is less than five minutes’ stroll down Langdale Gate from Market Square. It has a swimming pool, gym and café. Or you could really treat yourself and head to the Spa at Minster Mill, a short bus ride away in Minster Lovell (see 4 above).
- You could get crafty at the Pottery Place, Oxfordshire’s longest running paint-your-own pottery studio, just a couple of minutes’ walk from Market Square up High Street.
- In the evening, there are gigs at Fat Lils, movies at Cineworld, or a pint and a meal in one of the town’s atmospheric pubs.
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6. Shopping in Witney
Whether you’re looking for a present, a souvenir, an antique engraving or a bouquet of flowers, Witney has some fabulous shops. Here’s a little retail trail around some of the best.
- Start from The Witney Blanket Hall, which is a great place to buy woollen throws and scarves. Cross over and turn a few steps right and you’ll soon reach Teddy Bears of Witney, selling all kinds of bears and other stuffed toys, new, old and collectable. Walk back down the High Street, passing The Flower Shop with its colourful seasonal displays, and turn right into Welch Way.
- The Shop Witney, right again in Marriots Walk, is a hub that sells all kinds of things made locally: cards, clothes, ceramics, accessories… It’s another great place to pick up presents, from baby bibs to oven gloves, hoodies to handmade jewellery. Go back to the High Street and keep on into Market Square.
- Corn Street, right just after the bus stops, has several antique shops, including W R Harvey, where you could buy antique mirrors, clocks, and other objets d’art like oil paintings, etchings, ornate sherry glasses or silver cruet stands. Too big to take on the bus? WR Harvey antiques do free UK delivery. Stroll back along Corn Street, keep straight past the Buttercross and lovely Lily’s Attic into Langdale Road and turn left past Langdale Hall to find another of Witney’s unique shops.
- SOTA Gallery is a welcoming showcase for craftspeople near and nationally, selling covetable paintings and photographs as well as handmade pottery, glasswork, sculptures and silver. Turn left along Langdale Court, right again past coffee shops and plane trees, along the leafy edge of Market Square and right again, through the archway, into Woolgate Shopping Centre.
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For more car-free adventures in the area...
… check out our guides to Kingham, Burford, Woodstock and wider Adventures in the Cotswolds by train. You could take a tour with Undiscovered Cotswolds or Cotswolds Guided Tours and stay in a characterful range of places from wooded glampsites to cottages to luxury hotels. Happy exploring!
