Charlbury is a small market town in the Evenlode Valley, in the western part of Oxfordshire. It's not the kind of place that tends to appear in travel features about the Cotswolds - it lacks the honey-coloured showpiece streets of Bourton or Burford - and the Saturday market that runs there every fortnight is, accordingly, not widely written about. That's part of what makes it worth the trip.
The Wychwood market - named for the ancient royal forest that once covered much of this part of Oxfordshire - occupies a small square near the town centre. On a good Saturday it runs to perhaps twenty-five stalls. It's modest by the standards of the larger circuit markets, but size and quality are only loosely correlated in this world.
The producers worth knowing about
The bread stall is a constant. The baker lives a few miles outside Charlbury and uses a wood-fired oven, which produces a crust and crumb that the commercial sourdough revival hasn't really replicated. The loaves sell out consistently by half nine, and arriving at opening is non-negotiable if you want one.
A cheese producer from near Witney brings a small range of soft and semi-soft cheeses made with milk from their own herd. The range changes with the seasons; the summer soft cheeses are particularly good. They're also one of the more forthcoming producers about their farming practices, which makes the stall a useful place to ask questions if you're curious about how small-scale British cheesemaking actually works.
"Small markets develop their own regulars in a way that large events don't. After a few visits, you're no longer a stranger at any of the stalls."
There's a grower who specialises in unusual salad leaves and cut herbs - the kind of varieties you don't find in supermarkets and rarely in other markets either. Sorrel, bronze fennel, several varieties of basil, shiso. The stall is compact and easy to overlook, which would be a mistake.
Getting there and when to go
Charlbury has a railway station on the Cotswold Line, with direct services from Oxford taking around twenty minutes. The market runs fortnightly on Saturdays; dates are posted by the town council. From spring through autumn is the fullest season for produce. Winter markets run on reduced stall numbers but are worth attending for the cheese and the bread alone.
The town itself merits an hour's walk before or after the market. The church is interesting, the streets are quiet and there's a small community-run café near the square that opens on market days.