Christian Holiday Cottage, Oxfordshire — On the Thames Path
This charming Christian holiday cottage, Oxfordshire, is a Victorian Gothic gem tucked into a quiet corner of Wallingford’s conservation area, just two minutes’ walk from the Market Place yet peaceful enough to feel like a proper retreat. Light and south-facing, the whole cottage sleeps up to five across three bedrooms, with a walled garden for morning coffee and a kitchen left stocked with essentials so you can arrive and simply settle in without a shopping trip first. Prefer something smaller? A private double room with its own bathroom is also available on its own, ideal for a solo visit or a couple wanting somewhere central without the whole cottage — and either way, you’re on the Thames Path itself, with boat and kayak hire, an outdoor pool and splash park, and a stretch of riverbank all within easy walking distance.
Wallingford itself carries far more history than its gentle market-town feel suggests. Its castle, built soon after the Norman Conquest, became one of the most formidable royal strongholds in medieval England — so strong that it withstood every siege thrown at it during the twelfth-century civil war known as the Anarchy. It was outside these castle walls in 1153 that the Treaty of Wallingford was struck, the agreement that finally ended nearly fifteen years of conflict between King Stephen and Empress Matilda and paved the way for her son to become King Henry II. The bridge that still carries traffic across the Thames here has its own long memory of that same conflict: a crossing is first recorded in 1141, when Stephen besieged the castle, and several of the bridge’s nineteen arches still contain genuine 13th-century stonework.
Just along St Peter’s Street itself, where the cottage stands, is St Peter’s Church, easily recognised by its slender 18th-century spire rising above the Thames. The church was rebuilt after Civil War damage, with the distinctive spire added in 1776 largely at the urging — and expense — of Sir William Blackstone, the judge and legal scholar whose Commentaries on the Laws of England went on to shape legal thinking on both sides of the Atlantic, including among America’s Founding Fathers. Blackstone lived nearby and is buried in a vault beneath the church he helped to complete, and the building is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and open to visitors through the summer months.
Wallingford has one more well-kept literary secret. Agatha Christie lived quietly on the edge of the town, at Winterbrook House, for more than forty years until her death in 1976, writing several of her best-known novels there while doing her own shopping in town under her married name and rarely being troubled by locals who knew perfectly well who she was. She’s buried a short drive away in the churchyard of St Mary’s, Cholsey, where she used to worship, and Wallingford Museum keeps a permanent exhibition on her quiet local life, alongside a bronze statue of her overlooking the Kinecroft.
This Christian holiday cottage, Oxfordshire, is perfect for:
Clergy and church workers wanting a quiet, central base
Families or small groups, with the whole cottage sleeping up to five
Solo guests or couples after just the double room
Anyone happy pottering along the Thames Path, into the Market Place, or across the old bridge into eight centuries of history
For more Christian-friendly places to stay across the South and South East, browse our South and South East England properties. And if Wallingford Castle’s story has caught your interest, Wallingford Museum has more on its history, its Anglo-Saxon origins and the town’s medieval past.
Location
Cornerstone Cottage, 1 St Peter’s Street, Wallingford OX10 0BQ
How to get there:
Local Area
Facilities
Additional Photos
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Costs
Double room: £80 a night
Cottage: £180 a night (minimum six nights)
10% discount is offered to clergy and paid church staff.
Energy Provision: Charges included in tariff.
Availability
By arrangement or AirBnB.
Whole cottage now available from 7-18 September due to a cancellation.
Arrival and Departure times:
Arrival after 5.00 pm, departure before 10.00 am – though flexible on this.
No pets or smoking please.
Contact the Owner
If you are interested in making a booking, or you would like further information, please get in touch using the following contact details:
Name: Susie
Address: Cornerstone Cottage, 1 St Peter’s St, Wallingford OX10 0BQ
Phone Number: 07808 77022
Email Address: suewilmot@hotmail.com
Website:
Double room: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/861337425732587057