The Cotswold Hills

    Gloucestershire : England

    THE IDEAL PLACE TO START YOUR TOUR OF THE WEST COUNTRY 

  

England's green and pleasant land.
 

We welcome you to these Web pages. Here you can browse through one of the most beautiful of England's treasures, the Cotswold Hills. This lush, green and in most places utterly unspoilt countryside, rolls with poetic ease from wooded hills and valleys through rich and peaceful pastures across the length and breadth of Gloucestershire. The Cotswolds rise from the River Severn valley, ten miles south of Gloucester, stretch north-eastward to the Warwickshire border - a distance of about 50 miles - and spread west to east into the vale of Oxford. The hills are generally 600 to 700 feet high but reach 1,080 feet at Cleeve Cloud, about 4 miles north of Cheltenham.

History abounds in the Cotswolds, in places tracing back more than 2,000 years. Many of the oldest and most painstakingly preserved towns and villages in England nestle among these hills and are richly endowed with the history and relics of ancient times. All have many and varied stories to tell. Cirencester, Cheltenham and Gloucester were all ancient Roman strongholds, and just a few miles from the Cotswolds there are many other delightful cities and towns within a comfortable days outing.
 

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Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green
And was the holy lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen

And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills

Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spears o'clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire

I will not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
'Til we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land
'Til we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land

William Blake (1757-1827)                

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Among these are Bath (Aquae Sulis), with its Roman spa and volumes of  culture. Bristol, the home of the engineering genius, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. And a little further, but still comfortably within a day's outing, are Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's home and birthplace and Warwick Castle, one of the most superbly preserved castles in Europe. And then there's the beautiful city of Oxford with its university, dreaming spires and ageless architecture. And Stonehenge (2000 BC) is only ninety minutes drive away.

Among the Cotswolds you can always find somewhere to stay where you can relax and browse the literature on dozens of interesting places to visit. Many more than can be listed here. Or you may prefer to just meander in the tranquillity of the surrounding hills. You can drive through the lanes or walk the miles of paths that embroider the rolling countryside. The famous Fosse Way, one of the longest walks in England, stretching from Lincoln in the north east, to Exeter in the west, passes through the Cotswolds. This stretch known locally as the Cotswold Way. Whether on foot or by car, you can view the outstanding natural beauty of the Cotswold Hills, call into an English country pub for a meal at extraordinarily reasonable prices and, of course, accompany your food with a pint of traditional English ale.

You can visit sites from Roman times, the middle ages and many more places with more recent but equally captivating history. You can visit museums and art galleries. You can visit centuries old, truly inhabited villages, much filmed for their authentic charm by modern classic film makers.  You can buy antiques or other mementoes in centuries old shops and make your visit extra special to remember, seeing and touching, and even smelling the history, culture and beauty that is everywhere.

Or you can do nothing but relax and enjoy the friendliness of the natives.


  Ed O'Brien

Ed O'Brien's novels are now available on Kindle.
View sample extracts here

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