Hanwell

St Peter's church and its carvings

St Peter's is listed Grade I and stands at the top of the village. The Victoria County History says it was almost entirely rebuilt in the early fourteenth century, keeping a font of about 1200 and two thirteenth-century doorways. Go inside for the nave capitals, carved as busts of men and women with linked arms; on the south side standing minstrels with their instruments rise above them. The county history finds similar carving at Adderbury, Bloxham and Drayton, and a cornice of carved figures outside the chancel like those at Alkerton, Adderbury and Bloxham, so it is worth comparing them.

In the chancel is the large alabaster monument to Sir Anthony Cope, who died in 1614, and his wife. The clock has no face, which the county history thought worth recording. We could not find published opening hours for the church.

Hanwell Castle

William Cope, cofferer to Henry VII, was granted the manor in 1498 and began a house of brick with stone dressings, one of the earliest brick buildings in the district. What survives is the south-west tower and the south range, with a matching east wing added in the twentieth century. Historic England lists it Grade II* as a country house now divided into three homes. It is private and not normally open, so see it from the road, or read more on our page on Hanwell Castle.

The way in is an event. Hanwell Community Observatory (opens in a new tab), a group of amateur astronomers and volunteers founded in 1999, keeps permanently mounted telescopes at Hanwell and holds several public events a year, at the castle. In February 2026 its Stars and Snowdrops weekend offered a woodland walk among the snowdrops, the telescopes and a chance to meet the archaeologists working there, at £5 for adults and £2.50 for under 18s, with no dogs and stout footwear essential. In September 2026 a living history weekend at the castle showed the archaeological dig. Watch the observatory's events page for the next one.

An hour or two in Hanwell

Park behind the church and start there. Walk down the street past the cottages, most of them two storeys of coursed ironstone and some still thatched, to see the castle tower over the wall, then go on to the Moon & Sixpence for lunch. That is the village. Pair it with Horley, a mile to the west, for its great wall painting.

Walks from Hanwell

We found no council or parish leaflet for a walk from Hanwell, so we suggest no route. Footpaths link it with Horley and Hornton to the west, so an OS Explorer map is the safe way to plan a round.

Food and drink

The village pub is the Moon & Sixpence (opens in a new tab), a restaurant pub run by its chef, Hylton Bradley. Its own site gives food from Wednesday to Saturday at lunch and in the evening, and Sunday lunch to 3pm. It is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays except for functions. It was taking Christmas 2026 bookings when we checked. The county history, written in the 1960s, names the village inn of its day as the Red Lion, a seventeenth-century house first named in 1792; we could not confirm whether that is the building the Moon & Sixpence occupies.

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When to come

Late winter, if the observatory repeats its snowdrop weekend, which in 2026 fell on 14 and 15 February. Otherwise come from Wednesday to Sunday, when the pub serves food. There is nothing here to queue for.