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{{Short description|Protected area mostly in South West England}}{{Redirect|Cotswold}}{{Redirect|Cotswold Hills|the suburb of Toowoomba, Queensland|Cotswold Hills, Queensland}}{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

factoids

| coords_ref = | authorized = | created = | designated = | established = 1966(Wiktionary:cot#Etymology 2>cot) + wold, 'sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides'| visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | administrator = | operator = | owner = weblink}}| embedded = }}The Cotswolds ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|t|s|w|əʊ|l|d|z|,_|ˈ|k|ɒ|t|s|w|əl|d|z}} {{respell|KOTS|wohldz|,_|KOTS|wəldz}})WEB,weblink Cotswolds, Dictionary.com, Random House, 7 March 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180308042243weblink">weblink 8 March 2018, live, is a region of 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 and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone.WEB,weblink Cotswolds – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, cotswoldsaonb.org.uk, Cotswolds Conservation Board, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140804044746weblink">weblink 4 August 2014, 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,WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – Cotswolds AONB, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 26 June 2018,weblink 28 May 2019, dead, the Cotswolds covers {{Convert|2038|sqkm|sqmi|order=flip}}, making it the largest AONB.WEB, 17 May 2018, Moves made for The Cotswolds to become a National Park – Stratford Herald,weblink live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180625050617weblink">weblink 25 June 2018, 25 June 2018, It is England's third-largest protected landscape, after the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks.WEB, Where is the Cotswolds – Visitors Guide Fact Sheet,weblink live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171110061710weblink">weblink 10 November 2017, 9 November 2017, www.cotswolds.info, Its boundaries are roughly {{convert|25|mi|km}} across and {{convert|90|mi|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 highest point is Cleeve Hill at {{convert|1083|ft|m|abbr=on}},WEB,weblink Hill Bagging: Cleeve Hill, Hill Bagging: the online version of the Database of British and Irish Hills, 14 July 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150716025623weblink">weblink 16 July 2015, just east of Cheltenham.The Cotswold local government district is within Gloucestershire. Its main town is Cirencester.WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – About the Council, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, In 2021, the population of the {{convert|450|sqmi|adj=on}} district was 91,000.WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – Cotswold factfile, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 14 July 2018,weblink 20 June 2018, live, The much larger area referred to as the Cotswolds encompasses nearly {{convert|800|sqmi}}.WEB,weblink Cotswolds.com – The Official Cotswolds Tourist Information Site, www.cotswolds.com, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, WEB,weblink In Deep: Idyllic England in the Cotswolds – Butterfield & Robinson, 14 August 2017, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, The population of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was 139,000 in 2016.WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-08-31, live, Fact sheet, 2017, www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk,

History

The largest excavation of Jurassic period echinoderm fossils, including of rare and previously unknown species, occurred at a quarry in the Cotswolds in 2021.WEB, 20 July 2021, 'Part-time adventurers': amateur fossil hunters get record haul in Cotswolds,weblink 23 July 2021, The Guardian, en, NEWS, 21 July 2021, 'Jurassic Pompeii' yields thousands of 'squiggly wiggly' fossils, en-GB, BBC News,weblink 23 July 2021, There is evidence of Neolithic settlement from burial chambers on Cotswold Edge, and there are remains of Bronze and Iron Age forts.BOOK,weblink vii, Slow Cotswolds, Carolione Mills, Bradt Travel Guides, 15 April 2011, 9781841623443, live,weblink 18 January 2017, Later the Romans built villas, such as at Chedworth,BOOK,weblink 90, Discovering Roman Britain, New Holland Publishers, 2008, Andrew McCloy, Andrew Midgley, 9781847731289, live,weblink 18 January 2017, settlements such as Gloucester, and paved the Celtic path later known as Fosse Way.NEWS,weblink 'Roman' roads were actually built by the Celts, new book claims, Hayley Dixon, The Telegraph, 9 October 2013, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140504110432weblink">weblink 4 May 2014, 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.

Etymology

The name Cotswold is popularly believed to mean the "sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides",WEB, The Kingscote, Gloucestershire area,weblink Kingscote Park, 1 January 2012, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120426072311weblink">weblink 26 April 2012, BOOK,weblink Local etymology: a derivative dictionary of geographical names, Richard Stephen, Charnock, Houlston and Wright, 1859, 76, dmy-all, 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".Smith, A. H. (1964) The Place-Names of Gloucestershire, part 1: "The Rivers and Road-names, the East Cotswolds," Cambridge, p.2 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.Smith A. H. 1964 The Place-Names of Gloucestershire part 2: The North and West Cotswolds, Cambridge pp. 7–8 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.Yeates, S. J. (2008) The Tribe of Witches: The Religion of the Dobunni and the Hwicce, pp. 11–18Yeates, 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

Geography

File:Bibury Cottages in the Cotswolds - June 2007.jpg|thumb|BiburyBiburyThe 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.WEB,weblink Cotswold Stone, Cotswold Gateway, 12 December 2009, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091215103858weblink">weblink 15 December 2009, 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). 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.WEB,weblink History, Court Barn Museum, 6 April 2010, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100131022655weblink">weblink 31 January 2010, Morris lived occasionally in Broadway Tower, a folly, now part of a country park.WEB,weblink Broadway Tower, Cotswold website, 12 December 2009, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090708014715weblink">weblink 8 July 2009, Chipping Campden is also known for the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games, a celebration of sports and games dating to the early 17th century.WEB,weblink Origins of Robert Dover's Games, Olympick Games, 12 December 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091202114440weblink">weblink 2 December 2009, Of the Cotswolds' nearly {{convert|800|sqmi}}, roughly 80 per cent is farmland.WEB,weblink Cotswolds, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, There are over {{convert|3,000|mi}} of footpaths and bridleways, and {{convert|4,000|mi}} of historic stone walls.

Economy

File:Broadway row b 8294.jpg|thumb|Row houses of Cotswold stone in Broadway, WorcestershireBroadway, WorcestershireA 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. 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.WEB,weblink Farming – Cotswolds AONB, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, According to 2011 census data for the Cotswolds,WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – Census 2011, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 9 November 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171110114259weblink">weblink 10 November 2017, live, 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.WEB,weblink Census data, 2011, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 9 November 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151005130121weblink">weblink 5 October 2015, live, Unemployment in the Cotswold District was among the lowest in the country. An August 2017 report showed only 315 unemployed persons, a decrease of five from a year earlier.WEB,weblink Decrease in unemployment in the Cotswolds, Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 19 August 2017, 26 June 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180626165005weblink">weblink 26 June 2018, live,

Tourism

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.WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – New report highlights boom time for tourism in Cotswolds, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 14 July 2018,weblink 14 July 2018, live, In the larger Cotswolds Tourism area, including Stroud, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury,WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – Cotswold factfile, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 14 July 2018,weblink 20 June 2018, live, 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,WEB,weblink England's Cute and Cozy Cotswolds by Rick Steves, www.ricksteves.com, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, Broadway, Bibury, and Stanton.WEB,weblink The Top Five Best Cotswold Villages to Visit - CotswoldJourneys.com, www.cotswoldjourneys.com, 26 June 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180626164243weblink">weblink 26 June 2018, live, WEB,weblink The Quintessential Guide to the Cotswolds, Daisy, Garnett, 27 February 2016, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, 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.WEB,weblink Cotswolds village TOO POSH for buses? Coaches officially BANNED, Kat, Romero, 22 January 2016, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, The area also has numerous public walking trails and footpaths that attract visitors, including the {{Convert|93|mi|adj=on}} Cotswold Way (part of the National Trails system) from Bath to Chipping Campden.WEB,weblink 7 Best Walks And Trails In The Cotswolds, 25 May 2017, TRIP101 Pte Ltd, 12 January 2019, The Cotswolds are quite simply a hiker's paradise. Miles upon miles of public pathways and bridleways to explore.,

Housing development

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.WEB,weblink 10,000 homes will be built across Cotswolds, Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 9 August 2018, 9 August 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180809220311weblink">weblink 9 August 2018, live,

Cotswold stone

(File:Broadway row houses b 8302.jpg|thumb|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.BOOK, Cotswold stone, Freda Derrick, Chapman & Hall, 1948, 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.WEB,weblink Cotswold stone, cotswold.gov.uk, Cotswold District Council, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140323121720weblink">weblink 23 March 2014, (File:Thatch and slate roof, Stretton-on-Fosse, Cotswolds 165445.jpg|thumb|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."BOOK,weblink Fodor's England 2016: With the Best of Wales, 9781101879115, Fodor's Travel Guides, 8 December 2015,

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

{{wide image|Cotswolds Panorama Fields.jpg|780px|align-cap=center|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 {{convert|1990|km2|sqmi|0}}. In 1991, all AONBs were measured again using modern methods, and the official area of the Cotswolds AONB was increased to {{convert|2038|km2|sqmi|0}}. In 2000, the government confirmed that AONBs have the same landscape quality and status as National Parks.WEB,weblink AONB, Cotswolds AONB, 12 December 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140804044746weblink">weblink 4 August 2014, 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.WEB,weblink Cotswolds Map, Cotswolds AONB, en-US, live,weblink 17 March 2020, 17 March 2020, Gloucestershire County Council is responsible for sixty-three per cent of the AONB.Cotswolds {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726170830weblink |date=26 July 2010 }} Natural England 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.WEB,weblink Cotswolds Conservation Board, Cotswolds AONB, 12 December 2009, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090131091840weblink">weblink 31 January 2009, The Cotswolds AONB Management Plan 2018–2023 was adopted by the Board in September 2018.WEB,weblink Cotswolds AONB Management Plan, Cotswolds AONB, en-US, 17 March 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180502220730weblink">weblink 2 May 2018, live, 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.WEB,weblink Landscape data, 2017, www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk, 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.WEB, Natural Areas – 55 Cotswolds,weblink Natural England, 6 May 2011, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110724015849weblink">weblink 24 July 2011, A June 2018 report stated that the AONB receives "23 million visitors a year, the third largest of any protected landscape".WEB,weblink MP seeks to meet new chief in bid to promote idea of Cotswolds becoming a National Park, Cotswold Journal, 18 June 2018, 14 July 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180714222015weblink">weblink 14 July 2018, live, 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.NEWS,weblink England could have new national parks, BBC News, 27 May 2018, 18 July 2018,weblink 1 June 2018, live, 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.WEB,weblink England's Protected Landscapes to be reconsidered under new review – Cotswolds AONB, 29 May 2018, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, 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".WEB,weblink Cotswold District Council – Council will undertake evaluation of potential National Park designation, www.cotswold.gov.uk, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, In other words, Cotswold District Council would no longer have the authority to grant and refuse housing applications.WEB,weblink Gloucestershire could be about to get a national park, Leigh, Boobyer, 21 June 2018, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, 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.WEB, Understanding the Cotswold AONB,weblink Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 6 May 2011, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140804044746weblink">weblink 4 August 2014, The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens Service was established in 1968 to help conserve and enhance the area, and now has more than 300 wardens.WEB,weblink 101 Reasons to Love the Cotswolds, Cotswold Voluntary Wardens, www.lovingthecotswolds.com, 14 July 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180714193458weblink">weblink 14 July 2018, live, The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, just over {{convert|100|mi|km|-1}} 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.WEB,weblink Cotswold Way â€“ About this trail, National Trail, 14 July 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131113072256weblink">weblink 13 November 2013, dmy-all, In September 2020, the Cotswolds AONB rebranded itself as the "Cotswolds National Landscape", using a proposed name replacement for "Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty",WEB, New name and look for Cotswolds area,weblink 10 November 2021, Cotswold Journal, 17 September 2020, en, WEB, New name and logo for AONB,weblink 10 November 2021, Oxford Mail, 17 September 2020, en, until all AONBs in England and Wales adopted "National Landscape" in 2023.WEB, 2023-11-22, National Landscapes: New name for Areas of Outstanding Beauty,weblink 2023-11-22, BBC News, en-GB,

Places of interest

File:Sudeley Castle Secret Garden.jpg|thumb|upright|The Secret Garden at Sudeley CastleSudeley CastlePictured 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.WEB, Sudeley Castle,weblink Heritage Gateway, Historic England, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151123030103weblink">weblink 23 November 2015, 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.WEB, Calcot Manor's impressive heritage,weblink Calcot Manor, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151123011740weblink">weblink 23 November 2015, Tetbury Market House was built in 1655.WEB, Market House, Tetbury,weblink Heritage Open Days, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151123010806weblink">weblink 23 November 2015, During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn. Chavenage House is an Elizabethan-era manor house {{convert|1.5|mi}} northwest of Tetbury.WEB, Chavenage House,weblink Historic Houses Association, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151122224226weblink">weblink 22 November 2015, Chedworth Roman Villa, where several mosaic floors are on display, is near the Roman road known as the Fosse Way, {{convert|8|mi|km}} north of the town of Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester). Cirencester Abbey was founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1117,WEB, Page, William, Houses of Augustinian canons: The abbey of Cirencester,weblink British History Online, Victoria County History, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151122220001weblink">weblink 22 November 2015, 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.WEB, Pugh, R. B., Critall, Elizabeth, House of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Malmesbury,weblink British History Online, Victoria County Histories, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150915130825weblink">weblink 15 September 2015, An unusual house in this area is Quarwood, a Victorian Gothic house in Stow-on-the-Wold. The grounds, covering {{convert|42|acre}}, include parkland, fish ponds, paddocks, garages, woodlands and seven cottages.WEB, Quar Wood, Gloucestershire,weblink Victorian Web, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151225052339weblink">weblink 25 December 2015, Another is Woodchester Mansion, an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house in Woodchester Park near Nympsfield.WEB, Woodchester Park,weblink National Trust, 22 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151122222830weblink">weblink 22 November 2015, 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 {{convert|300|ha|acre|-2|order=flip}}WEB,weblink Historic Places to Visit, 2015, cotswolds.info, Cotswolds.Info LLP, 14 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150714132040weblink">weblink 14 July 2015, live, 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, {{convert|3|mi|0}} west of Chippenham, Wiltshire.

Top attractions

According to users of the worldwide TripAdvisor travel site, in 2018 the following were among the best attractions in the Cotswolds:WEB, The 15 Best Things to Do in Cotswolds 2018,weblink live,weblink 14 July 2018, 18 July 2018, Tripadvisor,

• Walks With Hawks, Cheltenham
• Cotswolds Distillery, Stourton
• Cotswold Falconry Centre, Moreton-in-Marsh
• Chavenage House, Tetbury
• Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury
• Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, Cheltenham
• Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester
• The Royal Gardens at Highgrove, Tetbury
• Jet Age Museum, Gloucester
• Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford
• Hook Norton Brewery, Hook Norton

Transport

(File:Cotswold roads 1933.jpg|thumb|right|Map of Cotswolds roads from 1933)The Cotswolds lie between the M5, M40 and M4 motorways. The main A-roads through the area are:

• the A46: Bath â€“ Stroud â€“ Cheltenham â€“ Evesham;
• the A419: Swindon â€“ Cirencester â€“ Stroud;
• the A417: Lechlade â€“ Cirencester â€“ Gloucester;
• the A429: Malmesbury â€“ Cirencester â€“ Stow-on-the-Wold â€“ Moreton-in-Marsh;
• the A44: Chipping Norton â€“ Moreton-in-Marsh â€“ Evesham;
• the A40: Oxford â€“ Burford â€“ Cheltenham â€“ Gloucester.

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

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

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.WEB,weblink How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021, 19 January 2023, ons.gov.uk, 2 July 2023, The percentage of usual residents in relationships, aged 16 and above, were:WEB,weblink How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021, 19 January 2023, ons.gov.uk, 2 July 2023, (File:UKOpenGovernmentLicence.svg|30px) Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

• 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".WEB,weblink How life has changed in Cotswold: Census 2021, 19 January 2023, ons.gov.uk, 2 July 2023,

In culture

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".Long Remembered Hills {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919220827weblink |date=19 September 2012 }} How the English composers Ivor Gurney and Herbert Howells were influenced by the Gloucestershire countryside. 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.WEB,weblink 19 famous filming locations in the Cotswolds, Joe, Meredith, 15 May 2019, Cotswold Life, 9 November 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171110062556weblink">weblink 10 November 2017, live, WEB,weblink The Cotswolds on Film – TV, www.lovingthecotswolds.com, 28 June 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180628072317weblink">weblink 28 June 2018, live, 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).WEB,weblink Popular Films and TV filmed in the Cotswolds, 9 November 2017,weblink 10 November 2017, live, 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.WEB,weblink The Cotswolds on Film – Movies, www.lovingthecotswolds.com, 9 November 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171108225123weblink">weblink 8 November 2017, live, 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.WEB,weblink Filming locations in the Cotswolds every TV crime show fan should visit, Stephen, Roberts, 10 November 2017, Cotswold Life, 14 July 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180714222227weblink">weblink 14 July 2018, dead, dmy-all, 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. 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.WEB,weblink Where's BBC's Father Brown filmed in the Cotswolds?, 3 April 2018, 28 June 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180628050234weblink">weblink 28 June 2018, live, WEB,weblink TV series filmed in Cotswolds, Cotswold Journal, 23 June 2012, 14 July 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140203045846weblink">weblink 3 February 2014, live, 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.WEB, Cotswold Film Locations,weblink 11 March 2021, staycotswold.com, November 2017, Many exterior shots of village life in the Downton Abbey TV series were filmed in Bampton, Oxfordshire. Other filming locations in that county included Swinbrook, Cogges, and Shilton.WEB,weblink Downton Abbey film locations – Oxfordshire Cotswolds, www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org, 9 November 2017,weblink 10 November 2017, live, WEB,weblink 'Father Brown' is loving Cotswolds, Cotswold Journal, 9 August 2012, 14 July 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180714221822weblink">weblink 14 July 2018, live, The city of Bath hosted crews that filmed parts of the movies Vanity Fair, Persuasion, Dracula, and The Duchess.WEB,weblink Cotswolds Filming Locations Cinema & TV, www.cotswolds.info, 26 June 2018,weblink" title="archive.today/20130702105103weblink">weblink 2 July 2013, live, 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.WEB,weblink 18 movie and television filming locations in Gloucestershire, SoGlos, SoGlos, 26 June 2018,weblink 26 June 2018, live, 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

• Chilterns
• Cotswold architecture
• Geology of Great Britain

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• 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) 37 pp 490–499.
• Verey, David Cecil Wynter. The buildings of England: Gloucestershire. I. The Cotswolds (Penguin Books, 1979).

External links

{{Sister project links | commons=Category:Cotswolds| voy=Cotswolds|n=no|q=no|b=no|v=no|s=no}}{{EB1911 poster|Cotteswold Hills}}

• National Character Area profile – Natural England
• Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – Cotswolds Conservation Board
• Cotswolds Tourism Partnership
• Independent tourist guides:
  • cotswolds.org
  • thecotswolds.com
  • icotswolds.com
  • Explore Gloucestershire

{{Geographic location|title = Cities near the CotswoldsWorcester, England>Worcester|North = Birmingham|Northeast = Northampton|West = Gloucester|Centre = Cotswold AONB|East = Oxford|Southwest = BristolBath, Somerset>Bath|Southeast = Cirencester}}{{AONBs in England}}{{Authority control}}