Cotswolds

Coordinates: 51°48′N 2°2′W / 51.800°N 2.033°W / 51.800; -2.033
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cotswolds
Castle Combe, a Cotswolds village with buildings made of Cotswold stone
Location of the Cotswolds within England
LocationEngland
Coordinates51°48′N 2°2′W / 51.800°N 2.033°W / 51.800; -2.033
Area2,038 km2 (787 sq mi)
Established1966
Named forcot + wold, 'sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides'
Websitewww.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk

The Cotswolds (/ˈkɒtswldz, ˈkɒtswəldz/ KOTS-wohldz, KOTS-wəldz)[1] is a region in central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley, Bath and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone.[2] The predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, towns, stately homes and gardens featuring the local stone.

Designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1966,[3] the Cotswolds covers 787 square miles (2,038 km2), making it the largest AONB.[4] It is England's third-largest protected landscape, after the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks.[5] Its boundaries are roughly 25 miles (40 km) across and 90 miles (140 km) long, stretching south-west from just south of Stratford-upon-Avon to just south of Bath, near Radstock. It lies across the boundaries of several English counties; mainly Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, and parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire. The region's highest point is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 ft (330 m),[6] just east of Cheltenham.

The hills give their name to the Cotswold local government district, formed on 1 April 1974, within the county of Gloucestershire. Its main town is Cirencester, where the Cotswold District Council offices are.[7] As of 2021, the population of the 450-square-mile (1,200 km2) district was about 91,000 .[8][9] The much larger area referred to as the Cotswolds encompasses nearly 800 square miles (2,100 km2).[10][11] The population of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was 139,000 in 2016.[12]

History[edit]

The largest excavation of Jurassic period echinoderm fossils, including of rare and previously unknown species, occurred at a quarry in the Cotswolds in 2021.[13][14] There is evidence of Neolithic settlement from burial chambers on Cotswold Edge, and there are remains of Bronze and Iron Age forts.[15] Later the Romans built villas, such as at Chedworth,[16] settlements such as Gloucester, and paved the Celtic path later known as Fosse Way.[17]

During the Middle Ages, thanks to the breed of sheep known as the Cotswold Lion, the Cotswolds became prosperous from the wool trade with the continent, with much of the money made from wool directed towards the building of churches. The most successful era for the wool trade was 1250–1350; much of the wool at that time was sold to Italian merchants. The area still preserves numerous large, handsome Cotswold Stone "wool churches". The affluent area in the 21st century has attracted wealthy Londoners and others who own second homes there or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds.[11]

Etymology[edit]

The name Cotswold is popularly believed to mean the "sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides",[18][19] incorporating the term wold, meaning hills. Compare also the Weald, from the Old English term meaning 'forest'. But for many years the English Place-Name Society has accepted that the term Cotswold is derived from Codesuualt of the 12th century or other variations on this form, the etymology of which is "Cod's-wold", meaning "Cod's high open land".[20] Cod was interpreted as an Old English personal name, which may be recognised in further names: Cutsdean, Codeswellan, and Codesbyrig, some of which date to the 8th century.[21] It has subsequently been noticed that Cod could derive philologically from a Brittonic female cognate Cuda, a hypothetical mother goddess in Celtic mythology postulated to have been worshipped in the Cotswold region.[22][23]

Geography[edit]

Bibury, a characteristic Cotswold village

The Cotswolds' spine runs southwest to northeast through six counties, particularly Gloucestershire, west Oxfordshire, and southwestern Warwickshire. The Cotswolds' northern and western edges are marked by steep escarpments down to the Severn valley and the Warwickshire Avon. This feature, known as the Cotswold escarpment or the Cotswold Edge, is a result of the uplifting (tilting) of the limestone layer, exposing its broken edge.[24] This is a cuesta, in geological terms. The dip slope is to the southeast.

On the eastern boundary lies the city of Oxford and on the west is Stroud. To the southeast, the upper reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Lechlade, Tetbury, and Fairford are often considered to mark the limit of the region. To the south the Cotswolds, with the characteristic uplift of the Cotswold Edge, reach beyond Bath, and towns such as Chipping Sodbury and Marshfield share elements of Cotswold character.

The area is characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone (a yellow oolitic limestone).[24] This limestone is rich in fossils, particularly of fossilised sea urchins. Cotswold towns include Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway, Chalford, Charlbury, Chipping Campden, Chipping Norton, Cricklade, Dursley, Malmesbury, Minchinhampton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Nailsworth, Northleach, Painswick, Stow-on-the-Wold, Stroud, Tetbury, Witney, Winchcombe and Wotton-under-Edge. In addition, much of Box lies in the Cotswolds. Bath, Cheltenham, Cirencester, Gloucester, Stroud, and Swindon are larger urban centres that border on, or are virtually surrounded by, the Cotswold AONB.

Chipping Campden is notable as the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.[25] Morris lived occasionally in Broadway Tower, a folly, now part of a country park.[26] Chipping Campden is also known for the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games, a celebration of sports and games dating to the early 17th century.[27] Of the Cotswolds' nearly 800 square miles (2,100 km2), roughly 80 per cent is farmland.[28] There are over 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of footpaths and bridleways, and 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of historic stone walls.[10]

Economy[edit]

Row houses of Cotswold stone in Broadway, Worcestershire. The quaint buildings of the village attract numerous tourists.

A 2017 report on employment within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty stated that the main sources of income were real estate, renting and business activities, manufacturing, and wholesale & retail trade repairs. Some 44% of residents were employed in these sectors.[12] Agriculture is also important; 86% of the land in the AONB is used for this purpose. The primary crops include barley, beans, rape seed oil and wheat, while the raising of sheep is also important; cows and pigs are also reared. The livestock sector has been declining since 2002.[29]

According to 2011 census data for the Cotswolds,[30] the wholesale and retail trade was the largest employer (15.8% of the workforce), followed by education (9.7%) and health and social work (9.3%). The report also indicates that a relatively higher proportion of residents worked in agriculture, forestry and fishing, accommodation and food services, as well as in professional, scientific, and technical activities.[31] Unemployment in the Cotswold District was among the lowest in the country.[32] An August 2017 report showed only 315 unemployed persons, a decrease of five from a year earlier.[33]

Tourism[edit]

Tourism is a significant part of the economy. The Cotswold District area gained over £373 million from visitor spending on accommodation, £157 million on local attractions and entertainments, and about £100m on travel in 2016.[34] In the larger Cotswolds Tourism area, including Stroud, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury,[32] tourism generated about £1 billion in 2016, providing 200,000 jobs. Some 38 million day visits were made to the Cotswold Tourism area that year.

Many travel guides direct tourists to Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water,[35] Broadway, Bibury, and Stanton.[36][37] Some of these locations can be very crowded at times. Roughly 300,000 people visit Bourton per year, for example, with about half staying for a day or less.[38] The area also has numerous public walking trails and footpaths that attract visitors, including the 93-mile (150 km) Cotswold Way (part of the National Trails system) from Bath to Chipping Campden.[39]

Housing development[edit]

In August 2018, the final decision was made for a Local Plan that would lead to the building of nearly 7,000 additional homes by 2031, in addition to over 3,000 already built. Areas for development include Cirencester, Bourton-on-the-Water, Down Ampney, Fairford, Kemble, Lechlade, Northleach, South Cerney, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury and Moreton-in-Marsh. Some of the money received from developers will be earmarked for new infrastructure to support the increasing population.[40]

Cotswold stone[edit]

Broadway row houses of Cotswold stone

Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic Jurassic limestone. This limestone is rich in fossils, particularly of fossilised sea urchins. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as honey or golden.[41] The stone varies in colour from north to south, being honey-coloured in the north and northeast, as in villages such as Stanton and Broadway; golden-coloured in the central and southern areas, as in Dursley and Cirencester; and pearly white in Bath.[42]

Stretton-On-Fosse. Some of the stone cottages feature thatched roofs, although slate is now more common.

The rock outcrops at places on the Cotswold Edge; small quarries are common. The exposures are rarely sufficiently compact to be good for rock-climbing, but an exception is Castle Rock, on Cleeve Hill, near Cheltenham. In his 1934 book English Journey, J. B. Priestley wrote of Cotswold buildings made of the local stone. He said: "The truth is that it has no colour that can be described. Even when the sun is obscured and the light is cold, these walls are still faintly warm and luminous, as if they knew the trick of keeping the lost sunlight of centuries glimmering about them."[43]

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty[edit]

Rolling hills and farm fields that typify the Cotswolds landscape

The Cotswolds were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1966, with an expansion on 21 December 1990 to 1,990 square kilometres (768 sq mi). In 1991, all AONBs were measured again using modern methods, and the official area of the Cotswolds AONB was increased to 2,038 square kilometres (787 sq mi). In 2000, the government confirmed that AONBs have the same landscape quality and status as National Parks.[44]

The Cotswolds AONB, which is the largest in England and Wales, stretches from the border regions of South Warwickshire and Worcestershire, through West Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, and takes in parts of Wiltshire and of Bath and North East Somerset in the south.[45] Gloucestershire County Council is responsible for sixty-three per cent of the AONB.[46] The Cotswolds Conservation Board has the task of conserving and enhancing the AONB. Established under statute in 2004 as an independent public body, the Board carries out a range of work from securing funding for 'on the ground' conservation projects, to providing a strategic overview of the area for key decision makers, such as planning officials. The Board is funded by Natural England and the seventeen local authorities that are covered by the AONB.[47] The Cotswolds AONB Management Plan 2018–2023 was adopted by the Board in September 2018.[48]

The landscape of the AONB is varied, including escarpment outliers, escarpments, rolling hills and valleys, enclosed limestone valleys, settled valleys, ironstone hills and valleys, high wolds and high wold valleys, high wold dip-slopes, dip-slope lowland and valleys, a Low limestone plateau, cornbrash lowlands, farmed slopes, a broad floodplain valley, a large pastoral lowland vale, a settled unwooded vale, and an unwooded vale.[49] While the beauty of the Cotswolds AONB is intertwined with that of the villages that seem almost to grow out of the landscape, the Cotswolds were primarily designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for the rare limestone grassland habitats as well as the old growth beech woodlands that typify the area. These habitat areas are also the last refuge for many other flora and fauna, with some so endangered that they are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Cleeve Hill, and its associated commons, is a fine example of a limestone grassland and it is one of the few locations where the Duke of Burgundy butterfly may still be found in abundance.[50]

A June 2018 report stated that the AONB receives "23 million visitors a year, the third largest of any protected landscape".[51] Earlier that year, Environment secretary Michael Gove announced that a panel would be formed to consider making some of the AONBs into National Parks. The review will file its report in 2019.[52] In April 2018, the Cotswolds Conservation Board had written to Natural England "requesting that consideration be given to making the Cotswolds a National Park", according to Liz Eyre, Chairman.[53] This has led to some concern; one member of the Cotswold District Council said, "National Park designation is a significant step further and raises the prospect of key decision making powers being taken away from democratically elected councillors".[54] In other words, Cotswold District Council would no longer have the authority to grant and refuse housing applications.[55]

Indicative of the Cotswolds' uniqueness and value is that five European Special Areas of Conservation, three national nature reserves and more than 80 Sites of Special Scientific Interest are within the Cotswolds AONB.[56] The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens Service was established in 1968 to help conserve and enhance the area, and now has more than 300 wardens.[57] The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, just over 100 miles (160 km) long, running the length of the AONB, mainly on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment with views over the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham.[58] In September 2020, the Cotswolds AONB rebranded itself as the "Cotswolds National Landscape", using a proposed name replacement for "Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty",[59][60] until all AONBs in England and Wales adopted "National Landscape" in 2023.[61]

Places of interest[edit]

The Secret Garden at Sudeley Castle

Pictured is the Garden of Sudeley Castle at Winchcombe. The present structure was built in the 15th century and may be on the site of a 12th-century castle.[62] It is north of the spa town of Cheltenham, which has much Georgian architecture. Further south, towards Tetbury, is the fortress known as Beverston Castle, founded in 1229 by Maurice de Gaunt. In the same area is Calcot Manor, a manor house with origins in about 1300 as a tithe barn.[63]

Tetbury Market House was built in 1655.[64] During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn. Chavenage House is an Elizabethan-era manor house 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Tetbury.[65] Chedworth Roman Villa, where several mosaic floors are on display, is near the Roman road known as the Fosse Way, 8 miles (13 km) north of the town of Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester). Cirencester Abbey was founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1117,[66] and Malmesbury Abbey was one of the few English houses with a continual history from the 7th century through to the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[67]

An unusual house in this area is Quarwood, a Victorian Gothic house in Stow-on-the-Wold. The grounds, covering 42 acres (17 ha), include parkland, fish ponds, paddocks, garages, woodlands and seven cottages.[68] Another is Woodchester Mansion, an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house in Woodchester Park near Nympsfield.[69] Newark Park is a Grade I listed country house of Tudor origins near the village of Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge. The house sits in an estate of 700 acres (300 ha)[70] at the Cotswold escarpment's southern end.

Another of the many manor houses in the area, Owlpen Manor in the village of Owlpen in the Stroud district, is also Tudor and Grade I listed. Further north, Broadway Tower is a folly on Broadway Hill, near the village of Broadway, Worcestershire. To the south of the Cotswolds is Corsham Court, a country house in a park designed by Capability Brown in the town of Corsham, 3 miles (5 km) west of Chippenham, Wiltshire.

Top attractions[edit]

According to users of the worldwide TripAdvisor travel site, in 2018 the following were among the best attractions in the Cotswolds:[71]

Transport[edit]

Map of Cotswolds roads from 1933

The Cotswolds lie between the M5, M40 and M4 motorways. The main A-roads through the area are:

These all roughly follow the routes of ancient roads, some laid down by the Romans, such as Ermin Way and the Fosse Way.

There are local bus services across the area, but some are infrequent.

The River Thames flows from the Cotswolds and is navigable from Inglesham and Lechlade-on-Thames downstream to Oxford. West of Inglesham. the Thames and Severn Canal and the Stroudwater Navigation connected the Thames to the River Severn; this route is mostly disused nowadays but several parts are in the process of being restored.

Railways[edit]

The area is bounded by two major rail routes: in the south by the main Bristol–Bath–London line (including the South Wales main line) and in the west by the Bristol–Birmingham main line. In addition, the Cotswold line runs through the Cotswolds from Oxford to Worcester, and the Golden Valley line runs across the hills from Swindon via Stroud to Gloucester, carrying fast and local services.

Mainline rail services to the big cities run from railway stations such as Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Cheltenham, and Worcester. Mainline trains run by Great Western Railway to London Paddington also are available from Kemble station near Cirencester, Kingham station near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury station, and Moreton-in-Marsh station. Additionally, there is the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, a steam heritage railway over part of the closed Stratford–Cheltenham line, running from Cheltenham Racecourse through Gotherington, Winchcombe, and Hayles Abbey Halt to Toddington and Laverton. The preserved line has been extended to Broadway.

Demographics[edit]

The population of the Cotswold local authority area in the 2021 census was 90,800, an increase of 9.6% from 82,900 in 2011.[72] The percentage of usual residents in relationships, aged 16 and above, were:[8]

  • Married or in a registered civil partnership: 53.2%
  • Never married and never registered a civil partnership: 27.9%
  • Divorced or civil partnership dissolved: 9.8%
  • Widowed or surviving civil partnership partner: 7.1%
  • Separated, but still legally married or still legally in a civil partnership: 2.0%

In 2021, 96.3% of people in Cotswold identified their ethnic group with the "White" category, a slight decrease from 97.8% in 2011. Over 1.3% identified as "Asian" or British Asian, 1.5% chose "Mixed or Multiple" category, 0.4% were "Black, Black British, Caribbean or African" and 0.4% chose "Other".[73]

In culture[edit]

The Cotswold region has inspired several notable English composers. In the early 1900s, Herbert Howells and Ivor Gurney took long walks together over the hills, and Gurney urged Howells to make the landscape, including the nearby Malvern Hills, the inspiration for future work. In 1916, Howells wrote his first major piece, the Piano Quartet in A minor, inspired by the magnificent view of the Malverns; he dedicated it to "the hill at Chosen (Churchdown) and Ivor Gurney who knows it".[74] Another contemporary of theirs, Gerald Finzi, lived in nearby Painswick.

Gustav Holst, who was born in Cheltenham, spent much of his early years playing the organ in Cotswold village churches, including at Cranham, after which he titled his tune for In the Bleak Midwinter. He also called his Symphony in F major, Op. 8, H47, The Cotswolds. Holst's friend Ralph Vaughan Williams was born at Down Ampney in the Cotswolds and, though he moved to Surrey as a boy, gave the name of his native village to the tune for Come Down, O Love Divine. His opera Hugh the Drover depicts life in a Cotswold village and incorporates local folk melodies. In 1988, the 6th symphony (Op. 109) of composer Derek Bourgeois was titled A Cotswold Symphony. The Cotswolds are a popular location for scenes in movies and television programmes.[75][76] The 2008 film Better Things, directed by Duane Hopkins, is set in a small Cotswold village. The fictional detective Agatha Raisin lives in the fictional Cotswold village of Carsely.

Other movies filmed in the Cotswolds or nearby, at least in part, include some of the Harry Potter series (Gloucester Cathedral), Bridget Jones's Diary (Snowshill), Pride and Prejudice (Cheltenham Town Hall), and Braveheart (Cotswold Farm Park).[77] In 2014, some scenes of the 2016 movie Alice Through the Looking Glass were filmed at the Gloucester Docks just outside the Cotswold District; some scenes in the 2006 movie Amazing Grace were also filmed at the Docks.[78] The television series Father Brown is set and primarily filmed in the Cotswolds. Scenes and buildings in Sudeley Castle was often featured in the series.[79] The vicarage in Blockley was used for the main character's residence and the Anglican St Peter and St Paul church was the Roman Catholic St Mary's in the series.[75] Other filming locations included Guiting Power, the former hospital in Moreton-in-Marsh, the Winchcombe railway station, Lower Slaughter, and St Peter's Church in Upper Slaughter.[80][81]

In the 2010s BBC TV series Poldark, the location for Ross Poldark's family home, Trenwith, is Chavenage House, Tetbury, which is open to the public.[82] Many exterior shots of village life in the Downton Abbey TV series were filmed in Bampton, Oxfordshire.[77] Other filming locations in that county included Swinbrook, Cogges, and Shilton.[83][84] The city of Bath hosted crews that filmed parts of the movies Vanity Fair, Persuasion, Dracula, and The Duchess.[85] Gloucester and other places in Gloucestershire, some within the Area of Natural Beauty, have been a popular location for filming period films and television programmes over the years. Gloucester Cathedral has been particularly popular.[86] The sighting of peregrine falcons in the landscape of the Cotswolds is mentioned in The Peregrine by John Alec Baker. The television documentary agriculture-themed series Clarkson's Farm was filmed at various locations around Chipping Norton.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cotswolds". Dictionary.com. Random House. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Cotswolds – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". cotswoldsaonb.org.uk. Cotswolds Conservation Board. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Cotswold District Council – Cotswolds AONB". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Moves made for The Cotswolds to become a National Park – Stratford Herald". 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Where is the Cotswolds – Visitors Guide Fact Sheet". www.cotswolds.info. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Hill Bagging: Cleeve Hill". Hill Bagging: the online version of the Database of British and Irish Hills. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Cotswold District Council – About the Council". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  8. ^ a b "How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021". ons.gov.uk. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  9. ^ "Cotswold District Council – Cotswold factfile". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Cotswolds.com – The Official Cotswolds Tourist Information Site". www.cotswolds.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  11. ^ a b "In Deep: Idyllic England in the Cotswolds – Butterfield & Robinson". 14 August 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Fact sheet" (PDF). www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk. 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2021.
  13. ^ "'Part-time adventurers': amateur fossil hunters get record haul in Cotswolds". The Guardian. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  14. ^ "'Jurassic Pompeii' yields thousands of 'squiggly wiggly' fossils". BBC News. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  15. ^ Carolione Mills (15 April 2011). Slow Cotswolds. Bradt Travel Guides. p. vii. ISBN 9781841623443. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017.
  16. ^ Andrew McCloy, Andrew Midgley (2008). Discovering Roman Britain. New Holland Publishers. p. 90. ISBN 9781847731289. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017.
  17. ^ Hayley Dixon (9 October 2013). "'Roman' roads were actually built by the Celts, new book claims". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014.
  18. ^ "The Kingscote, Gloucestershire area". Kingscote Park. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  19. ^ Charnock, Richard Stephen (1859). Local etymology: a derivative dictionary of geographical names. Houlston and Wright. p. 76.
  20. ^ Smith, A. H. (1964) The Place-Names of Gloucestershire, part 1: "The Rivers and Road-names, the East Cotswolds," Cambridge, p.2
  21. ^ Smith A. H. 1964 The Place-Names of Gloucestershire part 2: The North and West Cotswolds, Cambridge pp. 7–8
  22. ^ Yeates, S. J. (2008) The Tribe of Witches: The Religion of the Dobunni and the Hwicce, pp. 11–18
  23. ^ Yeates, S. J. (2006) "River-Names, Celtic and Old English: Their Dual Medieval and Post-medieval Personalities," Journal of the English Place-Name Society 38, pp.63–81
  24. ^ a b "Cotswold Stone". Cotswold Gateway. Archived from the original on 15 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  25. ^ "History". Court Barn Museum. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  26. ^ "Broadway Tower". Cotswold website. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  27. ^ "Origins of Robert Dover's Games". Olympick Games. Archived from the original on 2 December 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  28. ^ "Cotswolds". Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  29. ^ "Farming – Cotswolds AONB". Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  30. ^ "Cotswold District Council – Census 2011". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  31. ^ "Census data" (PDF). www.cotswold.gov.uk. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  32. ^ a b "Cotswold District Council – Cotswold factfile". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  33. ^ "Decrease in unemployment in the Cotswolds". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  34. ^ "Cotswold District Council – New report highlights boom time for tourism in Cotswolds". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  35. ^ "England's Cute and Cozy Cotswolds by Rick Steves". www.ricksteves.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  36. ^ "The Top Five Best Cotswold Villages to Visit - CotswoldJourneys.com". www.cotswoldjourneys.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  37. ^ Garnett, Daisy (27 February 2016). "The Quintessential Guide to the Cotswolds". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  38. ^ Romero, Kat (22 January 2016). "Cotswolds village TOO POSH for buses? Coaches officially BANNED". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  39. ^ "7 Best Walks And Trails In The Cotswolds". TRIP101 Pte Ltd. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2019. The Cotswolds are quite simply a hiker's paradise. Miles upon miles of public pathways and bridleways to explore.
  40. ^ "10,000 homes will be built across Cotswolds". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  41. ^ Freda Derrick (1948). Cotswold stone. Chapman & Hall.
  42. ^ "Cotswold stone". cotswold.gov.uk. Cotswold District Council. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014.
  43. ^ Fodor's England 2016: With the Best of Wales. Fodor's Travel Guides. 8 December 2015. ISBN 9781101879115.
  44. ^ "AONB". Cotswolds AONB. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  45. ^ "Cotswolds Map". Cotswolds AONB. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  46. ^ Cotswolds Archived 26 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine Natural England
  47. ^ "Cotswolds Conservation Board". Cotswolds AONB. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  48. ^ "Cotswolds AONB Management Plan". Cotswolds AONB. Archived from the original on 2 May 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  49. ^ "Landscape data" (PDF). www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk. 2017.
  50. ^ "Natural Areas – 55 Cotswolds". Natural England. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  51. ^ "MP seeks to meet new chief in bid to promote idea of Cotswolds becoming a National Park". Cotswold Journal. 18 June 2018. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  52. ^ "England could have new national parks". BBC News. 27 May 2018. Archived from the original on 1 June 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  53. ^ "England's Protected Landscapes to be reconsidered under new review – Cotswolds AONB". 29 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  54. ^ "Cotswold District Council – Council will undertake evaluation of potential National Park designation". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  55. ^ Boobyer, Leigh (21 June 2018). "Gloucestershire could be about to get a national park". Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  56. ^ "Understanding the Cotswold AONB". Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  57. ^ "101 Reasons to Love the Cotswolds, Cotswold Voluntary Wardens". www.lovingthecotswolds.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  58. ^ "Cotswold Way – About this trail". National Trail. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  59. ^ "New name and look for Cotswolds area". Cotswold Journal. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  60. ^ "New name and logo for AONB". Oxford Mail. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  61. ^ "National Landscapes: New name for Areas of Outstanding Beauty". BBC News. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  62. ^ "Sudeley Castle". Heritage Gateway. Historic England. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  63. ^ "Calcot Manor's impressive heritage". Calcot Manor. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  64. ^ "Market House, Tetbury". Heritage Open Days. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  65. ^ "Chavenage House". Historic Houses Association. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  66. ^ Page, William. "Houses of Augustinian canons: The abbey of Cirencester". British History Online. Victoria County History. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  67. ^ Pugh, R. B.; Critall, Elizabeth. "House of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Malmesbury". British History Online. Victoria County Histories. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  68. ^ "Quar Wood, Gloucestershire". Victorian Web. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  69. ^ "Woodchester Park". National Trust. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  70. ^ "Historic Places to Visit". cotswolds.info. Cotswolds.Info LLP. 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  71. ^ "The 15 Best Things to Do in Cotswolds 2018". Tripadvisor. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  72. ^ "How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021". ons.gov.uk. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  73. ^ "How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021". ons.gov.uk. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  74. ^ Long Remembered Hills Archived 19 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine How the English composers Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells were influenced by the Gloucestershire countryside.
  75. ^ a b Meredith, Joe (15 May 2019). "19 famous filming locations in the Cotswolds". Cotswold Life. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  76. ^ "The Cotswolds on Film – TV". www.lovingthecotswolds.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  77. ^ a b "Popular Films and TV filmed in the Cotswolds". Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  78. ^ "The Cotswolds on Film – Movies". www.lovingthecotswolds.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  79. ^ Roberts, Stephen (10 November 2017). "Filming locations in the Cotswolds every TV crime show fan should visit". Cotswold Life. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  80. ^ "Where's BBC's Father Brown filmed in the Cotswolds?". 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  81. ^ "TV series filmed in Cotswolds". Cotswold Journal. 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  82. ^ "Cotswold Film Locations". staycotswold.com. November 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  83. ^ "Downton Abbey film locations – Oxfordshire Cotswolds". www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  84. ^ "'Father Brown' is loving Cotswolds". Cotswold Journal. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  85. ^ "Cotswolds Filming Locations Cinema & TV". www.cotswolds.info. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  86. ^ SoGlos. "18 movie and television filming locations in Gloucestershire". SoGlos. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.

Further reading[edit]

  • Brace, Catherine. "Looking back: the Cotswolds and English national identity, c. 1890–1950." Journal of Historical Geography 25.4 (1999): 502–516.
  • Brace, Catherine. "A pleasure ground for the noisy herds? Incompatible encounters with the Cotswolds and England, 1900–1950." Rural History 11.1 (2000): 75–94.
  • Briggs, Katharine Mary. The folklore of the Cotswolds (BT Batsford Limited, 1974).
  • Hilton, R. H. "The Cotswolds and Regional History." History Today (July 1953) 3#7 pp 490–499.
  • Verey, David Cecil Wynter. The buildings of England: Gloucestershire. I. The Cotswolds (Penguin Books, 1979).

External links[edit]