Well Cottage is in Ledwell — the next hamlet over from Great Tew, a four-minute drive through single-track lanes. The Falkland Arms on the green is your local. Great Tew is one of England's prettiest villages: thatched ironstone cottages, an ancient church, an honesty box at the village shop.
Great Tew is the nearest village to Well Cottage and one of the most photographed in all the Cotswolds, a cluster of thatched, ironstone cottages overlooking the Worton Valley. Largely laid out in the 19th century by landscape gardener John Loudon as part of a picturesque estate, it has an unusually unspoilt, storybook quality and is regularly named among England's most beautiful villages. At its heart sits the 16th-century Falkland Arms on the green, with the Quince and Clover café and the medieval Church of St Michael and All Angels close by. Just a few minutes' drive or a gentle walk from the cottage, it is the perfect place to start a country ramble or while away an unhurried afternoon.
Great Tew is one of those villages that stops you mid-sentence. The ironstone cottages, their walls the colour of dark honey, were laid out in the early nineteenth century by the landscape designer John Claudius Loudon as a model estate village, and the result feels less like somewhere people actually live and more like a stage set that got out of hand beautifully. The green is framed by thatched rooflines, and in summer the whole picture softens under long grass and wildflowers. At the heart of it sits the Falkland Arms, a sixteenth-century pub with low beams, stone flags and a fire that barely seems to go out whatever the season. It's the sort of place where you order a pint of local bitter and find yourself still there two hours later. On summer weekends, cricket is played on the green proper, and watching a match from the pub garden with a drink in hand is one of those afternoons that's hard to improve on.
Great Tew is barely five minutes by car from Well Cottage, which makes it easy to visit often rather than just once. The Great Tew Estate woodland walks are worth doing early in the morning before the village gets busy, and the paths are well-signposted from the car park near the green. If you're combining a walk with lunch, the Quince and Clover farm shop and café is open most days and does a short, honest menu built around local produce. It's a good first stop after arriving at the cottage too, useful for stocking up on bread, cheese and things worth having in. If you're timing a visit around sport, the Great Tew Cricket Club plays home matches through the summer season and the fixture list is usually posted on the village noticeboard. The village gets a little busier on weekends in June and July, so a weekday morning visit has its own quieter appeal.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.