Description

Starting from the roundabout at the Alveston Manor Hotel in Stratford, take the A3400 signed Shipston.

At the next roundabout, take the first exit (straight on) signed Shipston and immediately turn right onto the B4632 towards Mickleton.

Pass the Clifford Garden Centre on your right.

On your right is the Long Marston airfield home to the Shakespeare County Raceway – venue for drag racing and an open air Sunday market.

If you wish to visit the Barn Antiques Centre, take a right turn about half a mile after the airfield.  On leaving the Centre, come back to this point to rejoin the route.

The Barn Antiques Centre in Long Marston is one of the largest antique centres in the Midlands.  The barn offers everything from superior bric-a-brac to fine antique furniture.

On leaving the Centre, turn right to rejoin the route.

Turn left off the main road signed Lower Quinton, Kiftsgate & Hidcote Gardens.

The twin villages of Lower and Upper Quinton are jointly served by the beautiful parish church of St Swithin’s.

After the church, take a right turn, following the signs to Hidcote and Kiftsgate.  To your right is Meon Hill.

Fine views can be enjoyed from a walk to the top of Meon Hill, the site of an ancient nunnery and former Ordnance Survey triangulation point.

At the T-junction, turn right signed Hidcote and Kiftsgate. There is an optional signed detour to Ilmington and Mickleton at this point (turn left).

Ilmington is one of the larger villages of South Warwickshire, with a medley of unspoilt historic buildings around a village green and war memorial. The Howard Arms, ideally located on the village green, is a perfect place for a pint and delicious food.

Three Ways House Hotel, in Mickleton, is the home of the Pudding Club.  Sticky toffee, syrup sponge and spotted dick are some of the typical puddings you will find on the daily menu in the Bar-Brasserie.  All served with lashings of custard.

At the next junction, bear left signed Hidcote and Kiftsgate following the single track road uphill.

To visit Hidcote Gardens, take the road on your left and park as directed in the National Trust car park.

Hidcote Manor Gardens is one of the most inventive and influential gardens of the 20^th century. This 10 acre garden is, in fact, a series of garden ‘rooms’, each with its own special atmosphere.  The garden is internationally renowned for rare shrubs and trees, as well as herbaceous borders and old roses.  There is both a waitress service restaurant and thatched tea bar.

Return to the junction opposite Kiftsgate and turn left to rejoin the route.

Stay on this road and bear right towards Ebrington.

At the crossroads, turn right signed Chipping Campden and drive on for 2 miles.

At the T-junction, turn left onto the B4081 signed Chipping Campden.

At the next T-junction, turn left signed Chipping Campden onto the B4035. 

Drive through the village of Chipping Campden.

The charming village of Chipping Campden, on the edge of the Cotswolds, features a fine arcaded Jacobean market hall with pointed gables.

In the main street, take a tight left turn, opposite the red telephone box, signed Bourton on the Hill.

Follow the road round to the right toward Broadway and carry on past some thatched houses and up a steep hill out of Chipping Campden.

You pass some stone quarries until you come to a crossroads with the A44.  Go straight over towards Snowshill, taking a single track road with passing places.

Turn right signed Snowshill.

At the crossroads turn right signed Snowshill.

At the crossroads, turn right, signed Snowshill Manor ½ mile.

At the T-junction in Snowshill turn right (if you take a sharp left you will drive into the village centre). You will come to a car park for Snowshill Manor House on your left, then a signpost to the left to the Manor and more parking.

Snowshill Manor is a fine Tudor house with a circa 1700 façade, best known for Charles Paget Wade’s collection of craftsmanship and design including musical instruments, clocks, toys, bicycles, weavers and spinners’ tools, and Japanese armour.  The Manor House is closed for essential repairs during 2004, but the grounds, restaurant and shop remain open.

This delightful Arts & Crafts garden was designed by its owner, Charles Paget Wade, in collaboration with MH Baillie Scott, as a series of outdoor rooms.

After visiting the house by foot from either car park, turn right out of the car park to retrace your route for a short distance. 

Turn left at the junction signed Chipping Campden, Bourton on the Water and Snowshill Lavender.  Drive back up the hill and out of the village.

At the next crossroads, turn left signed Moreton in Marsh and Broadway Tower Country Park.

At the next set of crossroads, turn right, and at the following crossroads, cross over, signed Bourton on the Hill.

After ½ mile, turn left signed Bourton on the Hill.

At yet another crossroads, cross the main road, signed Evesham and Stow, into another short narrow road.  Very quickly you will come to a junction with the A44.  Turn right and drive down a very steep hill into the village of Bourton.  As you leave the village you go past the entrance to Batsford Arboretum on your left.

Keep on this road to Moreton in Marsh.

In Moreton in Marsh, turn left at the first mini roundabout onto the A429, and straight on at the second mini roundabout. Head towards Stratford. The route now takes you along the Roman Fosse Way. Follow this fast road for five miles.

At the crossroads turn right onto the B4035 signed Shipston-on-Stour and drive into the town.