Cotswold Villages

Cotswold towns and villages are some of the most beautiful, idyllic places in all of England. Their honey-coloured stone buildings and ancient roadways take the visitor back in time as if entering a picture postcard or a chocolate box.

The rolling, undulating hills of the Cotswolds countryside are a beautiful backdrop upon which time has placed these stunning towns and villages. Ranging from sleepy hamlets, seemingly untouched by time, to beautiful, bustling towns that welcome throngs of visitors and mesmerise them with stunning architecture and memories of a time when these villages were at the heart of European commercial trade.

Today the Cotswold villages are the jewel in the crown of this area of natural beauty and a magnet for tourists. But each modern-day town or village has a rich history that is waiting to be discovered and the Cotswolds calls to the modern visitor to come and explore and indulge in all that this area has to offer.

There is extensive archaeological evidence that this area was occupied in the Iron Age, and still today the Cotswolds has several Iron Age sites that you can visit and enjoy. Many of the Cotswolds villages still occupy the same locations as their original Iron Age hamlets did.

Later, the Romans introduced a specific breed of sheep, the Cotswold Lion, and sowed the seeds of later commercial success for the entire area, as the Cotswolds became an international centre of trade in wool fleeces and textiles, bringing incredible wealth to many merchants.