Heart of England info
20/5/70
8:10 am
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DISCOVER THE HEART OF ENGLAND AREA HIGHLIGHTS Chalk hills, limestone wolds and granite heights. Villages of stone, timber and thatch. Abbeys, castles and great houses and ancient forests.
Warwickshire-Oxfordshire-Worcestershire-Herefordshire-Gloucestershire Starting at Windsor, where William the Conqueror built a wooden castle to guard the western approaches to London. Nearby Runnymede, one of England’s most historic sites. It was here the rebellious barons took on King John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta,.
Windsor Castle
Take a river trip from Windsor to Henley, the home of the world famous regatta. Oxford dubbed “that sweet city with her dreaming spires”. Its university was established by English scholars expelled from France in the 12th century. The city’s wealth of magnificent buildings are dominated by the Radcliffe Camera, Christ Church College and the Sheldonian Theatre. The Cotswolds, the source of the honey coloured limestone used to build its famous “chocolate box villages”.
The Cotswolds
Gloucester popular with Norman monarchs and it was here, in 1086 that William the Conqueror ordered the survey of his kingdom ... to be known as the Domesday Book.
The Forest of Dean, one of England’s largest ancient forests, and the glorious River Wye. The Malvern Hills rise sharply from the plain of the River Severn. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon on St George’s Day, April 23, 1564. The town has become a shrine to Britain’s greatest dramatists and the most visited tourist attraction outside London. Oxford The Chilterns and Blenheim Palace. This Baroque masterpiece was built for the Duke of Marlborough in gratitude for his defeat of the French at the battle of Blenheim.
Woburn Abbey, home to the Dukes of Bedford for nearly 400 years. Although better known for its safari park. Then there’s Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, the rural branch of London Zoo. As the name suggests, there’s minimal use of cages for the 2.500 species kept in its 600 acres. St Albans Cathedral and this ancient city. The cathedral is the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain. 56
