Giant redwood

The collection spans trees from across the globe, but the Giant Redwoods deserve your full attention. These California natives tower above everything else, their reddish-brown trunks rising so high that looking up at them becomes an almost meditative experience. Standing beneath them genuinely shifts your sense of scale.

Beyond the Redwoods, you can easily spend hours walking the maintained paths through the Old Arboretum with its formal layout, or explore the less structured Silk Wood. The Tree Top Walkway gives you an entirely different angle, literally letting you move among the upper branches. Robert Stayner Holford created this space in the mid-1800s as a personal tree-collecting passion project, and it's now run by Forestry England as an active conservation and research centre.

The location works well for getting around the area. Tetbury and Malmesbury are both nearby, and it's straightforward to reach from Cirencester. You'll find a cafe and shop on-site for basics, though plan on paying an entry fee. Whether you're a serious plant enthusiast or simply want to walk among some genuinely impressive natural specimens, it's absolutely worth the visit.