Naunton is a long, quiet village stretched out along the upper reaches of the Windrush valley, a few miles from the busier honey-pots of Bourton on the Water and the Slaughters. There is no coach park and no gift shop here. What there is however, is one of the most interesting old buildings in the Cotswolds, a fine medieval church, a proper village pub and a stretch of valley that most visitors drive straight past.
The village sits just off the B4068, roughly halfway between Bourton on the Water and Winchcombe, and right next to its small neighbour Guiting Power. Most of its houses are built from the honey coloured Cotswold stone the area is known for.
A village in the Domesday Book
Naunton is old. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name Niwetone, and there was a Saxon church here long before the one that stands today. For centuries this was a working farming community in the valley, and despite the visitors who now pass through the Cotswolds in their millions, it has kept much of that quiet, lived in character.
St Andrew’s Church
The parish church of St Andrew stands in the heart of the village. The present building is largely 15th century, though it replaced an earlier Saxon church on the same site, and the interior was reworked towards the end of the Victorian period.
Step inside and the things worth seeking out are the medieval stone pulpit and font, both of which survive from the church’s earlier centuries. On the tower you can also pick out two 18th century sundials. It is a calm, unshowy church that rewards a few quiet minutes.
Naunton Dovecote
If Naunton has a show-piece, this is it. A little out of the village centre stands a four-gabled stone dovecote, built in the 17th century, and it is one of the largest surviving examples of its kind in the country.
Inside were originally well over a thousand L-shaped nest holes, built into tier upon tier of the stone walls. Although the lower levels were filled in during WWII to stop chickens laying their eggs in them, leaving just over 900 today. In the days before fresh meat could be kept through the winter, a dovecote like this was both a larder and a status symbol. Pigeons provided meat and eggs, and only the lord of the manor was permitted to keep them, so a building on this scale was a clear statement of wealth.
By the late 20th century the dovecote was at risk. It was bought in 2000 by a local charity, now the Naunton Dovecote Trust, and restored with the help of grants from English Heritage and Cotswold District Council along with local donations. The same effort later saved the nearby former water mill and turbine house.
Best of all for visitors, the dovecote is free to visit and open during daylight hours. Please treat it gently, it survives because local people chose to save it. It’s now a Grade II* Listed building and an Ancient Monument.
The Black Horse Inn
Naunton’s pub, the Black Horse Inn, sits along the main street. It opened in the 1870s in what was originally a row of tiny cottages, and it still has the snug proportions to prove it. Inside you will find a flagstone floor, low black beams and built in pews in the front bar, with a small dining room to the rear. It pours ales from the nearby Donnington Brewery and is a genuine local as much as a place for visitors.
Getting here and getting around
Naunton lies just off the B4068 in the upper Windrush valley, a few minutes from Guiting Power and within easy reach of Bourton on the Water, the Slaughters, Stow on the Wold and Winchcombe. Parking in the village is very limited, as it is essentially one long street with few verges, so arrive considerately and do not block gateways or passing places.
Walk between the villages
One of the best ways to experience this corner of the Cotswolds is on foot. The Warden’s Way, the 14 mile route that winds through the villages between Bourton on the Water and Winchcombe, passes through Naunton, and the gentle stretch linking it to neighbouring Guiting Power makes for a lovely short walk through quiet farmland and valley. See our full guide to the Guiting Power to Naunton walk for the route.
Nearby
Naunton Downs Golf Club is right on the doorstep, and Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park is a short drive away near Guiting Power. The village also makes a peaceful base for exploring the better known villages of the North Cotswolds without staying in the middle of the crowds.
