Shopping
Whilst the Cotswolds does not offer the extensive luxury retail experience of London it does have its attractions in offering interesting independent shops and small family food producers. In addition, shop assistants with attitude are thin on the ground.
Shopping in Cirencester, capital of the Cotswolds, has improved markedly in recent years. The area around Blackjack Street in Cirencester is particular good for small independent retailers. m.a.d.e, makers and designers emporium, at 89 Silver Street in Cirencester is a great source for presents. It stocks lovely jewellery, cards, children and babyware, ceramics and homewares. Visit www.made-gallery.com. Great children's gifts can be found in the specialist booksller Octavia's Bookshop in Cirencester's Blackjack Street. It stocks bestsellers, classics and new titles. In addition there is a regular programme of activities including book signings and a book group for 8-12 year olds. There is also a good childrens' selection at the independentYellow-Lighted Bookshop in Tetbury.
Delicious hand made chocolates and bespoke chocolate sculpture is the order of the day in Lick the Spoon. Preppy menswear can be found at Jack Russell and Sorted stocks retro housewares and gifts, a capsule collection of ladieswear, and cowhide rugs. The Sue Parkinson boutique in the Corn Hall is definitely worth a visit. It stocks an attractive mix of fashion and gift items including Anya Hindmarsh bags and shoes, J Brand jeans and Ren toiletries. Another welcome addition in the upmarket fashion stakes is Moi, whose labels include Hoss Intropia, 7 For All Mankind, Antik Batik, Farhi, Lulu Guinness and Polo by Ralph Lauren. A Sue Parkinson Home store has also opened a short distance away from the clothes shop selling furniture, textiles, ceramics and eco-friendly household products.
Made by Bob, delicatessen, coffee shop and catering outlet provides a modern alternative to the traditional tea shops in town. The Bob in question is the acclaimed former head chef at the Swan gastropub in Southrop.
In addition to independent stores, the Corn Hall offers themed shopping events with a Home and Garden Bazaar on Wednesdays, Food and Drink market on Thursdays and Antiques and Collectables on Fridays and craft markets on Saturday.
It is also worth checking out the Cowley House shops tucked away within the historic Stable Yard off Black Jack Street in Cirencester. Derelict buildings have been renovated and turned into a collection of small studios housing independent retailers selling a range of items including clothes and home accessories.
For gifts and high quality hand-made items it is worth visiting the Cotswold Craft Market in Cirencester's Corn Hall on the second and fourth Saturday of each month between 10am and 4pm. There you will find Matthew Smith, a maker and restorer of furniture and jewellery boxes,and Caras Creations making very pretty children's dresses, tea cosies and hearts in vintage-inspired and country-style fabrics. Stitchcraft sells cushions and doorstops in a range of attractive fabrics.
Ciencester's dedicated music store ToneZone in the Woolmarket, Cirencester, aims to provide local musicians with all the equipment and advice they need. Items for sale include guitars, amps, keyboards, drums, books, sheet music and accessories. In addition music lessons are available. For details visit www.tonezonemusic.co.uk or call 01285 641641.
New Brewery Arts, the contemporary craft centre based in Cirencester, offers a changing programme of exhibitions featuring artists working in various media. There are adult and children’s workshops and it is also possible to see craftspeople in action. These include a wire worker, stained glass artist and china restorer. There is a craft shop and café.
A good range of children shoes including Hush puppies is availabe at Splosh in the parade of shops on the approach to the Post office, off Castle Street, in Cirencester.
There are several towns that are good sources of high quality antiques including Burford, Stow on the Wold and Tetbury. The latter boasts one of the greatest concentrations of protected buildings in England and they provide a perfect setting for art and antiques. The majority of antique shops can be found on Long Street and have an international reputation for stocking high quality 17th, 18th and 19th century furniture. Worth checking out are Lorfords Antiques and Long Street Antiques There are also several auctioneers selling a wide range of items. These include the Wotton Auction Rooms, Moore Allen and Bonhams in Tetbury.
However, Tetbury does not just offer antiques. Highgrove, Prince Charles's shop located in the centre of town, is a good place to pick up a gift for a lunch party or mother-in-law.Among the products on offer are plants, garden tools, books, wooden toys, candles, home accessories and stationery. Duchy Originals products and organic foods grown or made at Highgrove or the Duchy Home Farm are also available. The shop only sells items from ethical and sustainable sources, made by local artisans and craftsmen. All profits from the shop are channelled into the Prince's Charities Foundation.
Tetbury also has some excellent boutiques. These include Anna Lizzio, voted one of Britain's best boutiques by Vogue magazine, and Sassy & Boo, which has a nice collection of vintage and contemporary fashion and jewellery. Moloh, which specialises in fashionable country wear and is particularly strong on jackets, has one of its two branches in Tetbury. There is a strong likelihood that you will have a house to refurbish at some point. Help is at hand from many good interiors shops throughout the Cotswolds offering soft furnishings, candles, lamps etc. These include Teasel, which sells attractive furniture and fabric in traditional and countemporary country styles such as tweed cushions trimmed with velvet. Furnitiure can be made to order or re-covered. It has branches in Southrop and Tetbury.
It is also worth taking a look in French Grey and Tattinger Marsh in Cirencester and Gigi and The Felbrigg Design Company in Tetbury. The second branch of Fabric Mills opened in Cirencester stocking 1000’s of metres of clearance fabrics at very reasonable prices from upmarket brands such as Romo, Osbourne & Little and Zofanny. In addition the shop offers services such as re-upholstery and curtain making.
Amongst the well regarded local shops is Hobbs House bakery in Nailsworth and Tetbury. It specialises in artisan breads such as Sherston, made from an old local recipe from the village of Sherston. Operating from its original Edwardian tiled premises, Jesse Smith’s in Black Jack Street Cirencester, offers cheeses, game and organic meat including delicious pies and Gloucester Old Spot sausages. Tetbury has the House of Cheese selling cheese and pickles and Strictly Strings selling stringed instruments of the violin family and small sculptural wooden furniture.
Farmers markets and farm shops are opportunities to sample and buy local produce. Daylesford Organic and the Organic Farm Shop and café on the Burford Road just outside Cirencester, are the best known farm shops but there are many smaller but equally good shops spread throughout the Cotswolds. The Cheltenham Farmers’ market; normally held on the Promenade on the second and last Friday of every month, has around 30 stalls offering a wide variety of produce from Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds including honey, meat, cider and cheese. If it is funky kitchen accessories that you are after then it is well worth dropping into Steamer Trading in Dyer Street, Cirencester. The large well lit shop is on the site that was the General Trading Company. It has comprehensive displays of coffee machines, food mixers, chopping boards and plenty of smaller items that would make excellent gifts such as oyster knives. It also stocks brands such as Alessi, Guzzini and Emile Henry oven-tableware.
The Rectory Kitchen & Cellar in Templar Mews, off Black Jack Street in Cirencester is an attractive place to stop for a cup of coffee and buy organic and fair trade foodie items. There is also a selection of locally produced food and drink including cider from Stroud and soups and fishcakes from the kitchen of the Rectory Hotel, part of the same business.
The shopping associated with events at Badminton and the Beaufort Polo Club is recommended.
It is worth a trip to Nailsworth near Stroud which has reinvented itself as an upmarket shopping destination with a variety of independent shops and boutiques including Moi. Its two children’s shops, doors from each other, between them sell a very good range of wooden toys and attractive children’s clothes. At William’s Fishmarket and FoodHall, fresh oysters and brill may be on offer in addition to fish pies, and other homemade dishes from the deli counter. Ethical coffee, fresh fruit and vegetables, chutneys and locally sourced foodstuffs such as Westonbirt ice cream and Sherston eggs are also available.
That mark of civilisation as we know it Waitrose has a large branch in Cirencester and Stroud.
On the outskirts of Cirencester is Dobbies Garden World, a gardening superstore with a children’s play area. It has a good selection of trees and plants including David Austen roses. The health and beauty section has Kenneth Turner’s lovely scented candles and toiletries. There is a food hall selling local produce and an aquatics department selling a range of tropical fish. It is a good place to take the children on a rainy Sunday afternoon.Gardeners should also head to the Burford Garden Company, located between Oxford and Cheltenham. The 15 acre site has an impressive collection of cottage garden herbaceous plants, palms, ferns, bamboo and 200 varieties of clematis. In addition to tools, garden furniture and water features, there is also a pet department including poultry and ducks, a food hall and an art gallery.
Department stores, inevitably smaller than their London namesakes, can be disappointing in their product ranges. This is particularly the case with Rackhams, the House of Fraser store, in Cirencester and Debenhams in Cheltenham. Fans of Harvey Nichols can now go to the recently opened store in Bristol. Situated in the Quakers Friars area of Cabot Circus, the store has three floors offering womenswear, menswear, accessories, beauty, food and drink. The womenswear labels on offer include Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana and Donna Karan. There is a bar and restaurant on the second floor.
If you don't fancy a trip to London to the hairdressers, there is Stuart Holmes, Toni & Guy and Blushes in Cheltenham and Cirencester. Cheltenham has many of the big name High Street shops including Debenhams, House of Fraser, Habitat and Marks & Spencer. The Montpelier district offers chic boutiques such as Blue and Foundation specialist shops including the Scandinavian homewares shop, Skandic Hus, antiques and cafes. Also in Montpellier you can find Pretty Special. Pretty Special offers a range of quality special occasion, play wear, toys and other accessories for babies and children up to 8 years. Sourced internationally to give you a great choice of beautiful items. Fans of vintage inspired fabrics can visit the Cath Kidston store in Cheltenham’s Promenade.
Several other upmarket niche retailers have branches in Cheltenham including SpaceNK, Molton Brown and the White Company. High Street ladieswear chains include Jigsaw, Hobbs and Karen Millen.
The nearest large standalone John Lewis outlet is at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol. However, it is not as good as John Lewis in London’s Oxford Street or Peter Jones in Sloane Square.
For a major dose of retail therapy head for the outlet shop at Bicester. Although it can be hit and miss as to whether you find anything, it is worth a visit for discounted items from major brands such as Diane von Furstenburg, Tod's, Maxmara, Armani, Boss, Armani, the White Company and Smythson. If you need to rest between shops, refuelling can take place at Carluccio's, Villandry and Pret a Manger.
A good day trip can be had to the attractive historic cities of Oxford and Bath which combine good shopping with cultural sights.