Some places are planned stops. Others become the reason you’re glad you took the detour. Broadway Tower was definitely the second kind. Sitting high above the Cotswolds, this little castle-like tower looked almost unreal against the blue sky — and somehow the whole place felt even better in person than it did in the photos.
Why Broadway Tower was worth the stop
We visited Broadway Tower during our Cotswolds weekend, and it ended up being one of my favourite stops of the entire trip. After seeing some of the region’s famous villages packed with visitors, arriving up here felt completely different. There was space, open countryside and enormous views stretching away from the hill — with this wonderfully strange little tower sitting right in the middle of it all.
I hadn’t really come for the inside of the tower, either. For me, the appeal was the setting: walking towards it across the hill, seeing it from different angles and simply spending some time there. It has that slightly romantic, almost fantasy-like quality that photographs struggle to capture.
What actually is Broadway Tower?
Despite looking like a miniature medieval castle, Broadway Tower is actually a folly — a building created largely for decoration and to add drama to the landscape. The idea came from celebrated landscape designer Capability Brown for George William, the 6th Earl of Coventry, and architect James Wyatt designed the distinctive “Saxon” tower. It was completed in 1798.
Its position was no accident. Broadway Tower stands high on Beacon Hill, an ancient beacon site on the Cotswolds escarpment. Wyatt gave it turrets, battlements, balconies and gargoyles, creating something deliberately romantic rather than historically accurate — which probably explains why it looks as though it belongs in a storybook.
The tower later developed a surprisingly colourful history. Sir Thomas Phillipps installed a printing press there in the 19th century, and it became associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, with visitors including William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. The site even played a role in 20th-century defence: a Royal Observer Corps post and later a Cold War nuclear monitoring bunker were established nearby.
The views are half the reason to come
Broadway Tower sits on one of the highest points in the Cotswolds, so the tower itself is only part of the attraction. The surrounding hilltop opens out into huge views across the countryside, and on a clear day it feels as though you can see forever.
I actually preferred being outside, walking around the tower and taking in the landscape rather than rushing to tick off the interior. Every few steps seemed to give me another angle for a photo — and with the tower, the open countryside and that ridiculously blue sky, I probably took far more than I needed. 😆
Do you need to go inside Broadway Tower?
We didn’t go inside Broadway Tower — and I honestly didn’t feel as though we had missed the best part of the visit. For me, the highlight was the tower in its landscape: walking around it, photographing it from different angles and taking in the views from Broadway Hill.
You can pay to enter the tower, where the different floors explore its history and former residents, before reaching the rooftop viewing platform. But if climbing the tower isn’t your thing, Broadway Tower can still be a worthwhile stop simply for the setting and the walk around the estate.
So if you’re planning a Cotswolds road trip and wondering whether it’s worth stopping when you don’t intend to go inside, I’d say absolutely yes. In fact, that’s exactly how we experienced it — and it still became one of my favourite places from the weekend.
Planning your visit to Broadway Tower
📍 Location: Broadway Tower, Middle Hill, Broadway, Worcestershire, WR12 7LB. It’s around a mile south-east of Broadway village, just off the A44 between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh.
🚗 Parking: There’s a large pay-and-display car park on site, with an overflow area during busy periods. At the time of writing, parking costs £3 for up to four hours or £6 for the whole day.
🎟️ Tickets: There are different tickets depending on whether you want to explore the grounds or also visit the Tower Museum and rooftop viewing platform. You can buy tickets online, including on the day of your visit.
🕐 Opening times: The country park and car park are open daily. From April to October, the Tower Museum is normally open from 10am to 5pm, with last admission at 4:45pm. Winter hours are shorter, and opening times can change in severe weather.
🐕 Dogs: Dogs are welcome around the estate and on the circular walk but need to be kept on a lead because of the deer. They aren’t allowed inside the Tower Museum.
☕ Food: There are two cafés on the estate — Morris & Brown and Tower Barn — so you can easily turn a quick tower stop into a longer visit.
Check the official Broadway Tower website for current ticket prices and opening information.
How long should you allow?
If you mainly want to see the tower, walk around the grounds and take some photos, I’d allow around an hour. Give yourself longer if you want to go inside, walk through the deer park, stop at one of the cafés or visit the Cold War nuclear bunker.
Is Broadway Tower worth visiting?
For me, definitely. Broadway Tower was one of those places that looked interesting when I added it to the route but turned out to be far more memorable once we actually arrived. It isn’t a huge attraction that needs half a day — and perhaps that’s part of what I liked about it.
You can walk around the hill, admire the slightly eccentric little tower, look out across the Cotswolds and simply enjoy being somewhere beautiful for a while. You don’t have to turn every stop into a major sightseeing mission.
And that’s probably why Broadway Tower fits One More Stop so well. Sometimes the places you remember most aren’t the ones you built the entire trip around. They’re the ones that make you think, we might as well stop here while we’re passing — and then make you very glad you did.
One more stop nearby…
Broadway Tower works particularly well as part of a Cotswolds road trip rather than as an isolated destination. Broadway village is just down the hill, with its honey-coloured stone buildings, shops and cafés, while Dover’s Hill gives you another excuse to stop for sweeping countryside views.
From there, Chipping Campden is an easy next stop and was part of our route too. If you’re travelling through the northern Cotswolds, it’s very easy to combine several places without spending hours driving between them.
Our route: Stanton → Snowshill → Broadway → Broadway Tower → Dover’s Hill → Chipping Campden → Moreton-in-Marsh
Have you been to Broadway Tower — and did you go inside, or were the views enough for you too? I’d love to know which Cotswolds stop surprised you most.