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Banburyshire
A thatched stone cottage at a bend in a village lane, hedges and a church tower glimpsed behind

Philip Jeffrey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Whichford

A stone village in the hills near the Oxfordshire border, home to Whichford Pottery, where you can watch terracotta pots thrown by hand, and a Grade I church with the tombs of its medieval lords and Tudor rectors. Come midweek, from Wednesday to Saturday if you want lunch.

Nearest station
Moreton-in-Marsh, about 6.5 miles south-west, then a taxi. Banbury is about 9.5 miles, with a Thursday bus
Parking
The pottery has its own car park (CV36 5PG). Elsewhere, park with care in the village lanes
Best time
Tuesday to Thursday, when the potters are most often at work
When it's busy
The Straw Kitchen takes no bookings, so for lunch on a Saturday come early, at 10am, or come midweek.
Toilets
None public that we could confirm
Dogs
The pottery's visit page does not say, so ask before you bring a dog. Field paths and Whichford Wood need dogs on leads near stock.

About Whichford

Whichford is a village of local stone and thatch in the hills south-west of Banbury, about 9.5 miles away in a straight line and close to the Oxfordshire border. Its centre is a conservation area. Most visitors come for one thing, the pottery, and the church and the walks are good reasons to stay.

Whichford Pottery

Jim and Dominique Keeling started Whichford Pottery in 1976, and it still makes terracotta flowerpots by hand. It is open every day from 10am to 4pm, bank holidays included, except Sundays in January and February. The workshop is open to visitors from Monday to Friday, and the pottery says the potters are most often at work from Tuesday to Thursday, so come midweek to watch them throw.

The pottery's own site lists no admission charge. It closes at 4pm on 23 December and reopens on 4 January 2027. The pottery's visit page has the courses and the current dates.

Tulips planted in terracotta pots among stacks of handmade flowerpots
Pots and tulips at Whichford Pottery

St Michael's Church

St Michael's is listed Grade I, and its tombs tell the story of the village's lords. The nave dates from about 1150, with only its south doorway left from the first build, and the north-west tower rose in stages in the fourteenth century. The south chapel, now the vestry, was built around 1330, probably as a memorial to the Mohun family: a recess in its south wall holds a coffin lid carved with an engrailed cross beside the Mohun arms.

In the chancel are two rectors who served the Earls of Derby: John Merton, who died in 1537, under an alabaster tomb, and Nicholas Asheton, who died on 30 September 1582, whose brass shows him in a Geneva gown. The chancel east window keeps fourteenth-century glass of the Crucifixion with angels. We could not find published opening hours.

West of the church, about 230m away, is a moated site, scheduled since 1953. We found no statement of public access to it, so look from the lane.

A day in Whichford

Arrive when the pottery opens at 10am, watch the throwers if it is a weekday, and leave time for the yard. Have lunch at the pottery's café, the Straw Kitchen, from Wednesday to Saturday, then walk down to St Michael's. In the afternoon, take the Macmillan Way towards Whichford Wood, or drive on to Long Compton and the Rollright Stones.

Walks from Whichford

Two long-distance paths pass through the village in OpenStreetMap: the Macmillan Way and the Cross Cotswold Pathway. Whichford Wood, the largest wood in the parish, lies to the south-west. We have not yet published a circular walk from Whichford with a route we can stand behind, so this page offers none.

Food and drink in Whichford

There are two checked picks in the village. The Norman Knight is a pub with rooms in a restored former bakery, with seasonal British food. The Straw Kitchen at the pottery opens from Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, with food until 3pm, and takes no reservations. A short drive north, the Still House Café at the Cotswolds Distillery in Stourton serves food until 3.30pm every day.

Eccles cakes piled on a pottery plate with a handwritten sign
Eccles cakes at the Straw Kitchen

When to come to Whichford

Come from Tuesday to Thursday for the potters, and from Wednesday to Saturday if you want the café. Avoid Sundays in January and February, when the pottery is shut, and the café's winter break from mid-December to mid-March. The café takes no bookings, so arrive early on a Saturday.

Over the border

Whichford sits on the edge of the Cotswolds, and these places on our sister site, Cotswolds Info, are a short drive west:

Last verified 11 November 2026 by our editors

  • A church tower and roofs among trees in a valley, rolling fields beyond
  • A churchyard path lined with headstones and flowers leading to a stone church with a battlemented tower
  • A tall battlemented church tower with a clock and a long clerestoried nave under white clouds
  • A stone house with gabled dormers and a stone slate roof behind a low wall
  • Sheep grazing a hillside above stone roofs and autumn trees

Things to do in Whichford

See all
The wooden mash tun with its copper hood and rakes on the Victorian brewing floor

Tours and experiences · Hook Norton

Hook Norton Brewery

A family brewery in a Victorian tower at Hook Norton, with a steam engine of 1899, Shire horses that still deliver to two village pubs, and tours at £25. The climb is over 100 open steps, and there is a gentler monthly option. Shop and kitchen open daily.

  • Chipping Norton Theatre

    Chipping Norton Theatre

    Family days out · Chipping Norton

    A theatre in a former Salvation Army citadel in Chipping Norton, known for its long-running family pantomime, with films and other shows through the year. The Snow Queen runs from 18 November 2026 to 17 January 2027.

    Family-friendly · Rainy days

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A gabled Jacobean stone house with a battlemented tower, rising behind a dark yew hedge under a blue sky

    Chastleton House

    Historic houses and heritage

    A Jacobean house about 35 minutes south west of Banbury, little changed since the family that built it lost its money. National Trust, afternoons only in season, closed for the winter. Built on land sold by the Gunpowder plotter Robert Catesby.

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to stay in Whichford

See all
  • A round wooden bar and tall stools under low beams, a blackboard and clock on the wall

    The Norman Knight, Whichford

    Pubs

    A pub with rooms in a restored former bakery at Whichford, serving seasonal British food and well-kept ales, with four rooms, five cabins, supper clubs, live music on Saturdays and a monthly car rally in summer.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A long stone inn with a stone-tiled roof and tall chimneys in low golden light, red shrubs in front

    The Red Lion, Long Compton

    Pubs

    A Grade II listed inn on Main Street, Long Compton, under the Rollright Stones, with seven dog-friendly bedrooms, an AA Rosette and Breakfast Award for 2025, a play area and dogs welcome in bar and restaurant.

    Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A stone inn and white cottages on a road junction, an old steam engine parked at one end under a blue sky

    The Gate Hangs High, Hook Norton

    Pubs · Hook Norton

    A country pub on the Whichford road outside Hook Norton, with local ales, an open fire, freshly cooked food from Wednesday to Sunday, rooms and a large camping field with electric hook-ups.

    Dog-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to eat and drink in Whichford

See all
  • A curving gravel path through long grass to a low building with solar panels and a canvas shelter

    The Straw Kitchen, Whichford

    Cafes and tearooms

    The café at Whichford Pottery, open from Wednesday to Saturday, with a seasonal menu that changes weekly: brunches, soups, ramen, curries, salads and homemade cakes. It closes for a long winter break.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A sharing board of pâté en croûte and cured meats with two cocktails on a wooden table

    The Still House Café, Stourton

    Cafes and tearooms

    The café at the Cotswolds Distillery in Stourton, open every day with food until 3.30pm, using coffee from UE Roasters and meat from Barry the Butcher. Dogs on leads are welcome, and tables cannot be booked.

    Dog-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A long wooden table and chairs running to an arched iron window in a red-brick room, wall lights either side

    The Malthouse Kitchen, Hook Norton

    Cafes and tearooms · Hook Norton

    The brewery's own restaurant at Hook Norton, in the restored maltings beside the Victorian tower brewery, serving seasonal breakfasts until 11.30am and lunches until mid afternoon, indoors or in the beer garden.

    Family-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

Sights in and around Whichford

All sights
  • A broad track covered in fallen leaves running between hazel and oak, sunlight falling across it

    Whichford Wood

    Sight · Wood · Whichford

    An oak and hazel wood in a steep valley south of Whichford, a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wet flushes and rare plants, with bluebells in May. The Macmillan Way and public bridleways run through it; other paths are private.

  • The weathered, lichen-crusted stones of the King's Men ringing a rough grass clearing, with trees behind

    Rollright Stones

    Sight · Hill fort or barrow

    Three prehistoric monuments on the Oxfordshire and Warwickshire border, built over more than 2,000 years: the Whispering Knights, the King's Men circle and the King Stone, with a legend of a king and a witch to go with them. Open daily; adults £2.

  • A stone church with a pinnacled tower above a rubble wall, bare trees alongside in evening light

    St Peter's Church, Hook Norton

    Sight · Church · Hook Norton

    Hook Norton's Grade I church, with a Norman font carved with Adam and Eve and signs of the zodiac, a Romanesque chancel and medieval wall paintings. In the middle of the village, open every day, says the benefice.

History of Whichford

At Domesday in 1086 Whichford was held of Gilbert de Gand, assessed at 15 hides with two mills. The Mohuns held the manor from 1204 through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and their memorial chapel is the south chapel of the church. The Stanleys, Earls of Derby, then held it for about a century, and two of the rectors buried in the chancel were also the earls' chaplains.

Ralph Sheldon of Beoley bought the manor early in the seventeenth century, and the Sheldons kept it until about 1820, when George Philips bought it. He was made a baronet in 1828. The hamlet of Ascott, about half a mile east, shares the village's stone and thatch, and Stourton, once part of the parish, went to Cherington in 1910.

Questions about Whichford

When is Whichford Pottery open?

Every day from 10am to 4pm, bank holidays included, except Sundays in January and February, says the pottery. It closes at 4pm on 23 December and reopens on 4 January 2027. Its website lists no admission charge.

Can you watch the potters at work in Whichford?

Yes, on weekdays. The workshop is open to visitors from Monday to Friday, and the pottery says its potters are most often at work from Tuesday to Thursday. Come midweek if watching the throwers is the reason for your trip.

Is there a café at Whichford Pottery?

Yes, the Straw Kitchen. It opens from Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, with food until 3pm, and takes no reservations. It closes for the winter from 19 December and reopens on 19 March 2027, so check before a winter visit.

Where can you eat in Whichford?

At the Norman Knight, a pub with rooms in a restored former bakery, or at the Straw Kitchen at the pottery from Wednesday to Saturday. The Still House Café at the Cotswolds Distillery in Stourton, a short drive north, serves food daily until 3.30pm.

What is in Whichford church?

Tombs of the people who ran the village. St Michael's, listed Grade I, has a Mohun memorial recess of about 1330, the alabaster tomb of the rector John Merton, who died in 1537, the brass of Nicholas Asheton, who died in 1582, and fourteenth-century glass in the east window.

Getting to Whichford

By train
Moreton-in-Marsh is the nearest station, about 6.5 miles south-west, on GWR's line from London Paddington. Banbury is about 9.5 miles. Take a taxi on.
By bus
In November 2026 Shipston Link ran route 5 to Banbury on Thursdays, route 3 to Shipston and Chipping Norton on Wednesdays and route 10 on Saturdays. Check first.
By car
About 11 miles and 23 minutes from Banbury Cross by road. The pottery's postcode is CV36 5PG.
Parking
At the pottery's own car park. In the village, park with care in the lanes.
Access
We have not checked the pottery's paths or the church. The pottery's yard is outdoors among stacks of pots, so expect uneven ground, and ask the pottery about step-free access before you go.
Map of Whichford
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Places near Whichford

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