The Cotswolds is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, often referred to as the ‘Heart of England’. Stretching from South Warwickshire and Worcestershire, through West Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, it also takes in parts of West Wiltshire and Bath and part of Somerset in the south. It covers 787 square miles of exceptionally beautiful countryside characterised by rolling hills and river valleys. Since the Middle Ages it has been sheep country, and in those times it was the centre of England’s wool trade. The great ‘wool’ churches of the region and the many handsome manor houses were built by the wealthy wool merchants.
The characteristic yellow limestone from which these handsome buildings were constructed is rich in fossils, in particular fossilised sea urchins.
The Cotswolds present a gentle landscape of hillsides or ‘wolds’, river valleys, water meadows and beech woods, quiet and infinitely beautiful ancient limestone villages and historic market towns. Still a prosperous area, it offers visitors endless opportunities for holiday activities, from energetic to soporific, from extreme sports to browsing for antiques.