Things to do
in Faringdon

Faringdon's list of things to do is compact, weighted toward looking rather than queuing. The town's landmark is Faringdon Folly Tower, a twentieth-century brick tower on the wooded hill at the edge of town. The woodland around it is private land that the trust which runs it allows the public to walk in. The tower itself opens only on certain days and has been closed for repairs, so check before you go. From the high ground around the town the views run north to the River Thames and south to the Ridgeway.

A short drive out brings you to Great Coxwell Barn, a thirteenth-century stone barn built for Beaulieu Abbey and now cared for by the National Trust. William Morris called it "unapproachable in its dignity". There are no toilets or café there, parking is a small roadside lay-by, and dogs must be on leads. Nearby, Contemplation Garden is a small wildlife garden beside Great Coxwell's church with seats for a quiet pause, and Badbury Hill is a wooded Iron Age hillfort, also National Trust, known for its bluebells in spring.

Back in town, Mustard Seed is a fair-trade shop on the Market Place that also sells Christian books, and Lotus Retreat is a holistic therapy centre with its own café and shop.

Faringdon sits on the edge of open countryside, and the walking divides into two kinds. From the town itself, The Vale Way is a long-distance path created by the local Ramblers group that links Faringdon with Wantage and Abingdon. Its western end comes in from Longcot through Little Coxwell, passes through the town and goes by the Folly before heading east across the Vale of White Horse. It can be walked in short stages as well as end to end.

The other walks start a short drive west of town on National Trust land. Badbury Hill Fort, Badbury Clump is a short stroll around the wooded hillfort from the Trust's car park, at its best when the bluebells are out in spring. The Ancient History & Agriculture Walk (Formerly the Orange Walk) is a longer National Trust route across its Coleshill Estate farmland, which the Trust describes from Great Coxwell Barn. Dogs are welcome on the Trust's land under close control, and should be on a lead near any livestock. Check the Trust's own pages for the current route and conditions before setting out.

Almost everything to eat and drink is in Faringdon itself, on or just off the Market Place, not in the surrounding villages. The Old Crown Coaching Inn on the Market Place combines a hotel, a restaurant, a pub and a wine bar under one roof. Sadlers, next door, is a coffee shop run by a local catering firm. On London Street, The Folly Inn is a town pub in a listed building, and Magnolia Restaurant is the dining room of Sudbury House Hotel towards the eastern end of the street.

For something quicker, Best Food 2000 on the Market Place is a pizza takeaway, and Royal Spice on Coxwell Street is an Indian restaurant and takeaway. Pat Thomas Butchers, a long-established butcher's on the Market Place, is worth a stop if you are putting together a picnic or cooking for yourself later.

Small-town businesses change hands often, and several names that appear on older lists of Faringdon have closed or changed, so check that a place is open before you make a special trip.

Faringdon has a small choice of places to stay, covering different styles of visit. In the town itself, The Old Crown Coaching Inn on the Market Place has en-suite rooms alongside its restaurant and bars, and Sudbury House Hotel is a hotel on London Street, a few minutes east of the centre, with its own restaurant.

For camping, The Real Campsite is at Park Farm in Littleworth, a short drive north-east of the town off the A420. It is a small, tents-only site on a working arable farm. Each pitch has its own private toilet, campfires are allowed and vehicles are kept off the camping field. Booking is online, so check availability before you travel.

None of these puts you in the thick of a tourist crowd, which suits a town that is not set up as a showpiece destination in the first place. From any of them you are close to the weekly market in the Market Place, the independent shops and the walks described above.

The two nearest villages are the Coxwells. Little Coxwell, about a mile and a half south of Faringdon, is a small village on the line of The Vale Way. Go for the walk rather than for shops or cafés, which are back in the town. Great Coxwell, a similar distance to the south-west, is the one most visitors make for. Great Coxwell Barn stands at the edge of the village, Contemplation Garden lies beside the parish church of St Giles, and Badbury Hill, with its hillfort and woods, is in the same parish.

Both villages are small enough to see in a short visit, and combining them with a wander around Faringdon makes sense for a single day out. There are no toilets or café at the barn (the National Trust points visitors to Coleshill for those), so plan to eat in the town or bring what you need. Between the two villages you get a fuller picture of this stretch of the Vale of White Horse than the town alone provides, including one significant piece of medieval architecture.