Chipping Campden hotels

Hotels in Chipping Campden

Nestled in the Cotswolds, the beautiful market town of Chipping Campden is famous for its historic High Street. Built by wealthy merchants, its striking terrace of golden-coloured Cotswold stone buildings date between the 14th and 17th century.

Book one of our Chipping Campden hotels and explore this delightful town, which became a rich wool trading centre during the Middle Ages, and visit the beautiful countryside surrounding it.

Town centre

The Gothic town church of St James has existed since Norman times, but was rebuilt between 1250 and 1500, when the 120-foot tower was added. It contains the ornate tomb of 16th-century silk merchant Sir Baptist Hicks, who did a great deal for the town's poor. The home he built next to the church, Campden House, was burned down during the Civil War, but the lodges and gateway remain. Other notable buildings include The Almshouses, built by Hicks to house the poor, and still home to pensioners today, and the arched market hall, which dates from 1627. Opposite Grevel's House, the oldest house in Campden, is the Woolstaplers Hall, built in 1340, where merchants from across Britain and Europe came to trade.

The town is home to a number of independent shops selling antiques, antiquarian books, craft items, artisan food and more.

Arts and crafts

Chipping Campden was an important centre during the 19th and 20th-century Arts and Crafts movement, which advocated traditional, independent craftsmanship over industrial manufacture, as well as social reform. The town was home to a number of artists and writers, and designer Charles Robert Ashbee moved his Guild of Handicrafts here from London in 1902. His workshop in the Old Silk Mill, where metalwork, jewellery, enamels and furniture were produced, is today home to a co-operative of more than 20 artists and artisans. A gallery where you can see their work, which includes ceramics, furniture, glasswork, metalwork, photography, sculpture, textiles and stone and wood carving, is open daily.

You can learn more about the Arts and Crafts movement at the award-winning Court Barn Museum, whose collection contains items made by illustrious artisans. Its logo is based on the emblem which Ashbee used for his guild.

Hidcote Manor Garden

A short drive from the town, the beautiful Hidcote Manor Garden was created by American horticulturist Major Lawrence Johnston, who made it his life's work. Designed as a series of rooms, each with its own atmosphere, the gardens are stunning and beautifully kept. Johnston travelled extensively in a quest for plants, and you'll find species from across the globe here. Look out too for green woodpeckers, buzzards, hummingbird hawk moths, great crested newts, tawny owls, kestrels, red kites, foxes and bats – and, watch bees make honey in the observation hive.

Eating and drinking

Head to The Chef's Dozen for fine dining and craft beers, or Michael's Mediterranean Restaurant for authentic Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, served in 18th-century surroundings. The dog-friendly, rustically decorated Campden Coffee Company, which has its own resident canine, serves cakes, scones, sandwiches, salads, quiche, sausage rolls, Cornish pasties and soup, all homemade. Enjoy local ales amid 14th-century timber and stonework at the Eight Bells Inn, or speciality teas and early evening cocktails at Huxley's.