The main house, a Tudor Gothic villa dating mostly from 1845 with a few earlier remnants,[1] is a large gabled residence in the Cotswold style adjoined by a number of other buildings, providing a facility for meetings, conferences and courses.

There are ten acres (4.0 ha) of woodland bounding the estate, and acres of grass land managed by Stroud Community Agriculture; a Victorian half-walled garden growing fruit, herbs, flowers and vegetables for the house; an award-winning pond and wetlands system processing household output; mature ornamental grounds with a sycamore and beside it the Hawkwood spring.

[2] First records of the estate go back to 1688 when it was part of the parish of Painswick, was known as The Grove and belonged to John Mayo, who died in 1715 leaving it to his daughters.

Margaret Bennell died in 1966, with Benedict Wood, Isabel Bruce-Smith from Wynstones and Bernard Williams running Hawkwood in the interim.

Bernard, a close friend of Sir George Trevelyan, had for many years lectured at Attingham Park and, on the basis of this experience, transformed Hawkwood into a facility for short-term residential courses.

[8][9] On the basis of its founding anthroposophical ethos, Hawkwood still provides a centre for short courses on the theme of creative exploration.

Course organiser Lynne Oldfield is author of Free to Learn: Introducing Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education.

Waldorf College runs outdoor activities at Hawkwood for its Stroud-based Bridging the Gap educational programme for young people aged 16–19.