Events Search and Views Navigation
June 2025
Guest event – In The Footsteps of The Mitfords
The Mitford sisters were writers, travellers and political archivists with dramatically differing views. Following their previous sell-out success, In The Footsteps Of The Mitfords returns, as Scary Little Girls and Chipping Norton Theatre bring the experiences, opinions and relationships of the celebrated sisters to life through their letters, fiction, and memoirs. All in the stunning setting of their childhood home, Asthall Manor, near Burford. Booking essential, dress for all weathers and bring footwear you can explore in! The walk includes…
Find out more »Dawn Chorus Walk
Come and join the early morning joy of birdsong on a walk through our woodland paths and meadows. Your guide will be Adrian State, local conservationist and bird expert. And, to reward you for the early start, you'll be treated to a delicious veggie breakfast in our guest kitchen before you go home. Birds we've heard this year include spotted fly-catchers, reed warblers, chiffchaff and blackcap, as well as numerous tits, wrens, thrushes and finches of various kinds. This event…
Find out more »Kitchen Garden Workshop: Making Compost and Natural Fertilisers – Turning Waste into Gold
Join us for a workshop on home composting here at Asthall Manor Kitchen Garden. Complete beginners through to keen amateurs all welcome. In this all-day workshop you will learn the basics of different composting systems alongside a bit of helpful theory. You will also carry out some fun, practical work to apply your learning and to help keep us warm. Good, home-based or community-based composting is one of the key but often missing links to achieving the growing of healthy,…
Find out more »Kitchen Garden Workshop – Let Food be thy Medicine
Hippocrates, the founder of Western Medicine, was famous for saying, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. In a world of fast food, processed food and obesity as an epidemic, food as medicine is now more important than ever. But is eating ‘vegetables’ enough? How can we make sure that we are getting the most nutrition possible out of our plants? Join Jean Smith, social anthropologist and keen vegetable grower, for Let Food be thy Medicine. On…
Find out more »River and Landscape Walk- Asthall Manor Woodlands and Meadows
Come and join our FREE event! Organised by Mid Windrush Land and Nature Group and Supported by Oxfordshire County Council Attractions include: Refreshments (cold drinks and biscuits) Browse our informationdisplays and chat with other local nature lovers See Harry the Draught Horse at work Tour round the Manor Gardens and Meadow Hear a short talk about the river Observe and learn about a range of aquatic minibeasts Learn about our local water quality and testing Sorry, no dogs allowed.…
Find out more »July 2025
Guest Event – HandleBards production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
Please note: Gates Open at 6pm for picnics, but the play will begin a little after 7pm. No entry to the site before 6pm. Pedalling from venue to venue with all of their set, props and costumes on the back of their bikes, the HandleBards are a four-strong troupe of actors who are spending the summer bringing environmentally sustainable Shakespeare to venues across the UK. Join the troupe at Asthall Manor for a bicycle-powered production of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado…
Find out more »Kitchen Garden – Nature & Environment Book Club
Come and join us at the second meeting of the Asthall Manor Kitchen Garden Nature & Environment Book Club. At our first meeting we discussed Dave Goulson’s, Silent Earth and decided the titles for July & November. We are pleased to announce that in July we will be reading and discussing Tony Juniper's recent book, Just Earth. How a fairer world will save the planet. We can’t fight the climate and nature crises without addressing the ever-widening gaps between the rich…
Find out more »August 2025
Making Connections – A day to explore connections and work together
Join us at Asthall Manor on Saturday 2nd August 10am-4pm. The aim of the day is to encourage local projects to make connections and work collaboratively to increase their impact locally and globally. By using the framework of Doughnut Economics it will be possible to explore ways we can collectively work toward a safe and thriving world. Included in the day: Apart from presentations and activities connected to the core values of Doughnut Economics there is the opportunity to:…
Find out more »‘Shaped by Nature’ with artist Kieran Stiles
Peter Lanyon was inspired by the areas of landscape where elements meet. Where water meets land, clouds with a cliff, or rain with a woodland. Working from initial studies made of the lake in the gardens of Asthall Manor, explore oil painting techniques and methods of abstraction pioneered by Lanyon which included drawn motifs such as circles, arcs and other geometric forms and textures inspired by structures in the natural world. These motifis replaced topologically correct traditions of representation, incorporating…
Find out more »September 2025
Lie Down and Listen – A Quiet Arbour
3pm- Afternoon Delight 6pm- Evening Sunset “There is the music of heaven in all things" Hildegard Von Bingen Join Christina McMaster for a peaceful and inspiring afternoon in a deeply calming and soul restoring experience of sound, baroque music, poetry and nature. You’ll be guided through the beautiful gardens as you listen to the sounds of nature and of stillness. This journey, curated by John Woollcombe, will take you to a place of connection and healing for body, mind and…
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