You won't find turrets or a gift shop here. What you will find is a wide, quiet bowl of grass and ancient earthworks on the edge of one of Oxfordshire's loveliest villages. It's the kind of place where children run in circles and adults stand still, letting the scale of it settle in.
Deddington Castle is not really a castle any longer, which is part of its charm. The stone keep and walls are long gone; what remains is the shape of the thing, a broad Norman motte-and-bailey whose grassy banks and ditches rise unexpectedly from the lane beside Deddington's church. It was built in the years after 1066 by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William the Conqueror's half-brother, as his base of power in Oxfordshire. Later it saw sieges and royal politics before falling into ruin by the fourteenth century. English Heritage maintains the site today, and there's no charge, no barrier, no opening hours to worry about.
The pleasure of visiting is simple. You walk in through a gap in the earthworks, the ground rises around you, and suddenly the village and the road disappear. On a still morning it feels genuinely ancient, just birdsong and the contour of the land. Bring a picnic if the weather's kind. The earthworks make a natural amphitheatre, sheltered from the wind, and the village itself is worth lingering in: Deddington has an excellent farmers' market (fourth Saturday of each month), a handful of good pubs, and the kind of relaxed, well-kept high street that reminds you why people love this part of England.
“Combine this with a wander through Deddington itself and a pint at the Deddington Arms. It's a perfect low-key afternoon, and only about fifteen minutes in the car from the cottage.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.