Cotswolds Advice Please

[Larry H]

During a six-week trip to the South of England, my wife and I would like some recommendations on how to spend our time in the Cotswolds. We'll have about 5 days in the northern Cotswolds in late March, based in Stratford upon Avon (after allocating 1 day each to Stratford and Oxford), and 2 to 3 days in the southern Cotswolds in mid-April, based in Devizes (after 1 day each to Bath and to prehistoric sites such as Avebury and Stonehenge). We spent a week near Moreton-in-Marsh in 1985 with our sons then 10 and 12, and went to such places as Cotswolds Farm Park, the miniature village in Bourton-on-water after a walk through the Slaughters, and the Chedwirth Roman villa -- and will revisit several of these. Due to arthritis/bursitis, distance walking (more than 2 miles at a time) is no longer possible. Please share some sights /places you've enjoyed.

 

[Pauline]

That sounds like a good trip plan.

I have a small website about the Cotswolds with more information - Cotswolder.

In the north Cotswolds, from your base in Stratford, you could visit some of the interesting market towns - Winchcombe, Broadway, Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold. Lots to see and do in these towns, plus a few nearby things:

- Broadway Tower, on the hill above Broadway.
- Visit the village of Stanton, south of Broadway to see a perfect Cotswolds village.
- Snowshill Manor near Broadway (National Trust). The pub in Snowshill is supposed to be good (we haven't been there).
- Hailes Abbey, remains of a Cistercian Abbey, between Broadway and Winchcombe. See my photos.
- Two famous gardens north of Chipping Campden - Hidcote (National Trust) and Kiftsgate. See my photos of Hidcote and Kiftsgate.
- Chedworth Roman Villa (National Trust) has been "renovated" since your last visit - more mosaics are on display. If you like Roman things (as I do), there is a smaller villa south of Cheltenham - Great Witcombe (English Heritage). See my photos. The pub in Chedworth is good - Seven Tuns.
- The Slaughters are still beautiful villages to visit. But don't eat at Washbourne Court in Lower Slaughter. This used to be my favorite place to have afternoon tea in this area but it is not longer good (our experience and that of a local friend). There is a flat 1 mile or less walk along the river from Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter.

Devizes is well out of the Cotswolds, in Wiltshire, and is a lovely town. The Kennett- Avon Canal passes through the town and has a famous hill of locks - where the canal boats spend hours slowly climbing the hill.

Bradford-on-Avon is a very nice town near Devizes.

When you visit Avebury, don't miss Silbury Hill just a mile away. We visited Avebury many times, never bothering with Silbury Hill, but now it is one of my favorite things to see. You can drive to a small parking lot right at the base of it. It is man-made (preshistoric) but looks like a natural hill. See my photos.

In the southern Cotswolds, the villages of Lacock and Castle Combe are a bit touristy, but are beautiful and interesting villages. For Castle Combe, the parking lot is a bit of a walk from the village - maybe 1/2 mile - but I think you can drive right into the village too.

One warning - I live in the Cotswolds and we are experiencing a very wet winter. You have probably read about the flooding. I am sure this excessive rain will stop soon, but things will be wet in the countryside for a few months. The footpaths will be muddy. But, even in all this rain, we have many very nice and sunny days.

Please post any more questions. I tried to give an overview of my favorite things. There is lots more info on Cotswolder.

 

[JeriF.]

Don't know whether this would make any difference to you, but the village of Lacock, which Pauline mentioned and which is very close to Bath, stood in for Meryton in the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice (yes, the one with Colin Firth and his shirt).

You'll find some of the more touristy villages (like Bourton on the Water) significantly more commercial than they were in 1985. Not worth a revisit, IMHO. I do recommend a visit to Chipping Campden, probably my favorite Cotswold village, where we stayed for a wonderful week some years ago.

Bath, as is said in the 1995 film of Jane Austen's Persuasion (not sure it's in the text), is incomparable.

 

[Kathy]

Great ideas from Pauline and Jeri. We've spent a lot of time in the Cotswolds, mostly in the northern area, and would never run out of things to see and do there. Nowadays we base in Chipping Campden, which is about 30 minutes from where you'll be in Stratford. (Buses run several times a day.)

I'd like to recommend that you visit The Fleece Inn in Bretforten, a very traditional and historic pub between Chipping Campden and Stratford-upon-Avon. It's actually owned now by the National Trust. Great food, friendly people and a very unique place. You can visit for lunch or dinner and if the weather's good, you can sit outside. But be sure to take a look around the interior.

My favorite dish on the menu: Local sausages with red onion marmalade, Tewkesbury mustard mash, peas & red wine gravy.

I enjoy all the gardens, though I'm not sure what you'd see in March. Pauline has mentioned Hidcote and Kiftsgate. I also like Batsford Arboretum outside Moreton, and the Falconry Centre there is surprisingly interesting.

We attended the Royal Shakespearean Theatre in Stratford a few years ago (Julius Caesar). The new theatre is now open and I'd love to see a performance there. Most tourists head for Shakespeare's birthplace and few visit the other Shakespeare-related houses in the town... I'd encourage you to visit. Beautiful gardens there too.

 

[Pauline]

Good point about the gardens Kathy. Probably not interesting in March.

I agree Jeri, Bourton is overrun now.

 

[Larry H]

Thanks for all the ideas. I've used Pauline's Cotswolder website several times, and at this final stage of planning find her photos of places to visit very useful in evaluating which we'd like to see. We had lunch at the Seven Tuns pub in Chedworth in 1985 and returned in the evening to watch Morris dancing outside the pub -- nice to have a current recommendation (probably new owners 29 years on).

Thanks, JeriF, for recommending Lacock, and Pauline for Bradford-on-Avon and Silbury Hill prehistoric mound -- none of which were on our radar. Kathy,
we'd read about The Fleece Inn in Bretforten in the National Trust guide, and were thinking of eating there, so thanks for the recommendation. We've booked for both "Henry IV Part I" and "Henry IV Part II" -- Shakespeare's first two Falstaff plays -- at the RSC's new theater in Stratford.

 

[Larry H]

Thanks for recommending a look at Silbury Hill when visiting Avebury, Pauline. Hard to imagine it being constructed by humans who hadn't yet invented the shovel. Definitely worth a photo stop! Would have liked to walk up to West Kennet Long Barrow burial site also nearby (see Pauline's photos) but ran out of time.

 

[Pauline]

We visited Avebury a couple of times before learning about Silbury Hill. It is hard to believe it is man-made!