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Idyllic
But it is the idyllic stone-built villages that attract
visitors to all parts of the Cotswolds, and on these
tours you will find out why. In Snowshill, Bibury,
Castle Combe and Stanton, the impossibly lovely
buildings will take your breath away. And in Chipping
Campden, you'll feel you have found the epicentre of
this vernacular wealth. The townscapes are sublime too,
as you'll find at Bradford-on-Avon, Corsham and Burford.
There is an intimacy about the warm buildings of
Gloucestershire in Stow-on-the-Wold, Ilmington, Broadway
& Stanway, all part of this tour which never fails to
thrill and inspire locals and visitors alike. You will
not be the first to experience the uplifting charm of
the Cotswolds. Thousands of years ago ancient peoples
were moved to commemorate the burial of their dead on
these undulating hills. At Belas Knap, you'll find one
of the best preserved remnants of such burials, and at
the Rollright Stones you may wonder at what insights
these early folk possessed when they lined up their
megalithic arrays with the midsummer moon.
Fine Buildings
Vernacular architecture in the Cotswolds undoubtedly
provides many of the stars of the built environment, but
there are some grand houses too. There's nothing here on
the scale of Longleat or Blenheim, you’ll find Sezincote
and Compton Wynyates delightful nevertheless. Church
buildings are also an impressive part of this legacy.
The romantic remains of Hailes Abbey sit quietly at the
foot of the escarpment and are best seen from the
footpath near Beckbury Camp. Here Thomas Cromwell
surveyed their destruction for Henry VIII. Among the
outstanding churches, Chipping Camden is a tribute to
the wealth of the medieval wool trade and the twin
churches at East Leach Turville and East Leach Martin
eye each other across the River. |