Court Barn Museum — Attraction in Cotswold District

This museum was a truly lovely find. We went to Chipping Campden for a short walking and nature break before the winter started, and decided to go into this museum in between some walks, towards the end of the day.

We were offered concessions, because we looked young enough to be students (!), which was quite flattering (though sadly not applicable). The £5 fee was worth it.

It has a lovely installation explaining the roots of the Chipping Camden Arts and Crafts Movement (which we previously had no knowledge of), with many examples of stunning craftwork (including woodwork, metalwork, glass and bookbinding) and interactive video displays, which you can either watch standing up or view sitting down at the tables. The whole museum is contained in a beautiful, listed, barn, and remarkabky uses a freestanding wooden structure inside which required no nailing into the walls, commissioned from local crafters. The Covid-secure guidelines were more than adequate. We also received personalised attention and lots of extra history from the museum curator, who clearly loves her work and was willing to engage even stragglers like us.

There is also a shop that sells artisanal wares made by locals, with many great pieces sold that support local craftsmanship and art.

Really worth a visit and though it looks small, plan for sufficient time to...

This is s hidden gem of a museum, at the end of Chipping Campden. Its dedicated to the arts and crafts people who lived in the area. Its small, basically one large downstairs room but has a lot of interesting items and information on them and the makers. There was another small exhibit about the modern day equivalent of this type of work. It's run by volunteers but there was a curator on site if you had questions they couldn't answer.

There's a small shop selling items made by local artists and craftspeople.

At time of visit it was £7.00 pp (July 2023) this gave you a year tickets and a two for one offer for another...

A very short visit. Abrupt lady assistant pointed out to my daughter, who took a step inside the museum room (that was not divided properly from the small reception area) that she shouldn’t go any further without paying the £5 fee per person. £5 each would have entitled her to to enter the single small museum room that could be viewed in its entirety from the reception space. The assistant expressed the view that the entrance fee was inexpensive as ‘£5 won’t get you much at a supermarket’. We politely declined and left. NOT recommended unless you have a very specialised interest in...