Cotswold Sculpture Park
We visited the Cotswold Sculpture Park last weekend. The park is the sort of place which you live close to for years, and on first visiting, wonder why you haven’t been before. It was, quite simply, a magical experience. The ten-acre site hosts sculpture from a range of artists. Pieces are distributed around the park; in glades, gardens, woodlands, and pond areas. Paths are marked clearly, without feeling intrusive, and we spotted a range of birds and insects enjoying the space alongside us as we walked.
The entrance system allows people to maintain appropriate distance while waiting to check in. It didn’t take long to get through, and the park is so big that we didn’t feel crowded. Neither was there any pressure to complete our visit in a certain amount of time. And if you need sustenance before, or after your visit, Poppins Tearoom offers a range of food and drinks, including vegan options. There is also a small gallery of work for sale inside the tearoom area.
Using my advice from last week’s post, I decided to rely solely on my mobile telephone camera for this trip. We were handed a list of sculptures and creators before setting off. It was useful both in terms of naming the pieces, and making sure that we didn’t miss any.
We saw some incredible work. There are over 130 pieces, showcasing many different styles and artists. Some abstract, others representative. Pieces in ceramic, others crafted in metal. It is an eclectic collection with something to suit everybody.
This is just a selection of images from our visit, there is much more to see.
I’d struggle to pick a favourite piece, but I did like ‘Ostrich’ by Dave Hartland. Eye-catching, poignant and thought provoking. I saw others also stopping to reflect as they passed.
The terrain was easy to travel, including for our two year old. And his attention didn’t waver as we explored. If you’d like to visit, I recommend the park highly. We will certainly return.
Visitor information is available here: Information for Visitors.
Oh Emma, thankyou so much for this post. It’s certainly somewhere I shall tell Ashley about so hopefully we shall go before too long. I didn’t know about this lovely place. It looks fabulous and little Niall was really enjoying himself, he looks so interested in the sculptures. I love the one of the white doves. Thank you for sharing this and glad you enjoyed your visit. We really do have to support these places, especially at this time.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Eileen. It’s a wonderful place to visit, I’m sure you’d enjoy it.
Thank you very much, Emma, for telling us about this, it looks absolutely amazing. As we are on lockdown / vulnerable+shielding at the moment we won’t be going there straight away, but this is one of the first places I want us to visit “when the world is free”!
Thank you for reading, and taking time time to comment, Trevor. It really is a gem of a place to visit. And when you are out and about again, there are measures in place to ensure people remain at a suitable distance apart from one and other. Take care and hope to see you out and about soon.