The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is an area in south-central England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the
meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley.

The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the
UK. The Cotswolds is a sparsely populated rural area, where folklore and original architecture have been
preserved, landscape contains stone-built villages where the houses are built of local honey-coloured stone.

Tourism is a significant part of the economy. Notable historical monuments are Sudeley Castle and
Broadway Tower. In 1966, the Cotswolds was declared a Protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
the tourist attractions are the historic villages of Bibury, Tetbury or Stanton

Cotswold architecture

A style based on houses from the Cotswold region of England is sometimes called the storybook style.
Cotswold houses often have a prominent chimney, often near the front door of the house. Other notable
features include king pillars and steep roofs. The Cotswold style emerged during the late 16th century and
flourished throughout the 17th century.

Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle is listed in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of
Winchcombe, The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some 15 acres within a 1,200-acre estate nestled
within the Cotswold hills.

Building of the castle began in 1443 for the Lord High Treasurer of England, on the site of a previous
12th-century fortified manor. It was later seized by the crown and became the property of King Edward IV
and King Richard III, who built its famous banqueting hall

King Henry VIII and his then wife Anne Boleyn visited the castle in 1535

Broadway Tower

Broadway Tower is a historic, neo-Gothic building located on Broadway Hill near Broadway in
Worcestershire, England. It is considered a typical folly building (a building whose significance is
ornamental rather than practical) and is intended to imitate an Anglo-Saxon castle. Tower is at the second-
highest point of the Cotswolds. The tower itself stands 20 metres high and is completely isolated in the
landscape, which creates a strong visual dominance. It is built on the site of a lighthouse in the past. Tower
was built between 1798 and 1799, the architect was James Wyatt, a neo-Gothic style promoter.

Fun fact: During World War II, the building was used by the military to observe the movement of enemy
aircraft. In the 1950s, the army made the tower part of the anti-nuclear defense system, and an anti-nuclear
shelter was built near the tower.

Bibury-Arlington Row

A village and a civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Coln, a tributary of the
Thames, which rises in the same district of Cotswold. The village is known for its honey-coloured 17th-
century stone cottages with steeply pitched roofs, which once housed weavers who supplied cloth for
fulling at nearby Arlington Mill. Until the 1980s, that building also housed the museum of Arlington Mill
with a collection of period clothing, before it was shifted to Barnsley House. The most attractive part of
village - Arlington Row is a major destination for tourists visiting traditional rural villages, tea houses and
the many historic buildings of Cotswold County. Arlington Row is a nationally significant architectural
reserve displayed on the inside cover of all British passports.
Fun fact: It has been used as a film and television location, most notably for the films Stardust and Bridget
Jones's Diary.