Local Attractions – Iford Manor Gardens, Westwood Manor, Freshford and Bradford-on-Avon

Iford Manor Gardens: Just over a mile towards Freshford, you’ll find this Grade I Italian-style garden is famous for its tranquil beauty, and was the home of architect and landscape gardener, Harold Ainsworth Peto from 1899 to 1933. Now home to the Cartwright-Hignett family, this unique and romantic hillside garden is characterised by steps, terraces, sculpture and magnificent rural views. Booking online is recommended to guarantee entry as capacity is often reached at peak times. Note that children under 10 are not permitted in the garden. The gardens are currently closed for winter, reopening April 2026. Please check their website for opening days and times.

Westwood Manor is a National Trust 15th-century beautiful stone manor house with late Gothic and Jacobean windows. Built over three centuries, it has decorative plasterwork, some fine period furniture, 17th- and 18th-century tapestries and a modern topiary garden. It also houses the country’s earliest Italian keyboard instrument in playing order.  Usually open 1400-1700h on the afternoons of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays from April through September, but please check their website before visiting.

Just a little further afield out of Westwood, you’ll find The Courts, which are The National Trust’s gardens at Holt and the National Trust’s house and gardens at Great Chalfield Manor – very close to The Courts. And a little beyond again is Lacock Abbey and Gardens and the enchanting village.

Local Coffee Shops and Pubs (please check websites before visiting)

Westwood‘s pub is “The New Inn”, usually open Wednesday to Saturday 1200-1500 and 1800-2200. Sundays 1200-1600. Please check their opening times on the website.

Iford Manor Café is open year-round. Please check their website for full details and opening times. They also have an award-winning restaurant, Iford Manor Kitchen, open for lunch. Again, please check their website for full details.

If you’re heading back through Freshford there’s the community coffee shop The Galleries – turn left just past the school in the centre of Freshford. Generally open Monday to Friday 0830-1630 and Saturday 0900-1530 and Sundays 0900-1430. Please check the website for current times.

The Inn at Freshford pub now come sunder The Iford Manor Estate and is open Wednesdays (drinks only) then Thursday to Sunday to include food at different times. Please check the website

Bradford on Avon is a charming market town, bustling with individual shops, great choices of restaurants, pubs and tea shops, historic buildings and a canal. Probably the most famous tea shop is the Victorian “Bridge Tea Rooms”. Whether your interest is in architecture dating from the Saxon times, visiting the mid-14th Century Tithe Barn or relaxing over a coffee, there’s something for you.

If visiting Bradford after us, it will probably be easiest if you park at the station car park, turning left at the mini-roundabout (if coming from Downside) just as you’re heading into the town

Bradford on Avon is also a great base from which to explore Bath, Stonehenge, Longleat, Stourhead, Kennet and Avon Canal and more. Bradford is only about 8 miles from Bath, where you can visit the famous Royal Crescent, Roman Baths, Thermae Bath Spa, and many museums, including The Holburne Museum, The Victoria Art Gallery, Number One Royal Crescent and the Jane Austen Centre to give you but a few ideas.

May half-term sees the return of Westwood’s wonderful annual Scarecrow Trail
23 May at 0900h to 31 May at 1900h. This year, the theme is “The wonderful world of Television”
This is a fund-raiser for Westwood with Iford School and Downside are delighted to support with one of the prizes. Check out “Westwood Scarecrow Trail” on Facebook and Instagram.

All information is given in good faith and is a guide to some options for you, but please check out local details before visiting.