The Many Splendors of the Cotswolds

It certainly lives up to its official designation of an Area of Outstanding Beauty

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY SUGATO MUKHERJEE

The university town of Oxford was my base to explore the Cotswolds.

One breezy summer morning, I embarked on a tour of the famed villages with Ian, who runs small group tours into the inner recesses of the Cotswolds, designated as an Area of

Outstanding Natural Beauty, spread across five English counties (Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire,

Warwickshire and Worcestershire).

“The name actually comes from an Anglo-Saxon chieftain named Cod in the 12th century. He owned a vast expanse of ‘wold,’ or upland country, in this region.

Hence, this was Cod’s wold and eventually became

Cotswolds,” said Ian.

We had started early from Oxford and planned to drive through a couple of villages in Oxfordshire before reaching the Northern Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, the most picturesque part of southwest England.

The first stop was Minster Lovell, a pretty village. We walked by honey-colored buildings overlooking wellkept gardens brimming with summer blooms. A couple of vintage cars passed by, with cheery faces on the wheels. It was a Sunday and an unusually clear summer morning. At the northern edge of the tiny village, it was a short uphill climb surrounded by woodland, a river gurgling its way through it.

“This is River Windrush, and it has journeyed through history,” Ian announced dramatically. He pointed to the crumbled ruins of an ancient manor house, standing quietly beside the gushing waters. As we went through the entrance and marveled at the impressive remnant of the original vaulted ceiling and an ancient dovecote,

Ian delved into the checkered past of the manor house of the Lovell family (from which the village derives its name). It is a chilling history set in the times of the Battle of the Roses in the 15th century. The lord of the manor got embroiled into it and lost his life in a secret vault inside this house. His skeleton was found nearly three centuries later.

“That makes this lovely hamlet one of the most haunted villages in England, with ghostly wails in the night around the manor house, that dates back to 1430,”

Ian told us as our small group took a little hasty step back to the car.

Our next destination was Swinbrook, a short drive of 10 minutes from Minster Lovell. An idyllic village, a pretty church, a cricket pitch with a wooden pavilion and an ocher-hued stone pub beside an arched bridge across River Windrush that trickles by. The setting looks so incredibly vintage that the popular TV series “Downton Abbey,” a historical period drama set in the early 20th century, was largely filmed there.

Burford, dubbed the “gateway of the Cotswolds” was barely 10 minutes’ drive from Swinbrook, but could be a world away from it. The long high street set upon a hillside and flanked with antique shops and funky cafes characterize the medieval market town that was the hub of the booming wool trade for more than half a millennium. The 12th century town church is the oldest building in Burford. In its moody, dimly lit interiors the graffiti and carvings made by prisoners (it was a temporary prison in the mid-17th century) still survive. When we came out into the sunlit churchyard, Ian showed us the age-worn tombstones with a curious rolled design.

“These were bale tombs of the wool merchants of the era, unique to this part of the world,” he told us.

The medieval town of Stow-on-the-Wold was our next pit stop. The teeming town square, hemmed in with honey-colored buildings, tiny tearooms and bookshops belies the bloody chapter of history etched in its annals.

In the early spring of 1646, this market square was the setting for the last battle of the English Civil War, in which King Charles I’s army were defeated by the Parliamentarians. We wandered through the narrow streets, took a quick tour of the town church – an architectural wonder with its beautiful tree-framed doorway and stained-glass windows – before planting ourselves on the wooden stools of Porch House. With its rippled flagstone floors, low-beamed, skewed ceilings and yellowing frames on the walls, the traditional British pub whips up oodles of quirky character. I almost choked over my tankard of ale when Ian, sitting on the next stool, quietly told me that an inn on this site has been operative since 947 AD, which makes the Porch House the oldest pub in England!

Out of Stow-on-the-Wold and once more we were on the windy country roads, rolling green meadows stretching out on both sides. Shortly, we arrived at Lower Slaughter. A small stream wedges its way through the heart of this picture-perfect village. We walked its quiet left bank, marveling at the 16th and 17th century limestone homes with mullioned windows and gabled roofs. At the end of the village, the redbrick water mill dates from 19th-century, now housing a museum,

The towns and villages feel like a time warp

TRAVEL TIPS: A taste of home awaits you in Chipping Camden and Cheltenham, two prominent market towns in the Cotswolds, where a couple of restaurants rustle up fine Indian cuisine from different regions. The chicken tikka curry at Maharaja Indian Cuisine is a lip-smacking affair, while Prince of India at Cheltenham serves authentic Bangladeshi cuisine.

FOR A ROYAL TOUCH

Situated between the picturesque hamlets of Minchinhampton and Avening in Gloucestershire,

Gatcombe Park is the country home of Princess Anne, and six miles south lies the late-18th century Highgrove House, the

Cotswold residence of King Charles III.

The beautiful organic gardens are open to the public from April till October, with prior booking. The market town of Cirencester, reportedly a favorite with the royalty, dates back to the Roman times and buzzes with handicrafts, antiques and local produce. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had leased a lovely family home at Great Tew in

Oxfordshire, where the 4,000acre estate perched in an idyllic bucolic setting has since been a major tourist attraction.

The medieval houses are built with locally sourced goldenyellow stones and stone slate roofs

a gift shop and a café. But nothing in this charming Gloucestershire hamlet seemed remotely grisly, and I was expecting a gruesome tale of horror from the sound of its name! Ian explained that the name of the village actually comes off the archaic word “slough,” which meant a swamp!

We drove northeast for about half an hour and looped back into Oxfordshire for our final destination, Great Tew, arguably the most beautiful village in England. We got off from the car and immediately knew why.

Perched on a ridge, the village overlooked a beautiful wooded valley with clusters of dark red ironstone cottages fronted by rose gardens. The easy grace of the horses ambling and tottering on the swathes of green completed the spectacle.

“This is not quite on the tourist radar because the narrow, winding streets are off limits to the large tour buses,” Ian said. The delightful driveway and the natural park were designed in 1808 by botanist John Louden and has remained unchanged till date.

The mellow afternoon sun glanced off the green Cotswold ridges, as we headed back towards Oxford. I had to catch a 6.35 am train to London, but had just enough time to find a quaint tea room and indulge in a traditional Cotswolds afternoon tea, served with freshly baked scones and clotted cream.