Lots of the countries can lay claim to have genuinely picturesque towns and regions. I think of Bruges in Belgium, Heidelberg in Germany, Lucerne in Switzerland, ahh, those murals on the exteriors of houses... Provence... Tuscany... Britain has one of these, the Cotswolds: the iconic honey-colored stone houses, thatched roofs, crazy old, leaning buildings, narrow streets, great history, and plenty of walking trails. Some years ago, we had the opportunity to do a bit of this with a pair of friends.
We started in Stratford-upon-Avon, and rented three days at the New Inn Hotel in Clifford Chambers, a B&B just outside Stratford. A first must visit is the house of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. They we married in 1582 when Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26. She outlived him by seven years. There were plenty of rumours about their relationship (shotgun wedding?), but nothing definitive. Her cottage is now a museum – and a visit gives an insight into living 400-500 years ago - how small were the rooms and how low were the ceilings - more about the reasons later.
Shakespeare’s birth house (see below) on Henley street is typical of that period including the mud and wattle construction of the walls, visible on the picture below where one panel, on the left, has been removed.
Stratford’s Henley Street and the High Street are full of Tudor period housing, actually, almost anywhere in the older core is worth a wander. You have to go into some of the shops in these 400-year-old houses to get the true flavor – mind your head. It is easy, looking at these buildings to understand that in those days, the average height of a man was six inches shorter than today. Only manor houses had high ceilings.
Everyone knows that the two main ingredients of small towns in Britain are a Church and a Pub (or two). Pubs are pretty well ubiquitous in the ‘wolds, a town such as Bourton-on-the-Water has five. There are famous ones like the 8-Bells Inn in Chipping-Campden which is 400 years old and is just a beauty on the inside. They call themselves ‘a proper country pub serving high-quality home-made food’. Over a thousand reviews on TripAdvisor and a 4.5/5 rating. A night’s stay here might set you back $225USD.
The Cotswolds have the oddest set of village names, from Upper and Lower Slaughter (wonder what went on there – actually nothing – from Old English meaning ‘muddy place’), Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Chipping Campden… talking of Chipping Campden, it is the starting point for the walk to Dover’s Hill, only 3 or so kilometers, some uphill, to the ridge line affording supposedly, great views of the countryside, but we were socked in by a foggy haze.
Dover’s hill and the ridge line is also the starting point of the Cotswold Way which stretches south 100 Kms to the city of Bath in the south. Robert Dover started the Cotswold Olimpick (sic) Games in 1622, still held every year in May, and included events such as shin-kicking, morris dancing(?), tug-of-war, horse racing and sword fighting.
The way back brought us through a ripe wheat field - pretty well all country walks will go through some farmers’ fields or fields left fallow.
The iconic Market Hall in Chipping Campden was built in 1627. Still in use today - a lady was selling sheep-skin rugs, suitable for your den when we returned.
Often walks would take you by old pubs with great atmosphere, such as the Baker’s Arms near Broad Campden, just itching to be photographed.
Described as one of England’s prettiest villages, Bourton-on-the-Water – the water being the river Windrush… well, we came to see the rubber duckie race. Just kidding, it was happenstance, we really came for the hikes. This lovely town oozes English charm. You’ll find plenty of slate-roofed 15th century cottages mixed, off the main tourist drag, with honey coloured, old and new thatched cottages. The are plenty of things to see and do, from the Cotswold Motoring Museum, the miniature Model Village of Lilliputian dimensions – a recreation of Bourton-on-the-Water in the 1930s. And, of course no trip to this beautiful part of England would be complete without a cream tea - scones topped with jam and clotted cream and a pot of English Breakfast tea…and where else to do it better than right by the river at the Old Manse Hotel with a nice patio up front, when the weather is nice, as it was on the day we were visiting.
An easy hike from Bourton-on-the-Water is the Windrush Way – 5.5 Kms round trip follows the river for half the way then loops back around. You do this for the lovely scenery by the river, stately homes peeking through the foliage, an old run-down mill, what could be nicer?....well, perhaps the next walk!
Twelve miles away sits Sudeley Castle, a hidden Cotswold gem. At one time, it was a royal residence from Edward IV to Elizabeth I. The West Wing is open to the public with period furniture, gowns, paintings, etc. If you’re into gardens, there are ten of them here. Worth a stop. Nearby are the ruins of Hailes Cistercian Abbey, on the Cotswold Way, founded in 1246. Not much remains of it, as it was decommissioned by Henry VIII in 1539, and is a ruin. There is, however, a small museum on the site.
You may already know, or not, that under-floor heating is not a novel concept. It was in use 2000 years ago in wealthier Roman houses, as showcased at the https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chedworth-roman-villaChedworth Roman Villa on the Monarch’s Way, only eleven miles from Bourton-on-the-Water. (the young Charles II was fleeing from his enemies, after being defeated at the battle of Worcester in 1651. He was on the run a total of nearly 1000 Kilometers from Worcester via Bristol [talk about a detour] to Shoreham-by-the-Sea, south of London and from there to France. This long-distance footpath approximates the route)
The floor mosaics are remarkably well preserved – there is clear evidence that some floors were supported on short stone pillars so warm air could circulate underneath and heat the room above, and what well-to-do Roman could be without his bath-houses, in this case attached to the main house, in the west wing, were the usual three baths: caldarium, tepidarium and frigidarium. Nor for the hoi-polloi, the baths were used strictly for the family and important guests.
The walk to the Rollright Stones starts from the market town of Chipping Norton, passing by a pretty row of Almshouses, founded in 1640, and then there is the church which dates from the 12th century. (Reminds me of the visitor to a nearly established distillery near Williamsburg gushing to the new brewmaster, a young Scot, imported for the distilling process, about how wonderful all these old buildings in the sorroundings, dating back to the 17th century were, only to have the Scot scoff; “tis nae big thing, mon, aye was born in a 16th century hoose.”
For part of the way, you can follow the Shakespeare’s Way (which stretches from Stratford-upon-Avon to the Globe Theatre in London) into the countryside towards Salford and Little Rollright before coming to the stones. About six miles return from Chipping Norton. There are three distinct sections to the stones: The stone circle, 77 unhewn stones, big and small (The King’s Men); the five standing stones together (The Whispering Knights); and a single ‘King’ stone, all relatively close. The ‘Whispering Knights’ were built over 5000 years ago by Stone Age peoples, and formed a burial cairn, the roof of which is the large fallen stone you see. The Stone Circle was constructed between 4000-4500BC and the King Stone is a 1000 years younger. How did they do that??
Near the King Stone they found a Bronze age cemetery. Again, near by was found: a Neolithic burial site, three separate bronze age barrows, late Bronze age tracks and fields, an Iron Age farmstead c. 300-100BC, as well as a Saxon cemetery AD 600. There must have been something very special about this place for people to return to it over the millennia. Even the time frame is difficult for us to conceive.
There have been many legends about this particular location. One of the cuter ones says that if a young woman fails to conceive, she has only to visit the stones at midnight and give one of them a big hug. It has never been known to fail. Then there is the long tale of a king, his men, his scheming knights and a witch, but look that tale up yourselves.
For me, there are never enough pictures of a place to lend character and knowledge, so here are a few more:
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