Chedham's Yard

Chedham’s Yard is a collection of workshops, garden and visitor centre in Wellesbourne, a village three miles east of Stratford-on-Avon. The site began as a small blacksmith’s forge in the early 20th century before falling into disuse. In 2006 it won the BBC Restoration Village competition, which brought national attention and funds for its rescue. Planning permission arrived in November 2009 and the yard reopened as a visitor and education centre. On 16 June 2012 the gates opened to the public for the first time. The yard is worth the journey because it preserves working machinery and skills from the past. Visitors can watch blacksmiths, wheelwrights and farriers at work in their original workshops. The garden contains heritage fruit trees and vegetables grown in the same way for decades. School groups come to learn about rural crafts and the changes that shaped the countryside. The site also hosts seasonal events such as steam rallies and vintage fairs. Inside the visitor centre there is a small museum with tools and photographs from the yard’s history. Outside, paths lead past the forge, wheelwright’s shop and farriery, each still arranged as it was in use. The garden displays traditional varieties of apple, pear and plum, and a small orchard of rare local trees. Visitors leave with a sense of how a rural workshop yard functioned before modern machinery arrived.