Cherwell Boathouse

Cherwell Boathouse on Bardwell Road in North Oxford was built in 1904 by Thomas Tims, the university's boat-builder, as a working punt station on the River Cherwell, and traded for decades as Tims' Boathouse. The Verdin family bought the site in 1968 and still owns and runs it, with brothers Johnny and Arthur now in charge. Around eighty handmade wooden punts are available for hire by the hour or day, self-driven or with a chauffeur, alongside rowing boats and Canadian canoes. A restaurant and tea hut operate from the same Edwardian boathouse building, and the site hosts weddings and private events through the summer. The boathouse opens seasonally from mid-March to mid-October, daily from 10am until dusk, with later hours in peak summer months.