Cripps Barn sits deep in the Coln Valley near Bibury, a few miles east of Cirencester, and it has the sort of approach that makes people slow the car down — ancient woodland on one side, rolling meadow on the other, and an 18th-century Cotswold stone barn waiting at the end of the lane. It was converted in 1990 and was the first of the Cripps & Co venues, which means the family have had a long time to work out exactly what a barn wedding ought to feel like. Inside it’s all flagstone floors, heavy timber beams, candlelight and a fireplace big enough to genuinely matter in February.
Eating, drinking and the shape of the day
The food is a real reason people book here. Everything is cooked in-house over open flame, on signature barbecues and French rotisseries, and it tends to arrive as feasting boards rather than plated portions — whole lambs, suckling pig, butterflied leg, rotisserie chicken — which does more for the mood of a room than almost anything else you can arrange. There’s a properly considered wine list and a set of house spirits to go with it, and since outside caterers aren’t part of the arrangement, that’s one decision you can simply hand over.
Outside, the trees are strung with lights, there are fire pits, lanterns and a bonfire for the colder end of the evening, and an oak pavilion in a woodland glade if you’d rather say your vows under open sky. The barn itself is licensed for civil ceremonies and the glade gives you an outdoor option, so the day can be shaped around the weather rather than in spite of it. There’s no accommodation on site, but Bibury and the villages around it are well supplied, with the New Inn and the Stump both a short hop away.
Where the band plays
The main barn does the heavy lifting: around 150 for a seated wedding breakfast and up to 200 once the evening guests arrive. Stone walls and a beamed roof give a live band real warmth and body, and because the room runs long rather than square, a band set up at the far end keeps the dancefloor and the bar in comfortable conversation with each other. Cripps have installed a Funktion-One system, so the in-house sound is a good deal better than the barn average, and a band bringing its own PA will find the room forgiving rather than boomy.
How the evening tends to run
Evenings here generally head towards midnight, which is a kind hour for a live band — a first set once the speeches have settled, a break while everyone finds another drink, and a second that finishes with the room still full rather than politely emptying. The venue advertises a licence running later than that, so if you want dancing to carry on past midnight it’s worth confirming the music finish time when you book, since it can sit a little earlier than the bar. Parking is on site and the approach is straightforward for unloading a drum kit and a bass rig, and there’s a backup generator keeping the power steady, which is the kind of thing nobody thinks about until the moment it matters.
Bands available in Gloucestershire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Gloucestershire.
- Gloucestershire Wedding Bands
- Gloucestershire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Gloucestershire
- Wedding DJs in Gloucestershire
- Corporate Entertainment in Gloucestershire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.