Tourist attractions Winchcombe

Since ancient times, this region to the northwest of the Upper Thames Valley has been favoured by settlers for its climate and pastoral landscapes. Nowadays, the Cotswolds symbolise the essence of rural England, with airy open uplands, sheltered in p..

The church is structurally simple but boasts very fine details, illustrating the opulence and importance of the former Benedictine abbey. It escaped the Dissolution when local residents bought it. The large 12C tower is the most impressive part. No..

Sudeley Castle stands on the spectacular slopes of the Cotswolds. Once a medieval fortress, then the home of Catherine Parr , widow of Henry VIII, the castle was besieged and destroyed during the Civil War. During the 19C, the building was restored;..

Little remains of pre-spa Cheltenham except for the secluded Church of St Mary and the line of the much rebuilt High Street. At right angles to this old thoroughfare is the Promenade , the city's main street, dominated by the majestic Queen's Hote..

Protected by the steep slope, this is a fine example of a Cotswolds manor as built in around 1500. There is a great range of objects collected by the eccentric Charles Wade throughout his life. Wade also created the charming terraced garden .

To the east of the upper part of the Promenade are the Imperial Gardens, a dazzling splash of colour in the Summer and to the west are magnificent Regency houses . To the south is Montpellier Walk , whose mid-19C shopfronts are divided up by Grecia..

The oldest parts of St Mary's, formerly a church in a prospering monastery, may go back as far as the 8C. The church has remained profoundly Saxon, despite being rebuilt and enlarged several times. This can be seen in the splendid baptismal fonts . ..

Dominating the market place, this is a fine example of a "wool church". The majestic two-storey southern porch is decorated with medieval sculptures. A remarkable collection of bronzes that belonged to the wool merchants is on display ins..

A romantic park, the keystone of the elegant district of Classical villas laid out by Joseph Pitt. The picturesque lake, tall trees and sweeping lawns form the setting for the Pump Room (1825-1830). This Grecian building with its Ionic colonnade an..

Among the paintings, porcelain, pottery and many exhibits of local interest is a fine collection of applied art, illustrating the importance of the Cotswolds in the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Broadway Tower, a battlemented folly (1800), marks one of the highest points in the Cotswolds. The vast westward panorama is one of the most beautiful in England, extending over the fertile Vale of Evesham to the jagged line of the Malvern Hills an..

Built on a low hillock, in the middle of the Severn bed that runs nearby, the Chapel of Odda was consecrated by Count Odda in 1056. Still attached to the farm that it once housed the kitchen for, the chapel was only "rediscovered" in the ..

This large and superb Roman villa stands at the entrance to the little valley near the source. It is undoubtedly one of the most grandiose Roman monuments in the Cotswolds.

Among the houses on the High Street, several are very pretty. Nonetheless, it is the harmony of the buildings altogether rather than the individual houses that is impressive. At the heart of the town stands the covered market (1627). Further north,..

Almost entirely renovated in the 15C in the Perpendicular style, St James, one of the finest "wool churches" of the Cotswolds, gives an impression of unity and calm.