The Absolutely Cotswolds Guide to Spending Money

Where to spend a completely unreasonable amount of money beautifully.

You came for the villages. You left with an antique table, three cashmere jumpers and something for the dog. Welcome to shopping in the Cotswolds.

WARNING: Absolutely Cotswolds accepts no responsibility for antique tables, cashmere, garden sculptures, handbags, watches, dog accessories or giant stone objects purchased as a result of this guide.

This is not a directory of every shop in the Cotswolds. It is a deliberately edited list of places worth making a detour for: serious design, antiques, art, tailoring, food, wine and a few purchases for which there is almost certainly no rational justification.

The big names give us the headline luxury. The independent dealers, makers and specialists give us discovery. And the things nobody needs give us Absolutely Cotswolds.

THE BIG BEASTS

1. RH England | Aynho Park — Aynho

A 400-year-old country estate transformed into RH England's enormous design destination. Interiors, contemporary and modern collections, outdoor furniture, art, antiques, food and wine sit inside the historic house and grounds. This is less “furniture shop” and more a day out for people who like very expensive rooms.

GO FOR: Serious furniture, interiors and the spectacle.

Harriet: “Daddy says we're just going to look.” Dad: “That's the plan.” Harriet: “It is never the plan.”

2. Daylesford Organic — Daylesford/Kingham

The Cotswolds lifestyle mothership: organic food, homeware, garden, flowers, fashion and the dangerous ability to make an ordinary kitchen suddenly feel inadequate.

GO FOR: Everything you didn't know you required.

Dad: “Nobody has ever gone into Daylesford for milk and come out with just milk.”

3. Bamford — Daylesford

The fashion, beauty and wellness side of the Daylesford world: understated luxury, cashmere, clothing, skincare and the full modern-Cotswolds uniform.

GO FOR: Cashmere, clothing and wellness.

Dad: “If you have to ask what the jumper costs, you've rather ruined the atmosphere.”

4. Highgrove Shop — Tetbury

Garden-inspired gifts, homeware, food and pieces connected to Highgrove and The King's Foundation. A distinctly royal Cotswolds shopping stop.

GO FOR: Something with genuine royal-Cotswolds provenance.

Dad: “Princess Anne is still my favourite.”

FOR THE HOUSE YOU DON'T OWN YET

5. Lorfords — Tetbury

Serious decorative antiques, furniture, art, lighting and statement pieces. Tetbury is one of the Cotswolds' great interiors destinations and Lorfords is one of its headline names.

GO FOR: The chair. Not a chair. The chair.

Dad: “Technically an 18th-century table isn't spending money. It's reallocating capital.”

6. Brownrigg — Tetbury

Edited decorative antiques and interiors with the sort of objects that make an empty corner suddenly seem like a major design problem.

GO FOR: Furniture and decorative pieces with presence.

Harriet: “It was fine before we came in here.”

7. No 52 Antiques & Interiors — Tetbury

A Long Street stop that helps turn Tetbury into a proper walking antiques trail rather than a single-destination visit.

GO FOR: Browsing, discovery and the thing you did not arrive intending to buy.

8. Cotswold Grey — Moreton-in-Marsh

Luxury interiors and lifestyle in the old High Street ironmonger's, with furniture and objects sourced from artisans and artists plus interior design and staging.

GO FOR: A highly edited modern Cotswolds interior.

Dad: “This is what happens when somebody has better taste than you and access to a warehouse.”

9. Tara Antiques Centre — Stow-on-the-Wold

One of the stops that makes Stow a serious antiques hunting town. Furniture, objects and collectables in the middle of the Market Square.

GO FOR: The £1,000 Stow Challenge — find the most ridiculous thing you can buy for a grand.

10. Manfred Schotten Antiques — Burford

A specialist Burford antiques stop and exactly the sort of dealer that belongs in an edited shopping trail rather than a generic tourism list.

GO FOR: Proper antiques and specialist finds.

11. Antiques at the George — Burford

Another stop on the Burford Expensive Wander: start at the top of the High Street, walk downhill, attempt not to buy anything, fail.

GO FOR: An old thing you will insist was an investment.

12. Original Architectural Antiques — Cirencester

Antique limestone, Cotswold fireplaces, stone troughs, well heads, statuary, fountains, urns and serious architectural salvage. This is where “something for the garden” starts requiring a forklift.

GO FOR: A completely unnecessary giant stone object.

Dad: “It would look fantastic outside.” Harriet: “What is it?” Dad: “I'm not completely sure.”

13. David Harber — Oxfordshire

Large-scale contemporary sculpture, sundials and water features from an Oxfordshire workshop. The correct destination when the lawn apparently requires a major work of art.

GO FOR: Something for the garden that costs more than your car.

Dad: “I'm calling it an investment in the landscape.” Harriet: “It's a giant shiny ball, Dad.”

WEAR IT

14. Taylor Black Jewellery — Tetbury

Independent jewellery with designer-maker work, selected makers, bespoke commissions and remodelling.

GO FOR: Jewellery nobody else at dinner is wearing.

15. La Bulle — Burford & Broadway

Independent boutiques focused on handbags and accessories — useful proof that the guide is not entirely furniture and stone troughs.

GO FOR: Bags and accessories.

16. Martin & Co — Cheltenham

A long-established jeweller and official Rolex retailer in the Cotswolds, with additional watch brands and pre-owned pieces.

GO FOR: “Just looking.”

Dad: “Watches don't count as shopping.” Harriet: “Why?” Dad: “Because I said so.”

17. Edward George Tailoring — Northleach

Bespoke, semi-bespoke and made-to-measure tailoring for men and women, based at The Old Prison in Northleach, with a Savile Row connection through appointments in London.

GO FOR: Proper tailoring, blazers, black tie and country wear.

Dad: “One good jacket lasts forever.” Harriet: “How many ‘one good jackets’ do you need?”

18. Barrington Ayre — Cirencester

Bespoke suits, shirts and country clothing with a formidable choice of tweeds.

GO FOR: The full country wardrobe.

Harriet: “How can there be 3,000 different brown jackets?” Dad: “They're not brown.”

HANG IT / DISPLAY IT / EXPLAIN IT TO YOUR PARTNER

19. Bay Gallery Home — Tetbury

An Australian-owned gallery in the Cotswolds representing Aboriginal-owned art centres alongside other artists, design and interiors. Much more interesting than another generic gift shop.

GO FOR: Art with a genuinely different story.

20. Cotswold Galleries — Stow-on-the-Wold

A family-run fine-art gallery established in 1961, with original paintings and a strong emphasis on the English countryside, flora, fauna and traditions.

GO FOR: Something for the wall.

21. Nova Fine Art — Burford

Contemporary art and sculpture shown inside a traditional Cotswold building — a useful jolt of modernity in an antiques-heavy town.

GO FOR: Bright contemporary work.

Dad: “I like it.” Harriet: “What does that mean?” Dad: “I have no idea. But I like it.”

22. Sam Wilson — Stow & Chipping Campden

Luxury homeware inspired by the British countryside, translating printmaking into fabrics, ceramics and useful things that can actually fit in the car.

GO FOR: Take-home Cotswolds design.

EAT & DRINK IT

23. The Cotswold Cheese Company — Moreton / Stow / Burford

More than a cheese stop: make this the home of the Absolutely challenge to build the most ridiculous Cotswolds cheeseboard.

GO FOR: Artisan and farmhouse cheese, then keep adding things until the bill becomes funny.

Dad: “£80 for cheese?” Ten minutes later: “We need another one.”

24. Vinotopia — Nailsworth

Independent Cotswolds wine merchant and a strong place to make wine buying useful rather than intimidating.

GO FOR: Three bottles — sensible, dinner-party, and Dad-has-started-talking-about-terroir.

25. The Stroud Wine Company — Stroud

Independent wine merchant with tastings and events, giving this guide an experience rather than another shelf of bottles.

GO FOR: A tasting, ideally before Dad starts explaining wine.

BOOKS, DOGS & OTHER NECESSITIES

26. Jaffé & Neale — Chipping Norton

Independent bookshop and café with signings, clubs and a properly local place in the Chipping Norton community.

GO FOR: The Absolutely Cotswolds Bookshelf — one for Harriet, one for Georgie, one for Dad and one beautiful coffee-table book.

27. Draycott Books — Chipping Campden

A traditional family-run second-hand bookshop specialising in rare and antiquarian books, modern first editions and material connected to C.R. Ashbee and the Arts & Crafts movement.

GO FOR: Something old enough that Dad appears young beside it.

Harriet: “Finally.”

28. Cotswold Dog Boutique

Premium dog clothing, handmade leather collars and leads, harnesses, toys, grooming products and treats. Georgie's department.

GO FOR: Your dog's new Cotswolds wardrobe.

Georgie: “The dog needs one.” Dad: “The dog already has a collar.” Georgie: “Not a nice one.”

29. Chelsea Dogs — London / online

The deliberate London wildcard: luxury dog beds, blankets, designer collars and accessories, including products at prices that make Dad consider sleeping in the dog bed himself.

GO FOR: The ridiculous dog purchase.

Dad: “For £1,590 I'm sleeping in it.” Georgie: “You're not allowed.”

THE ABSOLUTELY PURCHASE

30. This Month's Thing You Absolutely Don't Need

This final slot never belongs permanently to one shop. Every month we hunt RH, Tetbury, Stow, Burford, sculpture studios, galleries and dealers for one glorious object nobody requires: a giant urn, an apothecary cabinet, a bronze animal, a vintage petrol pump or something even less defensible.

NEED IT: 0/10. WANT IT: 11/10. DAD'S WALLET: CALL THE BANK.

Should Dad buy it? Yes, obviously / Absolutely not.