Escape to... the hidden Cotswolds

Tucked into the folds and hollows of these hills, away from their honeypot towns, are eccentric manor houses, artisan food producers and meadows rich with wildflowers. By Jon Beer

 

With their subtle undulations, neatly grazed pastures and golden villages, these hills are the epitome of our green and pleasant land. All gentleness, they are not so very high nor do they have the precipitous, jagged edges of other upland scenery. Any drama they possess
is confined to the western edge where the wooded slopes of a steep escarpment look down onto the flat lands of the Severn Estuary. To the south and east, the stony plateau tilts gently, sending its little silver streams to coalesce into the headwaters of the Thames. It is hardly spectacular countryside - yet the Cotswolds enfold the loveliest towns and villages in the land.

 

Theirs is the prettiness of wealth - and lots of it - not the tumbledown beauty of rural poverty. Cotswold folk have been doing nicely for some time; Cirencester was the second city of Roman Britain. The straight lines of its Fosse Way and Ermin Street ignore the Cotswolds' contours.
In medieval times, they were even richer: these low, limestone hills produced the country's finest wool. This wealth can be seen in the Cotswolds' elaborate ‘wool churches'. It is also evident in the immaculate dry-stone walls that line the gentle slopes, in the manor houses tucked into every crease of the hills, and in the fine craftsmanship of those honey-coloured villages and towns.

 

Visitors have long been drawn to Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford and Chipping Campden; all undoubtedly beautiful. But there are other delights to be found among these hills.

 

Walk the edge
The Cotswold Way follows the edge of the hills' escarpment for more than 100 miles from Chipping Campden to Bath. Cherry-pick the best bits, with dramatic views of the Severn Valley, from King's Stanley, near Stroud, to Wotton-under-Edge (www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Cotswold). This route passes Woodchester Park and its bizarre Gothic mansion (open most weekends; www.woodchestermansion.org.uk). Further south, the path runs near to the extraordinary garden follies at Stancombe Park (by appointment; www.thetemple.info), where a series of tunnels will take you to an exotic temple and pavilions.

Misses Mitford
Odder yet is St Mary's church in Swinbrook. In the 1930s, this charming village was home to the celebrated Mitford sisters. Nancy, Pam, Unity and Diana are buried in St Mary's churchyard. But inside the church, gaze in wonder at the strangely jaunty poses of six scions of the Fettiplace family. Swinbrook's pub, The Swan Inn, is owned by the last of the Mitford sisters, Deborah Devonshire, and is festooned with pictures of the family.

Arts & crafts
Keith Harding's World of Mechanical Music in Northleach is famous for
the restoration of musical boxes, barrel organs, pianolas and clocks. This fascinating collection must be heard to be believed (01451 860181; www.mechanical music.co.uk). Charles Wade hoarded clocks as well. And toys and Japanese armour and bicycles and, it seems, everything else. View the 22,000 items he amassed in his Tudor manor house at Snowshill (01386 852410; www.nationaltrust.org.uk). Find the Cotwolds' jolliest art collection at The Yellow Hat Tribe Gallery (01993 832042; www.theyellowhat-tribe.com) where Irene Tyack's work is bound to make you smile.

 

Rare delights

● At Clattinger Farm (www.wiltshire wildlife.org) the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust preserves the country's finest example of meadowland. A riot of wild orchids, it is at its best from April to late June.
● The Cotswold Farm Park (01451 850307; www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk) keeps rare breeds near the village of Guiting Power. Join in the lambing (for a month from 21 March) and bottle-feed animals in summer. Gangs of piglets roam free at any time.

 

All in good taste
● Local produce is paramount at Foxbury Farm Shop (01993 844141; www.foxburyfarm.co.uk). All the lamb, pork and beef is produced on the farm. You can stroke the relatives if you wish and even watch sausage-making demonstrations.
● The best Cotswold pubs serve lagers with real taste from The Cotswold Brewing Company in Foscot. Then try its wheat beer for something different (www.cotswoldbrewingcompany.co.uk).
● You can choose from several varieties of Bensons apple juice in local pubs or collect it from the farm in Sherborne (01451 844134; www.bensonsapplejuice.co.uk).
● William's Fish Market & Food Hall (01453 832240; www.williamsfoodhall.co.uk) in Nailsworth, stocks the freshest of West Country catches, as well as local fare.

Join in the games
Never mind London 2012, Robert Dover's Cotswold Olimpick Games (01384 274041; www.olimpickgames.co.uk) have been held, on and off, for 400 years on Dover's Hill outside Chipping Campden. Bizarre races and tugs of war are followed by a bonfire and torchlit parade to the town square in late May.

 

Escape essentials

Places to eat
● Blades, Northleach (01451 860715). Light lunches in a coffee shop within The Old Prison just outside the town. There's a collection of traditional farm vehicles and wi-fi so you can surf the net to plan your next treat.
● Cotswold Woollen Weavers, Filkins (01367 860491). An excellent tea and coffee shop in the art gallery next to the weaving museum and tweed shop. There are also little games to play on every table.
● The Olive Tree, George Street, Nailsworth (01453 834802;
www.theolivetree-nailsworth.com). Mediterranean restaurant and pizzeria in this busy Cotswold town, with plenty of vegetarian choice.
● Oyster Bar, William's Fish Market & Food Hall, Nailsworth (01453 832240; www.williamsfoodhall.co.uk). A choice of seafood and continental lunches in a top-class delicatessen.
● The Tunnel House Inn, near Coates (01285 770280; www.tunnelhouse.com). Friendly pub above the spooky entrance to Sapperton canal tunnel. Explore the old canal and, nearby, the source of the River Thames.  

Maps
● OS Landranger 163 (Cheltenham & Cirencester). OS Landranger
162 (Gloucester & Forest of Dean) and OS Landranger 150 (Worcester
& The Malverns).  

 

---

 

 

You might also like...

 

Find somewhere to stay in the Cotswolds: try our online accommodation finder, powered by Visit Britain

 

Go somewhere else! Here's our nationwide guide to short breaks

 

On a budget? Try our moneysaving days out

 

Subscribe Save up to 47%