Our holiday lodges at Cotswold Water Park Retreats are located on Cotswold Water Park, the UKs largest marl lake system, which comprises of something like 170 separate lakes south of Cirencester and north west of Cricklade. It covers an area of around 40 square miles and runs across  the Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire countryside.
A number of our homes are around lake 10, otherwise known as Waters Edge. Mayflower, Waters Edge, Kingfisher, Malachite, Ardross, Lake House and Grebe are all located around the lake 10 which sits between South Cerney and Cerney Wick.
The lakes were formed naturally from old gravel pits that were abandoned in the 70âs which subsequently filled up with water. The lakes are interconnected through a variety of connections including underground culverts, ditches and streams.
Things To Do
One of the things that drew us to the area was that there was always so much going on in the water park including lots of water based activities such as boating, kayaking, windsurfing, paddle boards and also mechanised sports such as skiing and banana boats. But as well as that is so much more – cycling, walking and even paint balling!
Its worth noting that the area is very much a conservation area and has a number of areas set aside as nature reserves. Bird watching is also very popular with the water park being home to thousands of wintering water birds and gulls. There are also bats, nightingales as well as a large population of residential birds. A great source for information is the water parks website which has a wide variety of information
Fishing
Given the number of lakes its not surprising that fishing also forms a very popular activity around the lakes. The tackle den, located on Summer lake, is a great source of knowledge and information as well as providing all the gear and documents you need to fish in the area. Find their website here.
The water park is also home to the largest inland beach in the country – their website is here. In the last couple of years they have had an aqua adventure park – see photo below. They seem to add to it each year so looking forward to 2020!
Eating in the Water Park
Cotswold Water Park has something for everybody. Â Also there some great places to eat and drink including the lovely lakeside brasserie on Spring Lake. A great place to start exploring the water park is at the Gateway Cafe and Information Centre. The centre is located next to the De Vere Hotel and next door to Cotswold Outdoors
Check out our own page on things to do!