Cotswolds England how to get there from London. The Cotswolds are a corner of wild nature and “typical” England. Top attractions in Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds - a mountain range - the north-western frame of the London Basin. Located in west-central England, mainly in the counties of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. One of the officially recognized areas of “outstanding natural beauty” in the UK.. These places are called the Heart of England for a reason: there are preserved ancient traditions and traditional architecture. This area, 25 miles wide and 90 miles long, is a Cotswold conservation area. Here picturesque hills, fields and streams are interspersed with ancient villages, where the spirit of England of the 17th and 18th centuries is still alive.


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The Cotswolds are famous for their beautiful plains and hills, outstanding countryside and river valleys, meadows and beech forests, ancient villages on limestone cliffs and historical small settlements. The picturesque Cotswolds are a country of rolling hills, lovely cottages made from local soft stone and secluded manor houses. Honey-colored houses are covered in roses and honeysuckle, curiosities shops will beckon and old country pubs will remind you of a way of life that has changed little over the past centuries in the beautifully preserved villages of the Cotswold Hills. Here you can see typical England frozen in time as it was approximately 300 years ago .


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Particularly picturesque are Stow-on-the-Wold, Broadway, Birford, Chipping Camden, and the quaintly named villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter, but wander along the lush green paths and you're sure to encounter other unexpected beauties.

Visitors come from all over the world to see the Cotswolds and its quaint villages


Now it's mainly tourist destination, but life once flourished here, the wool trade developed, then the weaving industry. It was she who made the Cotswolds famous. The stone houses were built hundreds of years ago and provide a unique insight into what England was like in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Most of the stone buildings were built from limestone quarried from the nearby hills. This limestone is still quarried here. Cotswold is the name of one of the types of English sheep, “cote” is a sheep pen, “wold” is the name of local pastures, which gave the name to the area.
A resident of the Cotswolds - a "cotsoler" - even today does not recognize such a novelty in construction as baked brick. The uselessness of this building material in the Cotswolds has been proven by centuries of practice: everything from churches to farms, from fences to pubs - everything was built here and is still being built from local shell rock - “oolite” - “egg stone” with a lumpy, caviar-like surface

Dilapidated roofing tiles made from the same oolite are replaced with exactly the same ones. Local masons have their own specification of construction parts: for the roof alone they require about thirty types - “Long Bachelor”, “Shorty Wife” and the like.
In a stone quarry, stone is still cut by hand - oolite is very soft and does not withstand mechanical cutting and blasting. The completely dilapidated Cotswold buildings are literally being dismantled “pebble by stone” and the more or less usable slabs are being put into new use.
They say that a cotsoler can create anything from stone - except perhaps pudding. Nowadays many artificial materials have appeared, and the stone is now mined in a single quarry, it is clear that prices have increased.
"Most beautiful village in Cotsward" William Morris (1834-1896) named Bibury (Arlington (Arlington) it is called on one side of the Colne River, and Bibury on the other....).
Several films were filmed in Bibury, such as Bridget Jones's Diary and the Miss Marple films based on Agatha Christie's stories.





Chipping Campden is charming historical city Wool merchants are also located in the Cotswold area of ​​Gloucestershire. Chipping Campden was once called the most beautiful village in England. It's easy to see why. One of the main attractions is the High Street. Filled with beautiful honey-colored stone buildings (14th to 17th centuries), it is often described as the most perfect High Street in England.







The Cotswolds are a mountain range in west-central England. These places are not called the Heart of England for nothing, as ancient traditions and traditional architecture have been preserved here. This area, 25 miles wide and 90 miles long, is a Cotswold conservation area.

I will continue to delight you with stories about the sights of England


The Cotswolds are famous among English and international tourists for their beautiful plains and hills, outstanding countryside and river valleys, meadows and beech forests, ancient villages on limestone cliffs and historic small settlements. Here you can see typical England frozen in time as it was approximately 300 years ago

Visitors come from all over the world to see the Cotswolds and its quaint villages


Nowadays it is mainly a tourist destination, but it was once a thriving place with a wool trade and then a weaving industry. It was she who made the Cotswolds famous. The stone houses were built hundreds of years ago and provide a unique insight into what England was like in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Most of the stone buildings were built from limestone quarried from the nearby hills. This limestone is still quarried here. Let's just admire the landscapes of classic England:




The Cotswolds are one of the most picturesque corners and a vivid symbol of rural England - these landscapes are now so popular among landscape masters all over the world. Small villages with houses like from a fairy tale, beautiful gardens, endless meadows, buildings three hundred years ago - all this attracts here those who want to see the real England.



Geographically, the Cotswolds are a hilly, limestone region in Gloucestershire. The word "cotswolds" also refers to a type of local sheep, which apparently gave the area its name. The area is an hour and a half away by car or train from London. The train departs from Paddington Station and travels to Kemble and Strode Station (South Cotswolds) or Moreton-in-Marsh Station (North Cotswolds).

The Cotswold countryside is surrounded by such big cities like: Stratford, Oxford, Bath, Cheltenham, old City Gloucester. Small towns- Cirencester and Tewkesbury and very small villages, but no less interesting: Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold, Arlington and Bibury.

Attractions

The main attraction of these places is rightfully considered to be the gardens and gardens, which have already become a symbol of rural England - in landscape design, this area has long been the progenitor of an entire style. Rural England, and the Cotswolds in particular, is conducive to romantic walks and leisurely rest. The relative proximity to London makes it possible to quickly change the environment and pace of life.

The Cotswold villages are full of antique shops and hotels located right in old mansions with historical architecture, so collectors of vintage items will be very interested here.

Bibury village

William Morris, an English poet and artist living in the Victorian era, called Bibury "the most beautiful village in the Cotswords." This village is located a few miles from the town of Cirensester, the “capital” of the Cotswolds.

Every house in Biburi is a relic. In the Cotswolds, it is not customary to build from brick - all buildings here have long been built from local shell rock “oolite”, with a lumpy, caviar-like surface.

The local stone quarry still cuts stone by hand - oolite is very soft and does not withstand mechanical cutting and blasting. The completely dilapidated Cotswold buildings are literally dismantled “pebble by stone” and the more or less usable slabs are put into new use.

Biburi will be familiar to film fans from the landscapes from the film “Bridget Jones's Diary”, as well as the streets from the films about Miss Marple based on the stories of Agatha Christie.

Why else go to the Cotswolds?

1. Walk and enjoy rural landscapes and river valleys, meadows and beech forests, ancient villages on limestone cliffs and historical small settlements. It is here that you can see typical England frozen in time as it was approximately 300 years ago.

2. Come to the town Tetbury, Gloucestershire where is the heir british crown Prince Charles opened an organic food and home and garden store. The store was named Highgrove 2 (10 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8AQ) - the same as the royal family's farmland, where organic vegetables and fruit, herbs, grains and spices have been grown for almost thirty years.

3. Look into the village Bourton-on-the-Water and visit the car museum and bird park. Interesting local attraction: Model Village is an exact copy of Bourton-on-the-Water itself, only nine times smaller.

4. B market town Stow-on-the-Wold wander through antique shops and art galleries: in those scattered in the alleys around market square, you can find real treasures.

5. Visit the city Cheltenham, known as a water resort since the 18th century. The city's Pittville Park has a drinking hall. mineral water with a fountain. There is a local museum nearby where you can learn about the history of this English health resort and local celebrities.

Cotswold ( Cotswolds) is considered one of the some of the most picturesque parts of rural England. “Good old England,” as Kuznetsov said. That's exactly how I remembered him. It is located relatively close to London so that you can get there by train, but to see all the small authentic villages from a specific yellow stone(shell rock) – you will need a car. Cotswold is also the name of a species of local sheep that peacefully enjoy life on endless pastures to the horizon. All mother sheep are painted with blue or pink spots - this is how they mark how many babies the woolly mother will produce.

We spent two days in the Cotswolds and, probably, it was here that I realized that London is not just “the capital of Great Britain”, London is a separate world. And England, the one we read about in books about Robin Hood, is not London at all.

My most vivid impression of the Cotswolds were three gastronomic moments - in the morning " eggs and soldiers», « afternoon tea» afternoon and ale. "E gg and soldiers" is a type of breakfast where the egg is boiled until special " soft” condition (“bag”), and the morning toast is cut into strips - a soldier. The little soldier bathes in the egg and is eaten. They say that with English parents it’s like with us “the plane asks to land” - a way to feed the child. In general, I liked the breakfasts in England - hearty and with bacon, which I adore. The second opening is traditional " afternoon te a". “Have you tried afternoon tea?” we were asked in the Cotswolds. “Then be sure to try it.” Afternoon tea is tea served with traditional English scones, clotted cream and jam.

The required dishes include a porcelain tea pair, a dessert plate, cutlery, a milk jug with warm milk, a tea strainer and a sugar bowl. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t even tormented by remorse, how delicious and traditional it was - well, just like if you suddenly became a subject of Her Majesty for a second. Ale in the pub - this is another tradition in England - became another whim of mine, because the explanation that “ale is beer” did not suit me.

The pub had both ale and beer (as well as on store shelves). In general, ale is also beer. Mine was less carbonated and very dense. Kuznetsov managed to immediately attack beer and ale from the top of the best in England - Wychwood Hobgoblin. My curiosity was satisfied, and I began to perceive the surrounding landscapes.

Our first stop was a small and very famous village among tourists. Bourton on the Water. In addition to the landscapes characteristic of this region - yellow houses and the special design of fences - the city has an auto museum and a miniature of the city itself.

A walk along the Windrush River with its beautiful bridges will take quite a bit of time, but the souvenir shops will last a long time. Products made from the wool of local sheep are especially popular and of high quality, and therefore expensive. The village is really very small and there is an interesting principle in use there “ neighbor's dozo r”, this is when locals mark all strangers, so much so that it is impossible to go unnoticed. Our hospitable host overtook us in a minute - he was immediately shown where “the people who speak Russian” went.

Other villages, no less picturesque, but typical of this region, are Lower Slaughter ( Lower Slaughter) and Aper Slaughter ( Upper Slaught r). Lower Slaughter is definitely the jewel of the Cotswolds, for me for sure. It is so picturesque that every corner of it is a separate postcard for memory.

A river, a bridge, a small mill. Life here slows down, and work, deadlines, and tasks become somehow secondary in life. In Lower Slaughter there is simply Here b. Out of time. In one of Slaughter we saw two typical roof coverings - thatch and slate roofs. Thatched roofs ( thatch roof) are very authentic and give the houses a very fairytale look. In the old days, thatched roofs were most common in England. Nowadays, ecological thatched roofs are a very expensive pleasure, but in ancient times, when stone roofs appeared, it was a sign of poverty. Another type of roof is slate. It is interesting that the new slate roofs are already “replicas”, but Slaughter has preserved real slate roofs.

Our other stop in the Cotswolds was Broadway tower in Worcestershire. The tower became the whim of an English lady who wanted to have her own lighthouse. The tower really stands on a high hill and even without being huge in size (its height is only 20 meters), it provides a height of 312 meters above sea level. In human language, this means that it is almost impossible to see the horizon from the hill - it runs so far away. And in clear weather, you can see 13 counties from the tower.

Another village of Stow-on-the-Wold ( Stow-on-the-Wold) is famous for its fairs selling sheep and sheep's wool. On the day of the fairs twice a year (May and October), all entrances to Stone are blocked for several hours due to the flow of traffic.

This city is one of the oldest cities in England, which was founded as a Norman shopping mall, in the very heart of which there was a trading area and a narrow street through which sheep were driven - which was very convenient for keeping the sale of these expensive horned heads under control.

It was here that we finally enjoyed real “afternoon tea” in one of the cozy cafes on the small central street of the city.

In conclusion to the Cotswolds, I’ll note as a reminder that our overnight stay was in Vic-Risington, another picturesque village, for which special thanks go to our guide and hospitable host, without whose participation these traditional English landscapes would have remained behind the scenes...

 

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