Visit to Whittington Court

Registering and pre-payment for this event is necessary.

Whittington Court is a small Tudor manor house with Jacobean and later additions, set in beautiful Cotswold countryside 5 miles east of Cheltenham.

The present house, believed to sit on the site of a much earlier Manor, was probably started by Richard Cotton of Carmarthen, with later additions built by subsequent generations of the Cotton family who held the house through the 16th and 17th Centuries. It was clearly substantial because on September 9, 1592, Queen Elizabeth ‘dyned at Mr Cotons at Whytington’ on her Progress through Gloucestershire.

On our visit we will be able to see most of the main rooms including the dining hall which is the most complete part of the early house with its four-centred arch chimneypiece of around 1590 and the library in the east wing with its elaborate and ambitious Renaissance fireplace.

The massive oak staircase, dating from before 1637 with its rare early dog gate, gives access to the first floor of the east wing, originally conceived as a long gallery but now divided into a series of smaller sitting rooms.

Whittington Court has a wonderful collection of textiles which are on display throughout the house. At the very top of the main stairs, visitors can see some of the house’s collection of embroidered and printed 18th-Century dresses.  

The house contains some interesting furniture, notably the trio of Regency library bookcases, as well as collections of glass, ceramics, textiles, minerals and fossils, Egyptian artefacts and books, including a collection of books by The Whittington Press.

On the middle floor is the textile design and block-printing studio of the house’s owner, Jenny Stringer. Everyone is welcome to visit Jenny Stringer’s studio, if interested, where Jenny will demonstrate how block printing is done, how the blocks themselves are carved and show her many designs and textiles.

Each of us will be given a small 'self-guidebook' to enable you to self gravitate to the parts that most interest you. We will also be able to enjoy the gardens and see the Tithe Barn (grade II*) built by Ralph Cotton in 1614, the Stables (grade II*) and St Bartholomew’s Church which dates from the 12th Century or perhaps earlier and might have been the chapel to an earlier house on the same site.

Whilst not included in the admission charge, there will be the opportunity to buy tea and cakes in the Summer House from 3pm onwards, with all proceeds will be going to their local charities. Please note, there will not be a 'card reader' so we are requested to bring cash with us.