The Cotswolds
The Cotswolds is an area which is truly English - rolling hills with traditional hamlets and villages, which have remained unchanged for centuries. Every building from the humblest cottage, to the finest mansion is built of oolitic limestone, and reflects the prosperity of the area which was created by the wool trade in the Middle Ages. The houses and cottages were sited wherever there was a suitable plot of flat land so the position of each house or cottage varies even on a straight piece of road. In Snowshill for example, the buildings fit into the hillside and the cottages, church, inn and manor house are all at different angles.
Cotswold Towns
Chipping Campden was built by wealthy wool merchants in the 14th-17th centuries. The main street is terraced, curved and wide with one side built on a higher level than the other so that when the sheep were sold the buyers stood on the lower side thus making the sheep look bigger. (In sheep markets today the ring is still domed in the middle for the very same reason!) www.chippingcampden.co.uk
Broadway Its wide High Street lined with horse chestnut trees contains a mixture of period houses and picturesque honey coloured Cotswold stone cottages which have lured visitors for centuries.
Bibury The world famous terrace of cottages known as Arlington Row can be found in Bibury, and was originally built as a sheep-house in the 14th century. It was converted in the 1600's to provide cottages for weavers who supplied cloth to the nearby Arlington Mill. This splendid 17th century corn mill was at one time also used for "fulling" the process by which newly woven cloth is cleaned and thickened. Some machinery can still be seen in the mill which also has an interesting folk museum. The mill stream flows past Arlington Row into the River Coln and standing proud alongside the river is the impressive Swan Hotel. www.bibury.com
Burford was also a busy woollen town and the broad main street slopes down to the River Windrush which is lined with attractive old houses and shops. An ancient pillared customs house known as the Tolsey stands halfway up the main street and numerous old coaching inns testify to Burford's importance over the years. www.oxtowns.co.uk/burford/
Stow on the Wold stands at the top of a 700 feet high hill alongside the old Roman Fosse Way. This is another Cotswold town made prosperous by the wool trade, and its huge annual fairs where as many as 20,000 sheep were sold at a time. The large market square surrounded by grand houses remains virtually unchanged today. www.stowonthewold.net
How to Find Us
Chipping Campden is centrally located with easy access to the national rail and motorway network, and close to Birmingham International Airport and other regional airports.
You can find directions to Molly's Cottage on MultiMap at www.multimap.com
You can find directions to Benfield Cottage on MultiMap at www.multimap.com
Find us on Google Earth at 52° 04' 00.29° N 1° 51'34.17° W
