Visitors’ guide

Visiting the Centre

Everyone is welcome to visit the Centre, and small groups of up to six* may book a casual visit to see where Dr. Bach lived and worked and explore the house and garden. There is a small £5 fee to visit the Bach Centre which goes towards maintaining Mount Vernon and the garden. Visits are by appointment so please use the link below to book your visit. We have a shop where you can buy remedies, books and various other related items and souvenirs of your visit.

During your visit, you will have the chance to see many examples of Dr. Bach’s hand-made furniture throughout the house, sit in one of his chairs in his consulting room, and learn about the history of his work and the Centre by visiting our museum rooms which are filled with historical artefacts.  This is a self-guided tour so you have the time to look around at your own pace.

While you are in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, you may like to take a walk around the village and to the church, a short walk from the Bach Centre, where Dr Bach is buried.

Please note: We do our best to be open Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 2pm, but we are a very small team and therefore we are not always open.  To avoid disappointment please make sure you book your visit using the link below.

*If you have a larger group, please see our page Bringing a Group to the Centre for details and the options available.

Please note, we are not able to offer consultations.  If you need help in selecting remedies we have a worldwide register of practitioners who are there to help you.

Booking your visit

Please use the “Book” button below to book a time slot to come inside the house and explore all that the Bach Centre has to offer.

The address of Mount Vernon can be found at the bottom of every page of the website.

Opening times

  • Garden, house and shop open to visitors by appointment Tuesday to Friday, 11:00 to 14:00
  • Nora’s Kitchen, our own café is open to visitors from Tuesday to Friday.  Seasonal variations apply.  Summer opening 10:00 to 14:00 (Open to students on all course days from 09:00); Winter: Nora’s Kitchen may be closed between December and April.  Please contact us if you are planning a visit.
  • Telephone: +44 (0)1865 834678 – please note this is an answerphone service only and does not receive messages. If you have a question please email us.
  • Closed completely at weekends and on UK public holidays and between Christmas and New Year.

You can shop online and contact us by email. Our telephone line +44 (0)1491 834678 provides information only and is not answered personally.   If your call is urgent you may leave a message for us to contact you, but the quickest way to have your query answered is by email.  

What to see during your visit

Things to see include:

  • Dr Bach’s consulting room, mother tinctures and hand-made furniture
  • Museums filled with artefacts from Dr. Bach’s time through to the present day, including remedy-making and bottling equipment, photographs and a variety of memorabilia from our past
  • The garden, where you will find many remedy plants as they flower throughout the spring and summer
  • The shop, with a full range of remedies, books and souvenirs
  • Nora’s Kitchen, serving light lunches, sweet treats, teas, coffee, hot chocolate, as well as various cold drinks – including wine and beer.
  • The Bach Centre team

While you’re here take some time to explore the village. Dr. Bach is buried in the churchyard, a short walk from the Centre, and one of his favourite pubs, The Red Lion, is a ten-minute walk away.

Access to the Bach Centre

Mount Vernon is a 19th-century Victorian cottage standing on a raised garden. Access to the front is via steep steps but a wheelchair ramp provides alternative access via the side of the house. Parts of the garden are difficult for wheelchair users and for partially-sighted people because of the narrow and uneven paths.

Dr Bach’s consulting room and other facilities including the seminar room, shop, café and toilets are on the ground floor; one of the toilets is for users in wheelchairs. The museum rooms, however, are located on the first floor up a steep flight of stairs so are not at present accessible to people in wheelchairs.

We want to do all we can to assist visitors who need help. Please contact us in advance of your visit so we can understand your needs.

Dogs

Well-behaved dogs with well-behaved owners are always welcome – this, of course, includes guide and assistance dogs. The latter are welcome in training rooms as well.

Please note, dogs are welcome at Nora’s Kitchen on the decking and outside spaces, but due to hygiene reasons we cannot allow dogs inside the Café.

Please make sure that dogs are kept on a lead at all times.

Families

Children are very welcome, but please supervise young children as the stairs are very steep and the house contains many precious items.  In the garden, there are two deep ponds and some very uneven paths.  The ponds, paths and all the plants that grow in the garden – those in flower and in seed – are important aspects of Mount Vernon’s history, so we do urge you to take care and keep children supervised at all times.

Parking

There is very limited parking at the Centre. We will do our best to guarantee a parking place to visitors with mobility problems who contact us ahead of their visit.

Reading material

The books listed and detailed in our online shop are also available to peruse and purchase at the Centre.  Some Bach Centre publications are available on tape or in Braille from the RNIB. We can provide most Bach Centre leaflets and basic information in large print on request, and there is an audio CD with a an introduction to the Bach system and an explanation of each remedy and the emotional states they address.

Local links

Our village, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, is a brisk 30-minute walk away from the market town of Wallingford. Further afield, Didcot has good rail links to London, and it’s a short drive or train ride to Oxford, one of the most famous University towns in the world.

Visitors’ Guide recommended places to stay

The Bach Centre is in a village called Brightwell-cum-Sotwell. Some of the villagers offer bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Further afield – between ten and twenty minutes by car – there are bed and breakfast places in Wallingford, Crowmarsh, Cholsey, Sires Hill, South Stoke and Wittenham; and a hotel in Wallingford. Some of the further-off bed and breakfast owners offer lifts to the Centre as part of the service.

Please contact the people listed for more information:

  • Andrew and Hilary Punter, The Duck House, Five Acres, Bakers Lane, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, OX10 0PX; +44 (0)7940 912391; [email protected]
  • Amanda Potter, Griffen House, Datchet Green, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon; +44(0)7773 435284
  • Caroline Oakley, Larch Corner, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon; +44 (0)7811 476070; [email protected]
  • Anne Marie Fisher, Peacock Cottage, Slade End, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10; +44 (0)7477 553089; [email protected]
  • Jane Hawker, Lime Tree House, Mackney, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10 0SJ; +44 (0)1491 824121; [email protected]
  • Ann Linton, Waterman's Cottage, Church Lane, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10 0SD; +44 (0)1491 837228, [email protected]
  • Lynn Burridge, Bell Forge, Bell Lane, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10 0QD; +44 (0)1491 833009, [email protected]
  • Oliver Hale, Longwall House, Sotwell Street, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10 0RH; +44 (0)7770 730155, [email protected]; www.airbnb.com
  • Sophie Chandler, The Little Barn, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxon OX10; www.airbnb.com
  • Sue Hollebone, Haddon Acre; +44 (0)1235 812052; [email protected]
  • Katya Stone, 115A Wantage Road, Wallingford OX10 0LT; +44 (0)1491 833019
  • Güde Baird, Victorian House, 19 Castle Street, Wallingford, OX10 8DW; +44 (0)1491 201250; [email protected]; airbnb.co.uk
  • Danny Hearty, 9 St. John's Road, Wallingford OX10 9AD; +44 (0)7764 831 123; [email protected]
  • Steve Holder, The Bungalow, Wallingford; +44 (0)7888 668619; www.airbnb.co.uk
  • Carol and Martin Baker, Little Gables B&B, 166 Crowmarsh Hill, Wallingford, OX10 8BG; +44 (0)1491 837834; [email protected]
  • Patricia Nickson, Marsh House B&B, 7 Court Drive, Shillingford, Oxon OX10 7ER; +44 (0)1865 858496; [email protected]
  • Wendy, Alouette Bed & Breakfast, 2 Caldicott Close, Shillingford, Oxon OX10 7HF; +44 (0)1865 858600; [email protected]
  • Witta’s Ham Cottage, High Street, Long Wittenham, OX14 4QH; +44 (0)1865 407686
  • Carolyn Bristow, The Old School House, 23 Castle Street, OX10 8DW; +44 (0)1491 839571; carolyn.bristow ntlworld.com
  • The George Hotel, Wallingford; +44 (0)1491 836665; [email protected]
  • Travelodge Oxford, Abingdon Road, Oxford, OX1 4XG; +44 (0)8715 591877; www.travelodge.co.uk

Visitors’ Guide recommended places to eat

There are lots of restaurants, take-aways, bakers and sandwich and coffee bars in Wallingford. If you want to stay close to the Centre, however, you can choose from:

  • Nora’s Kitchen, the Bach Centre’s own café, is in a corner of the Mount Vernon garden in what used to be the mother tincture preparation and storage area. Light lunches, sweet treats, hot and cold drinks; vegetarian menu with vegan and gluten-free options.
  • The Root One Café is part of the Root One Garden Centre, and is situated on the other side of the main road, a short walk from the Bach Centre.
  • The Village Store run for and by the villagers. No sandwiches or hot food, but you can buy fresh bread, cheese etc.
  • The Red Lion is Brightwell-cum-Sotwell’s last-remaining pub and is perfect for those staying in or around the village for an evening meal.  Note: no food on Mondays.

This is the Bach Centre’s Visitors’ Guide