Fairford

A proper Cotswold market town

Fairford has been a market town for centuries, and it still feels like one. The honey-stone High Street runs unhurried and properly lived-in — independent shops, a butcher and a deli, good coffee, a fine Italian and a handful of proper pubs — and every Wednesday the market comes to town, as it has for generations.

Below it all sits St Mary’s Church, home to the only complete set of medieval stained glass in England — twenty-eight windows made around 1500, free to visit and a two-minute walk from your door.

Curious about the town’s old bank — now a holiday home with a private cinema in the vault? Read the story of Bank House →

The Cotswold lakes on your doorstep

Fairford sits at the eastern edge of the Cotswold Water Park — over 150 lakes spread across the countryside, only a few minutes away. Paddleboarding, open-water swimming, sailing and long lakeside walks, a beach for the children and some of the finest birdwatching in the county, all within easy reach of the front door.

And once a year the sky joins in: every July, RAF Fairford hosts the Royal International Air Tattoo, the largest airshow on earth, on the town’s very doorstep.