Our Trip to England’s Cotswolds

Most of us in the United States don’t know much about the Cotswolds, instead when we think of a holiday in Great Britain we think of Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and Big Ben. If we think of the countryside we rush off to Bath or Stonehenge without a passing thought of a beautiful place called the Cotswolds.

This is picture perfect storybook hill country in the English countryside. The word Cotswolds is derived from the old English words meaning “sheep hills”. This area was made wealthy during the Middle Ages from wool when 50% of England’s wealth came from the growth and production of wool. In fact, during the 14th and 15th centuries King Charles II passed a law that all bodies be buried in wool. So the tiny villages sprung up in the wealth of sheep raising. It was known the world over that the best wool was from England and the best wool in England was from the Cotswolds.

There is also rivers flowing through the Cotswolds which allowed for power to turn the mills that produced the fabric from wool. One such mill is still visible in Upper Slaughter, when we strolled past the mill a small flock of ducks were swimming past us and the sun caught perfectly on their irredescent green heads and I caught my breath from the beauty of the scene. The picturesque Arlington Row in Bibury is one of the pretties streets in the Cotswolds and was built in 1380 as a wool store then converted into a row of cottages in the seventeenth century.

For some reason the wool industry died down after that and the Cotswolds were pickled in their adorable village perfection without ever being corrupted by an “ugly growth” era. Usually as the population grows, houses continued to be built in different time periods causing an ugly urban sprawl, not so with the Cotswolds, they are 16th century village perfection without one house or building ruining their adorableness. Just picture the scene from Downton Abbey (which was filmed in the Cotswolds Village Of Bampton) or any Jane Austin movie and you have the General look of the Cotswolds.

Now I understand why it’s called a “English Cottage Garden” and why the British wear Wellies (tall rubber boots) when they are out walking (very muddy in the fields after a rain, and it always rains). So a gentleman wearing a tweed sportcort, hat and wellies sporting a rifle while pheasant hunting suddenly makes perfect sense. The Cotswolds were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966 and cover an area of almost 800 square miles stretching from Chipping Camden to Bath.

The day we made our journey from the airport to the Cotswold Hotel was socked in a thick grey fog and as night fell we found ourselves driving in pitch darkness, in the thick London fog on a one lane narrow country road not being able to see five feet in front of us. Add to the mix that my intrepid husband is driving under the influence of jet lag and on the opposite side of the road! Well, we white nuckled it until we pulled into the driveway of our hotel.

The hotel itself was a manor house built in the 1700s by a feudal lord of Wyck Rissington, who later gifted it to his daughter as a wedding gift. We felt like a lord and lady of our own manor as we pulled open the heavy wooden door leading into the grand entrance.

We were immediately greeted by a warm fire and cozy couches upholstered in crushed velvet. We climbed the ancient wooden staircase that lead to the first floor under a giant chandelier that cast a warm glow in the room. We set our luggage down and Jeff immediately set the water kettle boiling and fixed himself a hot tea while he settled into a hot bath to unrattle his nerves after his driving baptism by fire.

I wasn’t quite ready to retire so I ventured down the stairs and approached the wooden bar and ordered a Chardonnay and a smoked salmon platter. I settled into one of the soft couches by the fire and read up on things to see in Cotswolds, planning our adventure for the next day.

The next morning I awoke to a sky that was just beginning to lighten from the rising sun that was not yet above the horizon. I set up in bed and looked at the clock, it said 7:30 am, I was so happy to have slept like a log all night! I was ready to start our adventure in the Cotswolds! I ran over to the window and looked out, I couldn’t believe the sky was blue, no fog! So I threw on my heavy London Fog coat, pulled on sheepskin lined Ugg boots, gloves, hat and scarf and out the door I bolted. Jeff was just stirring and I told him I was going out to take a brisk morning walk and I would meet him in the dining room for breakfast shortly. I bounced out of the heavy wooden door and stepped out into the cold crisp January morning.

It was such a beautiful site! The sky was brightening with first light, the Manor House was glowing golden from the windows, the bare trees casting dark sillouettes across the brightening sky. A gate was open, beckoning me to wander through it into the garden like Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. I walked around the Old House snapping pictures and relishing the early morning perfection. A hot cup of coffee lured me back inside where I joined Jeff at the breakfast table. The breakfast dining area was wall to wall windows including the ceiling, allowing me to enjoy the perfection of the morning. The dining room itself was white and beige with armless upholstery chairs and white table cloths.

We were served a choice of fruit, toast, yogurts, deli meats, cheeses and fresh squeezed juices. Then they brought us a full English breakfast of a poached egg, baked beans, grilled mushrooms, a roasted tomato, English bacon and Cotswold sausage.

Now, fully nourished and ready to explore, we set out to see the Villages of the Cotswolds. We were a little dampened when a thick fog started to spread around us, but undeterred we set out anyway. We were delighted as we approached the first Village and the fog started to dissipate. We were at Stow-in-the-Wold Village, this is one of the most visited villages in the Cotswolds but is not a favorite of the local villagers because it gets overcrowded in the summertime by bus tours who crowd the streets and rob the Village of its charm. But we were visiting in January so there were no crowds, just the locals out walking their dogs. After strolling the streets we were enamored by the honey colored local quarried stone that every house was built with.

Imagine a town in cobbled streets where every house was built out of the same stone but each had its own charm. The houses and shop fronts had smoking chimneys inviting you to come sit by the fire. Wooden doors and white pained windows often with the warped tell tale sign of being hand blown. Bare vines clung to the exterior walls promising of a profusion of lavender wisteria blooms come spring. The grass was glowing green with new growth as the sun illuminated it. We heard that the Villages were all snowed in just a few weeks ago, but no worries, even if the power goes out they just pull on their rubber wellies and tromp through the snow to the local tavern to sip tea and drink beer while spinning a tall tale or playing a rousing game of ten-pin, not much else to do when the whole village is snowed in.

We strolled past the old church and snapped a picture of the ancient door with two trees flanking the door and becoming part of the infrastructure centuries ago. It gave the effect of something straight out of Peter Rabbit or Winnie the Poo.

We moved on to the next Village of Bourton-on-the-Water, so named because it sits directly in the Windrush River that winds its way through the Cotswolds. Little ancient bridges cross the river at intervals creating a Little Venice right here in the Cotswolds. This Village is hard not to love with it’s cozy cottages and river crossing bridges, it is one of the most visited of the villages right after Stow-on-the-Wold. While in this Village we pop into a little cafe and have a cappuccino while watching the water twinkle on the river. We check out the Mousetrap Inn, a local tavern with a warm fire and local beers. An older docent of the village with a tweed Newspaper boy cap told me that the Inn got its name centuries ago when workers would pop into the Inn for a beer and their employers would find them there, drinking beer and not working, like a mouse caught in a trap.

We decide to move a little further down the road to Upper and Lower Slaughter. These tiny towns get their names from the old English world Slough, meaning marsh land. The river also flows through these towns and Upper Slaughter boasts a mill that is the most photographed spot in the Cotswolds. You can walk from town to town but today is very muddy from the rains during the night and alas, Jeff and I don’t have on Wellies (Wellington rubber boots made popular by the first Duke of Wellington), so we are content to stroll through the paved roads in town. We pass a small gate leading from the pasture between the towns that boasts a little plaque that says “Prince Charles and Lady Diana 29th July 1981”.

We smile to ourselves that this beautiful area has attracted many famous people. In fact, Prince Charles currently lives here in the Cotswolds with Camilla, he has Highgrove Garden in Tetbury that boasts very earth friendly techniques and is renown in the world. As I walk through these roads I have a feeling that my heart will burst from sheer adorableness. How can there be a place that could look so perfect? I feel like I could look up and see Peter Rabbit have a spot of tea at one of the nearby cafes or see the Crawley’s out for a stroll to town. It really is quite gob-smacking.

But we have more to see, so we drive a few miles to Naunton. In this minuscule Village we stop at the English pub with the name The Farmers Arms. We enter the 17th century stone building and step foot on the flagstone that serves as the very foundation of the house, as is the case with most of the old houses here. There is a warm fire burning and we take a seat in an empty dining area. The lady of the house is leaning against the old wooden bar looking over the local paper. She looks up and says “We are very slow today, we had one couple in for lunch but they’ve gone now” we say no problem and are happy to take a seat at the wooden table in front of the fire, we order a local beer and choose our lunch item from the selection of dishes written in white chalk in the black board. Hmmm, will we have Rabbit Pie, Steak and Kidney Pie, roasted lamb or roast beef? Jeff chooses the Steak and Kidney Pie and I order the roasted lamb. Her husband is the chef and they source their food locally.

My lamb comes with homemade mint jelly (less like a gooey green jelly and more like a fresh mint chutney made with mint from the garden) I also have an assortment of root vegetables such as parsnips, turnips, potatoes, carrots, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. It was so delicious and we were happy to have an authentic English meal. The lady of the house said they have run this tavern for over twenty years, she said the Jaguar her husband just bought wasn’t very good in the snow so I think they are doing just fine. She will be taking off for a trip to India soon and caught us up on all the local gossip. We heard all about Prince Charles and Camilla, Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys blossoming romance and pending nuptuals and Prince William and Kate Middlestons growing family. She told us that David Beckham just bought a house in the Cotswolds and we should go to Winchcomb and check out Sudeley Castle. So now that we have been educated by a local, we wiped the mint jelly from our faces, drank our last swig of beer and headed out to Winchcombe to see the castle.

Sudeley Castle was closed while we were there along with most of the other attractions such as the Model village in Bourton-on-the-Water (a tiny scale village made of the town that walking thought it makes you feel like Gullivers Travels), Bird Park and Prince Charles Highgrove gardens. But it didn’t dampen out spirits on the glorious sunny day. We took a walk through a pasture to get a glimpse of the Castle from the back side. We walked through the green grass and greeted the Villagers as they strolled by in their Wellies holding hands and walking their dogs. Everyone was happy to be out on this sunny day. We walked around the Castle and caught views of it from its many angles. This is a 500 year old castle that had its beginnings in the 900’s when it was just a settlement. It is currently inhabited in a section of it but also allows tours in the spring and summer.

As the sun started to set we found ourselves ready to head back to our own Manor House. The sun doesn’t rise here until around 8 am and starts it’s cooling decent into the horizon around 4:30 pm. We stop back by at the bakery at Bourton-on-the-Water, I am determined to have high tea with scones and clotted cream with strawberry jam before my mini vacation is over. So we settle into a table by the window overlooking the little bridges over the river. I have my pot of Earl Gray tea and I generously spread the clotted cream on top of my scone and top it off with some strawberry jam. Yes, it is as delicious as they all say it is. I finally understand what clotted cream is. To have the experience at home, simply beat heavy cream until it starts to thicken past the whipped cream state and starts to enter the solid state of butter. Basically, it’s butter. Very tasty whipped cream like butter. Delicious with a pot of tea. We pick up a couple of meat pies from the bakery and a bottle of locally brewed beer and head back to our Manor.

As we pull into the elegant estate we feel like lady Mary Crawley of Downton Abbey as we enter the warm lobby with the glowing fire welcoming us home. We drop our things off in our room and head down to the sauna in the hotel spa to warm up and sweat out the toxins of travel. After soaking up as much steam as we can handle we don our warm fuzzy white robes and slippers and take the servants stairs back up to our room so as not be seen by the other guests. It makes me think of Upstairs, Downstairs and the servants who traveled these stairs serving the family that lived here. Back in our room we act more like the lowly servants as we settle into bed with our meat pie and beer, relaxed from the beautiful day and relaxing steam room.

The next morning we wake up to the thick fog that has blanketed the Cotswolds and London. The temperatures have dropped and it’s a totally different day than the sunshine and warmth of yesterday. We enjoy another English Breakfast and pack up our things. Today we will continue our journey to Italy but first we have a few sites to see on our way to the Stansted Airport. Our first stop is the Village Of Bampton on the outskirts of the Cotswolds.

This Village was made famous by the filming of Downton Abbey. The Castle that they live in is actually Highclere Castle and is located over an hour away and not in the direction we are going. But the street scenes are all shot here in Bampton. We locate the church that Lady Edith was gilted in. We see the Hospital that Lady Crawley volunteered her time in and Lady Sybil worked so passionately for during the war. We even identify Lady Crawleys house and feel like the family as we stroll down the streets of this quaint little Village.

I especially enjoy seeing a few houses that have the original grass thatch style roofs. After enjoying a stroll down the streets we continue our journey, next stop is Oxford of the famed Oxford University.

This the oldest University in an English speaking country and has educated young minds since 1086. By 1355 Oxford had achieved eminence above every other seat of learning, and won the praises of popes and king. King Edward III paid tribute to the University for its invaluable contribution to learning. John Wyclif campaigned for a Bible in the vernacular here in the 14th century, against the wishes of the papacy. In 1530, Henry VIII forced the University to accept his divorce from Catherine of Aragon.The University counts 26 British Prime Ministers, 50 Nobel Prize leaders, and dozens of international heads of state among its alumni. Albert Einstein was briefly a student at Christ Church College in the 1930s, before emigrating to the US. King Edward VII of England was also among the alumni of Oxford University.

Next up is a quick drive through Windsor and a viewing of the Windsor Castle. Many kings and queens have lived and died here. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London and oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames.

Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III went further, rebuilding the palace to make an even grander set of buildings in what would become “the most expensive building project of the entire Middle Ages in England”. Windsor Castle was the Home to King Henry VIII and the scene of the turmultuous relationship between the King and Anne Boleyn when he had his marriage with Catherine of Aragon annulled and caused the separation from the Catholic Church when the pope would not agree. It did not end well for Anne Boleyn, when the King grew tired of her after the birth of their daughter Elizabeth and wished to marry Jane Seymour instead. Anne was convicted of treason and lost her head at the Tower of London.

Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. The current Queen Elizabeth prefers weekend stays at the Windsor Castle just outside London. On this foggy day, Windsor Castle looms over us as history plays out in my mind like something out of a Medieval Tale on this grey foggy day.

Our quick little mini holiday through the English Countryside has come to a close, we enjoyed every minute of it, what better way to shake off the shackles of a nine hour jet lag than by meandering through picture perfect villages and warming ourselves by glowing fires? We are ready now to finish our journey to Italy, I type these last few words as we make our decent into the Rome Airport. We will be picked up by friends we met during our last three months here and look forward to sleeping in our own “Italian” bed tonight. Tomorrow we will start the next chapter in our lives, what adventures await us next?

For Other Great Travel Stories from Italy in our Archives:

A Morning Run in Nettuno (Published September 10, 2017)

A Visit to Castelli Romani (Published September 13, 2017)

Dinner for Six (Published October 1, 2017)

Italian Cooking School (Published October 8, 2017)

Culinary Tour of Napoli (Published November 17, 2017)

Changing Seasons in Italy (Published November 25, 2017)

Our Trip to Englands Cotswolds (Published January 12, 2018)

Cooking with Pasquale (Published January 28, 2018)

A Tour of the Garden of Ninfa (Published May 7, 2018)

A Trip to Montefiascone (Published May 17, 2018)

San Gimignano, a visit to a Tuscan Hill Town (Published June 9, 2018)

Tuscan Hot Springs of San Filippo & Saturnia (Published June 13, 2018)