Local area

Wisson Hill has stood in the riverside Hamlet of Barton for nearly 500 years. It now offers an authentic timber-frame holiday home in the richly historic Heart of England, starting with a village pub and walks from the doorstep, with much more to see and do within easy reach.

8 miles from Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon

Wisson Hill is eight miles south-west of Stratford-upon-Avon, with all the attractions of this famous market town, from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to the popular Bancroft Gardens. Cafés, markets, restaurants and independent shops offer a leisurely day out.

Stratford-upon-Avon has a huge amount to offer visitors, with a tour to cover every interest or a happy day’s wandering around the town and discovering the riverside parks, timber-framed buildings and café life. Open-topped buses offer a great way to travel between the Shakespeare properties in neighbouring villages.

Shakespeare’s Birthplace was built at a similar time to Wisson Hill, so the two properties have been in the same neighbourhood since before Shakespeare’s birth. The houses are also linked through the families associated with them: The Shakespeares, the Quineys and the Bushells.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a 15-minute country drive from Wisson Hill or less than an hour by bike, mainly along the Greenway, an old railway line converted to cycle path. For keen walkers, the footpath along the Avon takes you from Barton to Stratford, but you may want to take advantage of the local bus service for the return journey, as the river’s path winds and is longer than 8 miles.

Close to The Cotswolds

The beautiful wool trade town of Chipping Campden is a 15-minute drive away and the North Cotswolds village of Broadway is a similar distance. Both have a high street of historic houses and shops built from the classic honey-coloured stone which makes this region so popular. Tea rooms, restaurants and quirky, independent shops make for a relaxing and indulgent day out. The National Trust’s Market Hall is accessible to all.

The whole Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty is within easy reach, with open countryside, marked walking routes and the English country pubs that dreams are made of.

Historic attractions nearby

If you are interested in history, the heart of England offers a huge range of things to see, ranging from hidden relics to take in during a country walk to full day-out attractions. Just visiting the Cotswolds market town of Cirencester involves simple directions that Romans would understand: turn left onto Icknield Street then turn right onto the Fosse Way.

Specially for Tudor history fans

The English Midlands are rich in Tudor history:

Stratford-upon-Avon (8 miles): Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Shakespeare’s Schoolroom and Guild, the Guild Chapel with medieval wall paintings covered during the Reformation. Anne Hathaway’s cottage and also Palmer’s Farm, when open to the public.

Coughton Court (8 miles): Katherine Vaux, who married Sir George Throckmorton in the early 16th century, was the aunt of Kathryn Parr. The Tower room has a sophisticated priest hole and the Catholic owners are closely linked to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Charlecote Park (National Trust, 14 miles) built by loyal Protestant, Thomas Lucy in 1558 and visited by Elizabeth I in 1571.

Warwick Castle (17 miles) was owned by the Dudley family and Elizabeth I visited in 1575. Also in Warwick, the Church of St. Mary, the burial place of Robert Dudley and Lettice Knollys, as well as Ambrose Dudley, who owned Warwick Castle.

Lord Leycester Hospital, where Robert Dudley founded a philanthropic community of a Master and 12 Brethren in 1571.

Hailes Abbey (17 miles) where a phial of Holy Blood was found to a mixture of honey and saffron  and, on Christmas Eve 1539, Abbot Sagar and the community of 21 monks surrendered to Henry VIII’s commissioners.

Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe (19 miles), where Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed in 1535 and where Kathryn Parr lived and was buried. 

Kenilworth Castle (Heritage England, 22 miles) where Robert Dudley entertained Elizabeth I is style in 1575, with a garden recreated from that visit

Baddesley Clinton (National Trust, 23 miles) moated manor house where the Catholic Vaux sisters hid Catholic priests in priest holes

Tudor World in Stratford is a bit of fun, if not for the purists.

Other things to do within 10 miles of Wisson Hill

Get out on the Avon in a boat You can hire your own rowing boat in Stratford-upon-Avon or narrow boat from Bidford-on-Avon. For the more adventurous, you can canoe, paddle (SUP) or take a dragon pedalo at Evesham. If you would prefer to be more of a passenger, river trips start from Stratford.

See a play The Royal Shakespeare Theatre often has last-minute tickets, even if you haven’t booked ahead and there are many other smaller theatres in the area.

Visit a museum Roman Alcester Heritage Centre, in the historic market town of Alcester, the Mechanical Art and Design Museum in Stratford (MAD), featuring kinetic art and automata. Broadway Museum and Art Gallery and Court Barn in Chipping Campden celebrate – among other collections and exhibitions – the region’s connection with wool and design.

Outings for children All Things Wild in Honeybourne and the Butterfly Farm in Stratford, as well as many outdoor and indoor play areas.

Keen gardeners will love Kiftsgate Court Gardens and Hidcote (National Trust), an Arts and Crafts-inspired garden with intricately designed outdoor spaces. These gardens are within a short walk of each other, in the rolling Cotswold hills.

Natural highlights include Dover’s Hill, near Chipping Campden – with amazing views over the Cotswolds – maybe catching Robert Dover’s Cotswold Olimpick games, usually in late May.

Cafes, pubs and restaurants I particularly recommend Bidford’s Village Cafe, The National Trust’s Fleece Inn and The Bell in Welford-on-Avon. Chipping Campden and Broadway are both less than 10 miles away, with a fantastic range of cafe, restaurants, pubs, bars, teashops, delicatessens and bakeries.

Other historic properties within 10 miles Middle Littleton Tithe Barn and Kinwarton Dovecote (there is also a beautiful dovecote just over the road from the house in Barton. Holy Trinity Church in Stratford, the site of Shakespeare’s burial place. The Almonry at Evesham is currently being restored and is close to remains of the Abbey and the site of the battle of Evesham where Simon de Montfort met his demise. Dozens of village churches and many historic houses to enjoy from the outside.

Fresh food Hillers Farm Shop, garden centre and cafe is on the edge of the Vale of Evesham, so perfect for asparagus, strawberries, plums (and more) in season. We are also blessed with a wonderful ‘honesty box’ farm shop with locally grown vegetables and fruit at Weston-on-Avon.

History within a few steps of Wisson Hill

History starts on the doorstep of this holiday house, with many well-known historic attractions a short drive away, as well as many less well known spots, in this richly historic part of England.

A minute’s walk brings you to the River Avon, which has been a trading route for millennia. The Romans directed Ryknield (or Icknield) Street over a ford at nearby Bidford-on-Avon (a 10-minute walk across the meadow), and a significant Saxon settlement was discovered in Bidford. The much-photographed medieval bridge is believed to have been built by the monks of Bordesley Abbey to boost trade and was repaired in 1545 with stone from Alcester Priory.

The 1886 Ordnance Survey map in Wisson Hill’s study shows what was going on around Barton and Bidford nearly 150 years ago, so a walk from the door takes you up over the actual hill known as Wisson Hill, onto farmland which were orchards, past the fruit barn which housed Italian prisoners of war.

This edge of Warwickshire is rich with history across many ages, from the Roman road which crosses the parish, to abandoned villages, evidence of strip farming, ancient names and the many finds uncovered by detectorists and amateur archaeologists. Books in Wisson Hill’s library can help holiday guests know what to look out for.

A five-minute walk up the hill above Wisson Hill brings you to an area that has offered up finds from Mesolithic, through Iron Age, Celtic, Roman, Saxon and later. The position commands the local landscape – imagine Roman soldiers looking out over the strategic river crossing – and was clearly important before it was farmed from this farmhouse 500 years ago.

Another old building a few steps from the door is the charming Cottage of Content pub, serving real ale and food.

Walking, cycling and paddling from the door

Pull on your boots and head along the River Avon across the meadow and into Bidford-on-Avon, over the medieval bridge (blown up by King Charles retreating from the Battle of Worcester). As well as a fascinating historic past, including Roman, Saxon and Shakespearean connections, Bidford offers two supermarkets, a bus service, pharmacy and medical centre, post office and other services. Alternatively, after appreciating the arched stone bridge, you can follow the river down towards Marlcliff lock, or further across the fields to Cleeve Prior.

Of course you could also turn right from Wisson Hill and either follow the River Avon to Welford or pick one of the many circular walks in the Heart of England Forest, from where you can return home across farmland and down the hill into the hamlet along the Heart of England Way.

It is a delight to cycle from Barton, with quiet country lanes, few hills and a disused railway line into Stratford-upon-Avon (the Greenway). For keen cyclists (like the owner), road rides of 20, 30, 40 or more miles can be for fitness or sightseeing. Although there is one good mountain bike ride from the door, a half-hour drive into the Cotswolds offers beautiful cross-country and singletrack riding.

Two bicycles and two kayaks are available for guests to use. Wisson Hill is on a quiet road that is popular with cyclists and is part of British Cycling’s Route 5. You can ride the pretty, quiet lanes around the local villages or cycle into Stratford-upon-Avon, mostly along the Greenway, maybe stopping at the Milcote railway carriage cafe or at Bobby’s, also a café in a railway carriage, at either end of this stretch of converted railway line.

The kayaks have integral wheels and can be easily be the 200m or so to the nearest launch point on the River Avon, just below Barton’s weir. From here you can paddle downstream through the meadows, passing under Bidford’s medieval bridge, enjoying fishes – and otters and kingfishers, if you are lucky, down to the next weir at Marlcliff.

Local public transport options

The 28 bus service runs roughly hourly from Bidford-on-Avon (a 15-minute walk over the meadow from Wisson Hill) to Stratford-upon-Avon, and to Evesham in the opposite direction.

The nearest train station is Honeybourne, less than 10 minutes’ drive from Wisson Hill, heading to Worcester or through Cotswolds stops including beautiful Moreton-in-Marsh, Charlbury and Kingham. This line, featured by Scenic Rail Britain, passes through Oxford to London Paddington, offering easy days out further afield.

There are various local taxi services and the owner is happy to help with transport – just get in touch if you would like to find out more.