Tree of Strings Abbotsbury Festival 2026 Access Guide

Introduction

Tree of Strings welcomes everyone, and access and inclusion are at the heart of our planning. This guide contains information about accessing our events and the facilities available to our audiences.

Travelling to the festival

By car: Parking is available in the village. You can find further details in the Parking section of this guide.

By bus: The nearest bus stop is Swan Inn, Abbotsbury, 0.25 mile / 400 metres to the Tithe Barn.

First Bus X53 runs to Abbotsbury from Weymouth Bus Station, Axminster Station, Lyme Regis and Bridport Bus Station.

During the summer months the service is enhanced to hourly from Weymouth and Bridport on weekdays, with additional journeys on Bus X52. Please check the First Bus website before travelling.

By bike: Abbotsbury is a short detour off the National Cycle Route 2. Click here for more information.

Parking

Village Car Park

The main car park for the event is the Abbotsbury Village Car Park on Rodden Row.
The car park is on level ground, with a rough, stoney surface.
It is a charged car park, with pay and display machines and payment options using the Pay-by-Phone app.

From the Village Car Park it is a 100 metre / 2 minute walk to the Church.
Upon exiting the car park, the footpath is gravel and on a fairly level gradient. There is a small gate that leads into the church graveyard, where the path is made up of flagstones. The route is level, however the flagstones are uneven in places.

To walk from the village car park to the Tithe Barn, follow the signs towards ‘Abbey Farm’.
This is a 280 metre / 5 minute route, with a footpath all the way. The route follows a fairly steep incline down to the Tithe Barn. The path is mainly made up of light gravel. It’s well maintained, but uneven in places.

Accessible Parking

For the Tithe Barn

There are three accessible parking bays on the opposite side of the lake to the Tithe Barn.
From here it is a 45 metre walk to the Tithe Barn along a fairly level gradient.

For the Church

On the drive approaching the Abbey House Guest House there is a grass area on the right hand side. Here it is possible to accommodate 3-4 accessible parking bays. From here it is a 50m walk, through the church graveyard to the entrance of the Church.

Accessible drop-off

There is no event parking directly at the Tithe Barn itself, however there is a drop-off point available immediately in front of the main entrance to the Tithe Barn.

Toilets

There are male and female toilets available in the courtyard at the Tithe Barn. There are also gender-neutral accessible toilet facilities here, with baby changing facilities.

Food and Drink

Cherries cafe is part of the same Abbey Farm site as the Tithe Barn. They serve delicious homemade food using local ingredients. There are a small number of other cafes, restaurants and pubs in Abbotsbury. For more information visit the Abbotsbury Village website – https://www.abbotsbury.co.uk/where-to-eat/

Information Point

Our information point will be located in front of the Tithe Barn, should you require any information or assistance during your visit to the festival.
Our friendly team of staff and volunteer stewards will be on hand at each of the venues to welcome you and provide assistance.

Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs are welcome across all our venues. Please be aware that as a live music event, there may be moments of loud sound.

Venue Information

The Tithe Barn

The Tithe Barn has a gravel yard immediately in front of the building, leading to the main doors.
At the entrance to the barn there is a slightly uneven ramped surface leading through the doors.
Once inside, the barn has a level, solid wooden floor throughout.
The events in the Tithe Barn will be seated and provision will be made for dedicated wheelchair spaces. The nearest toilet is in the courtyard directly outside the Tithe Barn.

St Nicholas Church

The path leading through the graveyard to the main entrance of the church is made up of level flagstones, uneven in places. There is step-free access to the graveyard via the path leading from the Abbey House Guest House.

If you are accessing the churchyard via the gate on Church Street, please note that this gate has a small step. There is also a small step leading into the church doors. However, this will be ramped for our events.

Inside the church there is a level, tiled floor throughout. Audience seating is on church pews and there will be designated space made available for wheelchair users.

Please be aware: there are no toilet facilities in the church. The nearest facilities are in the Abbey Farm courtyard, immediately in front of the Tithe Barn (approx. 160 metres).

Abbey Farm Flowers

Over the weekend of the festival there will be workshops held at Abbey Farm Flowers. This is a small barn space usually used as a shop. There is step-free access into the barn and the inside has a level concrete floor throughout.

Please be aware: there are no toilet facilities at Abbey Farm Flowers. The nearest facilities are in the Abbey Farm courtyard, immediately in front of the Tithe Barn (approx. 65 metres).

St Catherine’s Chapel

The chapel sits at the top of a steep hill and is only accessible on foot.
The footpath leads up a steep incline from the village of approximately ½ mile.
The footpath path to the chapel can be reached via Chapel Lane (next to the Spar shop), off Market Street in the centre of the village.

The route starts as a gravel path and leads on to a grass track through a field.
Please be aware: the path takes you through land grazed by cattle, so please keep dogs on leads.

There is no seating at the chapel and standing room for a limited number of audience.

Toilet facilities at the chapel.

The nearest toilets are the Back Street public toilets in the village centre, where there are male and female facilities and an accessible toilet with radar key.
There are also toilet facilities at the Tithe Barn.