Written by Paul Worrall
There’s a version of Cheltenham that most people know — the Regency terraces, the racecourse, the festivals, the slightly self-consciously genteel town centre. And then there’s the Cheltenham that matters to this guide, which is the one that sits inside a county whose relationship with craft and making runs genuinly deep. The Arts and Crafts Movement didn’t just pass through Gloucestershire on its way to somewhere more interesting — it took root here, in the Cotswold villages and studios around Chipping Campden and Cirencester, producing some of the most significent craft work in British history. The Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen, founded in 1933 in direct lineage from that movement, is still operating today in Cheltenham’s Rotunda Terrace. That’s not a heritage claim, it’s a living institution, and it says something about the county’s relationship with making things properly.
I’m Paul Worrall. I spent nearly a decade as Digital Marketing Manager at ARTdiscount, one of the UK’s largest online art retailers, and I now run Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform used by over 36,000 UK artists every week. I haven’t been to Cheltenham, which is another entry on an embarrassingly long list of places I mean to get to. But the research for this guide genuinly made me want to go. If you’re planning visits to nearby cities, also check out our guide to the best art supply shops in Bristol.
1. Strand Arts — Grosvenor Street
Strand Arts on Grosvenor Street is described in their own listing as the only specialist art materials shop in Cheltenham — a claim that’s worth pausing on, because it says something about the fragility of specialist retail in even reasonably well-appointed towns. Run by Nicky, who is consistently praised in reviews for helpfulness and genuine product knowledge, Strand Arts stocks a proper range: Winsor & Newton, Daler-Rowney, Sennelier pastels, Unison pastels, Michael Harding oils, Derwent, Caran d’Ache, Faber-Castell, Pro Arte brushes, Promarkers, Carbothello pastel pencils, a full range of canvases, paper and card, portfolios — the kind of list that tells you a shop is genuinly stocked for working artists rather than someone who’s ordered a job lot of starter sets.
Nicky has introduced home delivery and runs workshops and classes on-site, led by knowledgeable tutors in what reviewers describe as a friendly atmosphere. The combination of a proper materials range, delivery and accessible tuition under one roof is a genuinly useful setup for a regional specialist. Open Monday 10am–4pm, Tuesday to Saturday 9:30am–5pm, closed Sundays — worth checking before making a special trip.
2. The Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen — Rotunda Terrace
Founded in 1933 in direct lineage from the Arts and Crafts Movement that shaped Gloucestershire’s making culture at the turn of the last century, the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen operates a shop on Rotunda Terrace in central Cheltenham that’s been described as one of the finest craft galleries in the South West. All members are professional makers dependent on their craft for income, working across ceramics, glass, woodwork, textiles, jewellery and more — unique, handmade pieces rather than manufactured reproductions.
Reviewers describe the space as light, uncluttered and well-presented, with helpful staff who are clearly knowledgable about the work they’re selling and the makers who produced it. The onsite cafe, lift and parking make it a genuinly accessable destination rather than an afterthought. For artists who want to see what professional maker practice looks like in a regional context — or who want to buy something genuinly worth buying rather than a tourist trinket — this is Cheltenham’s most distinctive creative institution.
Visit the Gloucestershire Guild shop online →
3. GRC Scrapstore and Art Shop — Gloucester
Technically this one is in Gloucester rather than Cheltenham — but at roughly ten miles it’s the same easy trip as Turners Art in Matlock was from Derby, and it’s genuinly worth including. The Gloucestershire Resource Centre Scrapstore and Art Shop is a combined operation: a community scrapstore rescuing surplus materials from industry and manufacture, sold at minimal cost to artists, schools and community groups, alongside a proper small art and craft shop offering the basics to complement whatever creative materials you’ve just found in the scrapstore itself. The tagline — “one, two, three: GO CREATE!” — captures the spirit of the place accurately.
I’ve included community scrapstores in several of these guides and I have consistent enthusiasm for them. The model genuinly serves artists in a way that commercial retail simply can’t — particularly artists who work experimentaly with mixed media, found objects and unconventional materials. The GRC version benefits from having the art shop alongside it, which means you can pick up a bottle of acrylic medium or a sketchbook to go with whatever industrial offcut or surplus fabric you’ve just discovered.
4. Hobbycraft Cheltenham
The honest version of Hobbycraft, consistent with every guide I write: comprehensive for everyday art and craft consumables, limited for serious professional-grade materials. Reviewers specifically praise the wool and yarn selection at the Cheltenham branch and the helpfulness of staff — neither of which changes its fundamental character as a broad-market craft superstore rather than a fine art specialist. For canvases, basic paint sets, sketchbooks, seasonal kits and the kind of restocking that doesn’t require expert advice, it does the job reliably.
Check our Hobbycraft discount code guide before visiting.
5. The Works — High Street
The Works at 101 High Street is the budget end of Cheltenham’s art supplies provision — not specialist, not deep, but genuinly useful for what it is. Starter sets, sketchbooks, colouring supplies and craft kits at prices that make experimenting genuinly risk-free. Worth knowing that The Works stopped selling online nationally back in March, so the Cheltenham store is now in-person only. For parents, teachers and beginners this earns its place.
Worth Knowing About: Jackson’s Art, Gloucester
For artists in Cheltenham wanting access to Jackson’s Art’s full professional range without waiting for online delivery, it’s worth knowing that Jackson’s runs a counter service from their Gloucester warehouse at Waterwells Business Park in Quedgeley — roughly fifteen miles from Cheltenham town centre. It’s not a browse-and-discover shop (products aren’t displayed for browsing, it’s purely counter ordering), but if you know exactly what you want and want to collect same-day rather than wait for shipping, it’s a useful option that most people in the area don’t know about. Details on the Jackson’s website.
A Note on Art Supplies in Cheltenham
Cheltenham has more to offer than its Regency facade might suggest — a genuine specialist with proper professional range, one of the most historically significent craft guilds in the country still operating and selling in the town centre, and a useful combined scrapstore and art shop a short drive away in Gloucester. For a town of its size that’s a reasonable creative ecosystem. The Arts and Crafts connection might be more Cotswolds than Cheltenham town centre, but it runs through the county’s creative culture in a way that’s visible the moment you start looking.
For professional-grade materials and the best current UK prices across all major art retailers, Discount Art Supplies compares prices in real time so you always find the best deal before buying anywhere.
