There's so many exciting, new things to shout about, but here are just a few highlights of what’s new in the Cotswolds. For a full list please download What’s New in the Cotswolds, 2019 and beyond!

Cogges Manor in Witney will receive a huge makeover in 2019 thanks to a £900k Heritage Lottery Fund award.  The project will reveal Cogges’ untold story for visitors, schools and community groups from across the county, including improvements to buildings and spaces, new displays and a programme of activities and events to encourage people to get more involved in their local history and environment. It will culminate in the building of a Saxon roundhouse, creating opportunities for volunteers and young people to gain new skills – securing the future of Cogges for the future. 

2019 sees work to restore the oldest Tudor walled gardens in England.  Thornbury Castle’s Head Gardener Katie Engler is bringing the gardens and estate back to life as a productive and historically true Tudor garden.  The project has already seen the creation of a working kitchen garden producing fruit and vegetables for the hotel restaurant and the start of a three year orchard project planting heritage fruit varieties.  In 2019 she plans to transform the Howard family graveyard, create a new camellia border within the rose garden and add a Victorian finch aviary, as well as renovating the garden shop so guests can buy their own honey, eggs and produce. 

Work will continue on a major facelift for William Morris’s Cotswolds home in 2019.  Having received substantial HLF funding, The Society of Antiquaries plan to double visitor numbers to Kelmscott Manor – the former retreat of William Morris.  Work includes improving the existing facilities, reinterpreting the house and wider estate, and carrying out vital conservation work. 

Thyme has undergone a year of developments, creating a beautiful new botanical spa nurturing peacefulness, stillness and beauty from within. Working with natural British brand, Aurelia Probiotic Skincare, there’s a bespoke menu of Thyme treatments and a fresh spring water swimming pool using water taken from the natural underground water source flowing deep below the farm meadows. Also new to Thyme is The Lodge – with 9 bedrooms each with its own individual character. 

2019 will see the full launch of a new destination for diners, golfers and those wishing to overnight in the Northern Cotswolds. Feldon Valley launched its new bar in July 2018 and followed this up with a fine dining restaurant in September.  The hotel was completed at the end of 2018 and positions the business well to take full advantage of 2019.  The team want to develop a reputation for perfect service in a modern, contemporary Cotswold setting and to welcome all visitors.  They pride ourselves on the warm atmosphere and getting the little things right! 

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Slimbridge 2020 – the ground breaking three-year Heritage Lottery Fund project at WWT Slimbridge continues apace with a range of new, exciting exhibits to showcase wetland wildlife in the birthplace of modern conservation. From late summer 2019, the Living Wetland Theatre will open its doors to visitors with the opportunity to meet many of our colourful wetland species up close and see free-flight bird demonstrations!  There’ll also be the chance to experience the Northern Arctic Russian tundra through a new immersive Tundra Zone.  Open from spring 2019, visitors will be able to step inside a typical research station and participate in all sorts of family-friendly activities surrounded by migratory birds and the typical sights and sounds of the wild tundra landscape.

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A two-week excavation is set to take place in May 2019 at Sudeley Castle to further explore a site which experts believe could reveal one of England’s last surviving Tudor gardens – hidden in the castle grounds for nearly 300 years. Further explorations of a mound, discovered in the middle of the field, could also confirm that it was once the site of a temporary banqueting house and the location of a huge celebration by Elizabeth I as part of her progress around the country to mark her victory over the Spanish Armada. Members of the public are now being invited to join a team of archaeologists from social enterprise company, DigVentures, for the excavation in May, and help uncover more of the site’s secrets. This discovery ties in beautifully with the 2019 Festival of Archaeology – part of the 75^th anniversary of the Council for British Archaeology.  www.sudeleycastle.co.uk

The Corinium Museum, Cirencester, has commenced “Stone Age to Corinium: Discover the Archaeology of the Cotswolds”, which is a Heritage Lottery funded redevelopment project due to be completed in 2020. The project will create new interactive and modern prehistory and early Roman galleries; a new garden with seating linking to the adjacent café; a new welcome desk for all visitor enquiries; an improved visitor journey from arrival to departure; and a new Discovery Centre for a range of learning activities for public engagement.