Alamy
PAINSWICK ROCOCO GARDEN
Cheltenham and the south Cotswolds
Cheltenham
Seven Springs and around
Gloucester
Painswick and around
Stroud and around
Tetbury and around
Malmesbury
Dursley and around
The Vale of Berkeley
Chipping Sodbury
Castle Combe
Shutterstock
The central Cotswolds
Cirencester
Around Cirencester
Cotswold Water Park
Fairford and around
Bibury and around
Northleach and around
Bourton-on-the-Water
The Slaughters
Cotswold Farm Park
The Guitings and around
Stow-on-the-Wold and around
Moreton-in-Marsh and around
The central Cotswolds
Few main roads cross the Cotswold hills. Two eastâwest corridors â the A40 and A44 â more or less follow valley contours, linking Oxford with Cheltenham and Evesham respectively, but through history Cotswold topography hasnât lent itself to many easily definable northâsouth routes. In that regard, not much has changed since the Romans: their Fosse Way road â now the A429 â is still the only northâsouth artery through the region, cutting a more or less straight line from the wilds of Warwickshire through the central Cotswolds to Cirencester and on south towards Bath. This leaves the best of the region tucked into the hills either side: beautiful landscapes, quiet villages, splendid country churches.
Southern parts are anchored by the presence of Cirencester, a lovely, old-fashioned market town which, these days, is the epitome of what has turned Gloucestershire into âPoshtershireâ â a polo-playing hideaway on the fringe of classic countryside, yet with speedy links to Cheltenham and London, and now sporting upmarket bars, delis and department stores. Itâs easy, though, to take what you want and leave the rest behind: Cirencesterâs Roman museum, for instance, is a cracker, as are the villages of the quiet Coln Valley nearby â and humble Fairford hosts a church as splendid as any in the Cotswolds.
Pretty Northleach is thankfully bypassed by both the A40 and A429 at their crossroads, though riverside Bibury has become a very popular mid-Cotswolds stop. Bourton-on-the-Water is one of the most visited but perhaps least satisfying of all Cotswold destinations, and nearby Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh, though visually attractive, lie slap bang in the eye of the Cotswold tourism hurricane.
As always, head away from the main routes to find the best of the area: Blockley village, between Moreton and Chipping Campden, is a beauty, while the high wolds west of Stow are speckled with horsey hamlets flanking the splendid Cotswold Farm Park rare-breeds centre, itself only a spit from the famously beautiful twin villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter.
Cirencester
Plumb astride the A429 fifteen miles southeast of Cheltenham, pleasantly old-fashioned CIRENCESTER was a provincial capital under the Romans. The town flourished for three centuries: its grand forum was one of the largest in northern Europe, and in the province of Britannia âCoriniumâ was second in size and importance only to âLondiniumâ (London). The Saxons put paid to all that, largely destroying the Roman town. The wool boom of the Middle Ages saw a revival, and today, with its handsome stone buildings, Cirencester is an affluent little place that lays claim to be capital of the Cotswolds. Come, chiefly, for the outstanding Roman museum and the Church of St John the Baptist â but also make time to tap into the upmarket food-and-shopping lifestyle. Alongside a developing hinterland of quality food producers, the town now has genuinely good restaurants â often populated, entertainingly, by a very distinctive breed of ladies who lunch.
Alamy
COTSWOLD FARM PARK
Highlights
Cirencester The âcapital of the Cotswoldsâ â a friendly market town with a grand church, quiet old lanes and good food.
Fairford Come to this attractive village near the Thames to marvel at the medieval stained glass in the church.
Bibury A one-street riverside village with perhaps the most photographed cottages in England.
Northleach This charming, unspoilt mid-Cotswolds village merits a detour.
The Slaughters Winningly handsome twin villages, with idyllic scenery and top-rated hotels â great for a luxury retreat.
Cotswold Farm Park A brilliant day out: rare breeds showcased on a working farm, perfect for families.
Batsford Arboretum Fine walks in beautiful parkland just outside Moreton-in-Marsh.
Blockley A typically charming Cotswold village: quiet, attractive and â most importantly â out of the way.
HIGHLIGHTS ARE MARKED ON THE MAP
FARMERSâ MARKETS
Dates may change around Christmas and New Year. See also
farma.org.uk.
Bourton-on-the-Water 4th Sun of month 9.30amâ1pm.
Cirencester 2nd & 4th Sat of month 8.30amâ2.30pm
cirencester.gov.uk.
Stow-on-the-Wold 2nd Thurs of month (MayâSept also last Thurs of month) 9amâ1pm Wfresh-n-local.co.uk.
Market Place
Cirencesterâs heart is the delightful, swirling Market Place, busy with commerce. An irregular line of eighteenth-century facades along the north side contrasts with the heavier Victorian structures opposite. The square is packed with tradersâ stalls for the Monday and Friday markets, and the fortnightly Saturday farmersâ market.
Church of St John the Baptist
Market Place, GL7 2NX ⢠Daily: AprilâSept 10amâ5pm; OctâMarch 10amâ4pm ⢠Free â˘
01285 659317,
cirenparish.co.uk The parish church of St John the Baptist, built in stages during the fifteenth century, dominates the Market Place. The flying buttresses that support the tower had to be added when it transpired that the church had been constructed over the filled-in Roman ditch that ran beside Ermin Street, the GloucesterâSilchester road, which passed this way. The grand three-tiered south porch, the largest in England and big enough to function at one time as the town hall, leads to the nave, where slen...