Painswick

About Painswick

Painswick's stone is paler — a rare silver-grey rather than honey-gold — quarried from the hill above. Its churchyard has 99 ancient yews (legend says the Devil prevents a hundredth from ever growing) trimmed each year on the third Sunday in September.

A mile north stands the Painswick Rococo Garden, the only complete survivor of the brief 1740s Rococo garden style — at its finest when 5 million snowdrops bloom in February.

The Cotswold Guide view

Painswick is very beautiful, and there are some nice side streets to wander around. It's definitely worth a visit if you like your gardens, so you can combine it with a visit to the Rococo Gardens which are right in the town.

The Cotswold Guide Top Tips

The Rococo Garden's snowdrop walk in February is one of the finest in England — book a timed entry online.
Park at Painswick Beacon car park (free) and walk the half-mile down into the village along the escarpment.

Attractions in Painswick

Where to eat & drink

The Falcon
Coaching inn opposite the church; fireside lounge, rooms upstairs.
Painswick Hotel
Hilltop Georgian house with elegant restaurant and famous Sunday lunch.
St Michael's Restaurant
Modern British dining in a 16th-century building on Victoria Street.
The Patchwork Mouse
Tiny, beloved tearoom — book ahead at weekends.

Getting there

By car
2h15 from London via M4 / A46; tight parking — use the public car park on Stamages Lane.
By bus
66 from Cheltenham and Stroud (both on rail network).

Best time to visit

Snowdrops in February are the famous draw; the churchyard yews are clipped on 'Clipping Sunday' in mid-September; and the Cotswold Way is at its best in May when bluebells line the woods.