Walk around Cotswold Sculpture Park

I haven’t managed many days out this year, but finally a bank holiday coincided with opening times, so I decided to visit Cotswold Sculpture Park for the first time.

For me it’s just over an hour to drive, in Somerford Keynes just outside Cirencester. Avoiding the bank holiday traffic and arriving just after 10.30 opening time worked well. No hold ups on the roads, and plenty of parking on arrival. 

Cotswold Sculpture Park is quite unassuming (I nearly missed the entrance), but once you walk in you’re hit with a really tall junkyard style sculpture of a car above a tree. 

Tickets are bought from a quirky caravan, which sits alongside the small kiosk cafe and gallery shop.  Toilets are around sculptures number 30, so be prepared for a quick walk there first if you’ve been travelling a while with young children.

I paid £10 for entry, and you get a booklet with all the sculptures numbered in, along with prices if you’re in the market for adding a sculptural feature to your garden or even house!  

It’s easy to follow the path around the gardens and woodland areas, just follow the sculpture numbers. 

There’s a mix of sculptures, from small to large. They’re made from a variety of materials, and there’s such a variety from abstract to wildlife, to shapes, mirrors, and people.  On each plinth or nearby there’s a QR code so you can find out more about the piece. 

I really liked the mirrored sculptures, and there were plenty of wildlife ones to spot. Many made use of nature around them, reflecting the sky or plants Some had quirky little features you could spot.

The trippy flower ones were a bit random and didn’t fit quite as well as everything else. They looked a bit cartoon like, and something children would draw.

There’s a lovely lake to walk round, which also included water or swimming themed sculptures which was clever. A swimmer, diver and flying waterfowl.

Off the pamphlet list, there were also other sculptures you could spot around the park, hidden in the undergrowth or trees. So you can watch out for those.

It felt like I missed a few out, so there were some areas, where the numbers and obvious walkways were a bit off.  I had to backtrack a few times to make sure I didn’t miss any when they were in a clearing.

There was also an additional walkway area in the woodland area focused on Zimbabwean sculptures which I really liked too.

The end of the walk goes through the woods to emerge near the garden areas and circular display area.

The toilets are basic – I’m not sure baby changing was catered for. It definitely wasn’t in the toilet I went in. But it was clean and not smelly.

At the end I decided to get a drink and snack from the cafe. The menu is limited and you find that on the undercover tables, then order at the window. Or I just ordered my drink and chose a cake from those on display. My flapjack was nice, but my hot chocolate wasn’t the best. It’s a nice covered picnic table spot to stop before heading off home. 

Visiting Cotswold Sculpture Park

I paid £10 for entry, kids are £8 (age 6-14), younger is free. There were a few people walking around with children, but I’m not sure many of them were really enjoying themselves very much. It may be better for older children with an interest in art rather than younger ones. Otherwise it’s just a walk.

Cotswolds Sculpture Park opens April to September, Thursdays to Mondays, 10.30am to 5pm.

Once you get near, there are easy signs to follow.  The car park is reasonably sized, but the spaces are divided by logs, so they’re not the widest. And they can’t cater for large motor homes. So you’d have to visit by walking, cycling or public transport instead.

They don’t let dogs in, and you can’t take picnics in either.

I really enjoyed my walk around the sculpture park. It was something a bit different to see, especially in Spring with all the blossom and flowers blooming.

If you’re in the area, why not try these other places to visit nearby:

• Cotswold Farm Park
• Cotswold Wildlife Park
• Chedworth Roman Villa
• Bourton on the Water