Forsythia Cottage is a charming, Grade II listed cottage that dates back to the 17th century. It forms part of one of the original terraces situated within the peaceful backwaters of Bourton-on-the-Water’s picturesque High Street. The cottage sleeps three guests in two bedrooms, with a family shower room. It has open-plan living-dining area with a woodburner effect fireplace, and a fully equipped kitchen to one side. Outside is a long, sunny courtyard garden with armchairs to enjoy a coffee or sundowner and a table with four chairs for al fresco entertaining. Unusually, for a cottage so close to the town’s attractions, there is private, off-street parking for one vehicle.
Full Description
As you pull up onto the gravel drive, you may be lucky to arrive during the season when the yellow forsythia flowers growing around the front door of the cottage are flourishing and lend their name to this delightful, mid-terrace holiday home in the heart of the Venice of the Cotswolds.
Forsythia is the perfect bolthole for a romantic getaway for a couple, for a family with one child or a group of three adults. The cottage is fitted with every convenience needed for a self-catering stay, from the small but very well laid out living-dining area with its fully equipped kitchen to the two comfortable bedrooms – one standard double and one single - and family shower room.
Head through the back door from the main living area to the immaculate courtyard patio. Here you’ll find two rattan-style armchairs directly outside the kitchen, while further up the courtyard, up one step, is a stone bench and a circular table with four chairs.
Ground Floor
Entrance Hall: Step through the front door into a small hallway where there is a large understairs cupboard with hooks for coats and space for boots. Inside you will also find the highchair, cushions for the outside chairs, and cleaning and ironing equipment.
Kitchen-Living-Dining Area: This small and cosy, open-plan room has been cleverly designed to provide everything guests during their self-catering stay while maintaining the 17th Century feel of the cottage. The Living Area has two comfy sofas with a gas-fired woodburner-effect stove set on an original stone hearth. At the far end of the room is the Dining Area with a square dining table, two chairs and cushioned window seat, with a lovely view out to the courtyard garden, and a smart TV in the far corner. The fully equipped Kitchen is to one side, with units creating a half-height division between the cooking area and Living-Dining Area. The Kitchen has an electric oven and hob, fridge and freezer, microwave, washing machine and all the small appliances needed for a self-catered holiday.
A back door, complete with a full set of antique keys, leads out to the delightful, sunny courtyard garden – making it easy and convenient for carrying out food and drinks for outdoor entertaining.
First Floor
Carpeted stairs with a handrail lead up to:
Bedroom One: This pretty bedroom overlooks the front of the cottage and features a single bed on an ornate bed frame with a bedside table and reading lamp to one side and an armchair and footstool to the other. The room has a custom-built wardrobe with hanging space and a dressing table area with lighting, drawers and a large mirror.
Bedroom Two: The cottage’s main bedroom is a delightfully romantic room, featuring a standard double bed on a Victorian-style bedframe and two windows providing views down to the courtyard garden. Either side of the bed is a bedside table and reading lamp, while behind are shelves stacked with a great choice of books to enjoy during your stay. The bedroom has an in-built wardrobe with hanging space and shelves and a dressing table with a stool, lighting, a large mirror, make-up mirror and hairdryer. (The travel cot is stored in the wardrobe.)
Family Shower Room: The compact family shower room is equipped with a cubicle shower, a toilet, a wash basin, with a vanity unit and mirror, and a heated towel rail.
Outside
To the front of the cottage is a private, gravelled drive, with parking for one car (or two very small cars parked end-to-end) – a huge asset in the popular village!
At the rear of the cottage, through the back door off the kitchen-living area, is a private, sunny and delightful courtyard garden. It has two seating areas: one immediately outside the back door, with two rattan-style armchairs and a low table – the ideal spot for a morning coffee or evening sundowner; and the other at the end of the courtyard with a circular table and four chairs and a stone bench. A rotary washing line is provided for guests’ use.
Full List of Facilities
Indoor
Bedroom One - Double
Bedroom Two - Single
1 Bathroom - Shower room
Hairdryer - 1
Fire - Gas
Oven
Hob
Microwave
Toaster
Kettle
Fridge
Freezer
Dining table - Seats 3
Washing machine
Iron
WiFi *Please note that speeds are for guidance only and are not guaranteed - 25-49 Mbps
TV - Smart - Netflix included
Travel cot (cot linen not provided) - 1
Highchair - 1
Outdoor
Garden
Outdoor dining area
No BBQ available
Parking - Off-road parking for 1 car
On your Doorstep
Supermarkets and Shopping:
The nearest supermarket is Bourton-on-the-Water’s Co-Operative Food, an 18-minute walk (1 mile). It is well-stocked for all the essentials you will need during your stay. There is also a Londis a bit closer to the house (0.6 miles) which is again perfect for store cupboard essentials. Bourton-on-the-Water houses some fantastic shops including a bakery, coffee shops, and Christmas shop! A Tesco Superstore and a small M&S Food can be found in Stow-on-the-Wold (5 miles.)
Eating Out:
There is a good section of pubs and restaurants in Bourton-on-the-Water
Lords of the Manor, Upper Slaughter (3 miles)
Old Butchers, Stow-on-the-Wold (4.5 miles)
Walks:
Right in the middle of the glorious rolling Cotswold hills, keen walkers have plenty of choice when it comes to walks that lead straight from the village centre. A wonderful circular village walk, leading from the village’s Visitor Information Centre, is highly recommended and allows you to really appreciate Bourton-on-the-Water’s rich heritage, taking you past key sites, buildings, and monuments as you stroll. For those keen to explore the surrounding villages, a circular walk following the Windrush and Gloucestershire Ways through to the villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter offers a gentle pace that totals 4 miles in distance; perfect for those not looking for anything too strenuous. More hard-core ramblers should give the 9-mile circular trek from Bourton through Naunton and the Slaughters a go.
Places to Visit:
The Model Village (0.5 miles)
Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens (11.5 miles)
Cotswold Motor Museum (0.7 miles)
Travel:
Train - Moreton-in-Marsh station (9 miles) or Kingham station (7 miles), both have direct trains from London.
There is so much to discover in the Cotswolds, why not have a look at some of our favourite Bolthole Retreats Experiences
Points of Note
Book with us to get exclusive discounts to top attractions and experiences.
There is parking on the driveway in front of the cottage for one car.
The stairs up to the bedrooms and bathroom are steep (though there is a sturdy handrail), which makes this cottage inadvisable for guests with restricted mobility.
Pets are not accepted at the cottage.
There is no BBQ available at Forsythia Cottage and guests are not permitted to provide their own.
We stayed in the middle of town and the cottage was so adorable!
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Gini
| 23/06/2024
The cottage is in a fantastic location and everything is walking distance making life with a toddler so much easier! We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely recommend it to anyone!
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Reema
| 21/06/2024
Excellent location steps from the river and main part of town. Lovely views and backyard and car park on premises was very useful.
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Matt
| 08/06/2024
Loved the location, so near everything and yet peaceful. Loved the cottage, it was so clean and fresh, it felt very welcoming and so cosy, home from home. Loved the garden area too, nice to have privacy.
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Carol
| 20/04/2024
Great little spot in a great little village. Perfect spot for exploring the Cotswolds. Car space a big bonus.
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Craig
| 27/03/2024
Location
Bourton-on-the-Water is rightfully one of the Cotswolds most visited villages with a wealth of attractions, delightful shops and eating establishments to suit everyone’s taste. The River Windrush flows through the centre, and is spanned by several, low arched bridges flanked by wide village greens and lovely period Cotswold stone buildings, giving the village its well-known moniker of Venice of the Cotswolds. Forsythia is less than a minute’s walk from the river and its beautiful bridges, making it the perfect place to visit all the sights, including the Model Village, Birdland Park and Gardens, the Motor Museum, the Dragonfly Maze and the Cotswold Brewing Company.