The Cotswolds area of England, located in the southwest of the country, has long been visited by those looking for that quintessential English holiday. It feels as though time has stood still in the Cotswolds and any visitor will feel as though they’ve stepped back into the England of yesteryear.
The Cotswolds are England’s largest designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and you will quickly be enchanted by the rolling green hills and the quaint Cotswold cottages nestled into the countryside. Many even say it looks as though the buildings made of the local sandstone have simply grown out of the landscape.
While you could easily spend your Cotswolds holiday simply relaxing in the beautiful countryside, there are many interesting places to visit while you are there. With gardens, museums, cathedrals and more to keep you amused, your Cotswold cottage holiday will simply leave you wanting more.
1. Gloucester Cathedral
The site where Gloucester Cathedral stands has been a place of worship for more than 1300 years! The cathedral that stands today was built beginning in 1089 and was overseen by Serlo, a monk from Mont St Michel in Normandy. The building itself managed to survive the reformation and today it is a breathtaking example of Norman building.
2. Arts and Crafts
One of the great art movements of the 20th century was inspired by the beautiful Cotswolds countryside and the impact of William Morris’s Arts and Crafts movement can still be seen throughout the area. Kelmscott Manor was to become Morris’ country home in 1871 and can still be visited today to learn more about the founder of the movement and the style he would help create. The Cotswolds are still a haven for artists and craftspeople and there work can be found at galleries and studios throughout the area.
3. Painswick Rococo Garden
If you’re looking for something a little unusual, the gardens at Painswick House are not to be missed. Created in the 1740s, the garden was frivolous and flamboyant and would have held its share of wild Georgian garden parties. Recreated from original paintings in the 1980s, today you can be transported back to this unusual time in garden design and while away an afternoon immersing yourself in the ambience of Painswick.
4. Dr. Jenner’s House
You may not be familiar with the name but you are likely to have been impacted by his history changing invention, vaccination. It was from a house here in the Cotswolds that Dr. Edward Jenner pioneered the vaccination against smallpox, which at the time accounted for the deaths of one-in-three children. Visit the house Jenner’s house in Berkeley to learn more about the life and research of this world changing physician.
