The Charming Cotswolds

I have been in love with the Cotswolds for years. Once many years ago we stayed at Lords of the Manor in Lower Slaughter and got our first taste of the Country Manor House Experience. Since then we have stayed at B&B's and twice rented a cottage at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe. There are endless possibilites.

History seems very alive in this area. You can visit Katherine Parr's grave at Sudeley, Edward II's grave at Gloucester or for the grisly details, his death place at Berkley (pronounced Barkley) Castle. If you have an interest in Roman Britain there is a very nice museum in Cirencester and wonderful ruins of a Roman manor house at Chedworth.

Hailes Abbey ia a very extensive ruin that gives a detailed tour through the Abbey as it was and also a history of the dissolution of the monestaries under Henry VIII.

Evesham, which tecnically is north of the Cotswolds has the grave of Simon de Montfort who is credited with founding the Palimentary form of government in England and of course Stratford which has not only the birth place but the final resting place of the Bard.

Quick Tips:

I love to visit the shopping towns of the Cotswolds, Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh, Broadway and Cheltenham. They all offer wonderful selections especially in antiques. I never visit this area without seeing a performance at the RSC in Stratford.

This time we returned to Sudeley for the fourth time, visited Upton for the first, saw Hamlet in Stratford on September 11th and were interviewed by the BBC.

We spent a whole day in Moreton just shopping, eating and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. They had a antique market which we visited and lots of interesting stores. We left satisfied and quite a lot poorer.

Best Way To Get Around:

This is an area where walking is a delight. There are countless trails which can take you from village to village. There are buses but a car is really a necessity. There is a train station in Moreton so if you want to visit and not drive that is a possibility. I however, look forward to driving down the B roads and getting lost, finding tea shops and antique stores tucked in obscure places.

These cottages are owned by the Brocklehurst Dent Family and are very sympathetic conversions from old mill buildings. The Queen''s Cottage which is where we stayed, is the former engine house.

There is a large variety in the style and accommodations in the cottages. The Queen''s Cottage and the Emma Dent are stand alone buildings. The Queen''s Cottage has 2 bedrooms, a queen bedded room and a twin bedded room. It sleeps 4. The Emma Dent has 3 Bedrooms and sleeps 6.

We have previously stayed in the Prince Rupert which is a duplex style apartment with 2 bedrooms upstairs. There are two other very similar apartments the Charles I and the George III. The Gate House Cottages the Queen Mary and the Anne Boleyn are also duplex style with 2 bedrooms and the Lord High Admiral is a one bedroom and is a second floor apartment. There are 4 other apartments, the Lady Jane Grey has 3 bedrooms and one has a canopy bed, The Queen Elizabeth also has a canopy bed and also a twin bedded room, St Kenhelm has one double and one single and Oliver Cromwell has one double and one twin.

The Cottages here are very well furnished and the couches and chairs are plentiful and very comfortable. Ever effort is made to make your stay is delightful including unlimited access to Sudeley Castle.

Housekeeping is available for the Queen''s Cottage and for the Emma Dent.

Winchcombe is a very short walk away and there is a tea room on the corner of Castle Road and High Street which is very good.

We went grocery shopping in Stow or in Tewkesbury since there is not a supermarket in Winchcombe.

Linen and heat are included in the price and there is ample parking. There is also a very small store on the premises and the housekeeper is there most times during the day.

We knew we were going to enjoy our lunch here when the owner met us at the door and asked if we had a reservation. ( the restaurant was empty). Let me say first that it was 3pm when no self respecting English person is eating. He then told us to pick our seat. Our waitress came quickly and took our drink order.

Everything here is made to order so it is all terribly fresh and delicious. The lunch menu (which they took down right after we ordered) was soup of the day lentil and apricot. The sandwich was a ham and cheese panini. They offered a Ploughman' lunch, salad plates, grilled sandwiches and they had a special chicken and mushroom pie.

I had the soup which was served in a mini tureen with two thick slices of grainy bread. It was wonderful. The men had ham and cheese panini's which were served on baguettes, toasted with ham and cheese, cucumber, tomato, carrots and sprouts on the side, they were very pleased.

The atmosphere is nice here and the bathrooms are even very nice. There are plates on the wall as decoration and the bow window is filled with teapots.

For dessert I had coffee-walnut cake (there's a suprise) Al had bread pudding and Joe had sponge and jam cake. Add a pot of tea and we all left grinning like Cheshire Cats.

I might add that by the time we left the restaurant was quite full with people ordering the cream tea, two scones with cream and jam and a pot of tea for 3.45pds.

They also serve breakfast here which is a pretty rare thing except for hotels.

I recommend that you come here to build up your strength after a hard days shopping. We had enough energy after this to hit the antique markets.

This was the first time I have ever been in the retaurant here. You enter it through the gift shop. The atmosphere is quite amazing, it really has the look of a medieval hall.

Food is not delivered to the table, it is cafeteria style. We arrived at about 1pm and frankly most of the main dishes were sold out. We were a little shocked but evidently they make a limited amount of each entre.

I had the cheese tortellini which was served with a fresh tomato sauce and green beans. I had my usual coffee cake for dessert. It was all very good.

Al had tuna steak with roasted potatos, green beans, carrots and a cooked cherry tomato. He ate it but he was not impressed.

Joe had a sausage wrapped in bacon plus vegetables. He enjoyed it but his favorite was his chocolate mousse with cream and strawberries. It was decadent.

We sat out under the canapy. The walls were down since it was a cool day but we could see through them. I enjoyed the whole experience, though I have to agree with others in the comment book, they are very cheap with their tea, only one cup in the pot.

Sudeley is one of the most beautiful, romantic castles in England. It was the final home of Katherine Parr the 6th wife of Henry the VIII. After Henry's death Katherine went back to her great love Thomas Seymour. That she loved him, there can be no doubt, about him I have grave doubts. He was extremely ambitious and it ultimately cost him his head. One of the many personal items that is on display is a love letter and lock of hair (a beautiful honey blond) that Katherine sent to him.

Katherine's is a tragic story, after 3 arranged marriages she finally married the man she loved only to die after a difficult childbirth. Thomas didn't even stay for her funeral, he rushed off to see Princess Elizabeth who he had hopes of seducing and marrying leaving Lady Jane Grey as the chief mourner. But that is another story.

Sudeley itself was turned into a ruin during the Civil War. All the important rooms in the castle were destroyed so that it could never be used as a military base again. The rent room which is the first room you enter, show a model of what the Castle looked like before the Civil War.

The North Hall has several interesting pictures including a Van Dyke and also a unique collection of wax portraits. There is also a letter signed by Charles I and a waistcoat that Emma Dent believed belonged to Charles I.

The next 2 rooms deal with Emma Dent's time at Sudeley and there are 2 portraits of her there. It was through her that the marvelous art collection came into the Dent family.

After the Oak Lobby you travel down a hallway with several small bedrooms, one the Rupert bedroom has a Charles I mourning ring and Oliver Cromwell's inkwell.

In the Chandos Bedroom they are several interesting diplays including one on Alice Keppel (King Edward VII mistress and great grandmother of Camilla Parker Bowles) she is the great grandmother of the current Lord Ascroft.

On the Tutor Staircase are the love letters I mentioned before, some important miniatures, and portraits of Thomas Seymour and his brother Edward , The Lord Protector.

Katherine Parr's nursery is a sadly poignant room. She never got to enjoy her baby daughter and nothing is known of the little girls fate. This room is in the oldest part of the house. In one of the rooms there is a wall of miniture paintings and a case with a lock of her hair and a tooth and a fragment of the dress she was buried in. In 1792 her tomb was opened.

There is a headphone tour which is excellent. It takes you into the ruins and the gardens as well as the chapel.

Don't miss the really great gift shop.

The house is open April-October and is covered on the Great British Heritage Pass. The store is open in December as are the gardens and chapel.

The gardens here are too wonderful not to rate a story of their own. It is more than just one garden it's several gardens.

The Ruins Garden is within the walls of the parts of the Castle that were destroyed in the Civil War. There are intersting stone seats where you can sit and absorb the beauty. You enter through a door within a small tower at the corner of the wall. The headphone tour will lead you into this garden.

The Secret Garden was built by the current owners to celebrate their wedding in 1979. You walk through the garden wall and enter a wonderful display of Mediterranean foliage. It was in full bloom when we were there.

The Rose Garden is amazing. Even when I was here 2 years ago in December there were roses on the bushes, I couldn't believe it. In September naturally they were even more spectacular.

There is a Tudor Knot Garden in an interior courtyard that can be reached from the Ruin Garden.

The flowers around the Chapel are all white. There are roses and lots of other varieties.It makes an outstanding display.

There are trellis' with a crown on top that you can walk through covered in a splendid display of roses and terraces that you can walk on the outside of the garden to enjoy it from every angle.

The Chapel is a peaceful haven amid all this floral beauty. It contains a lovely tomb effigy of Katherine Parr. It is not the original, it was done in 1959. What always amazes me is that there were fresh flowers laid on the grave by fans of her's, even after over 400 years.

Come here prepared to be enchanted and a little intrigued as well. Several years ago I took a picture in the ruins which has a very usual splash of light in it. There are rumors of a ghost or two. Did I capture one? Maybe!!

I decided to cover all the shops that we visited in Moreton in one journal instead of individual ones. This is a charming High Street with something for everyone.

The Party Animal- like it sounds this is a party store. They had a nice variety of small animal boxes, magnets, paper goods and these really cute little gift bags with your name printed on them which came with a bag of sweets.

Candles and Soap- Can you guess they had candles and soap? Also the most wonderful mustard bath, after a long hard day of walking nothing sooths your mustles like this soak and your skin feels wonderful too. They also have natural skin products and lots of candles. Oh yeah, some nice soap too, lavender, almond, oatmeal and more...

The Toy Shop- believe it or not we spent more time here than anywhere else. This is a great old fashioned toy store with lots of uniquely English toys. Joe bought Will a wooden duck on a stick that is hand made. I bought little cars for the boys, all with the steering wheel on the right side.

The Corn Exchange- this is an interesting gift shop. They had nice porcelain boxes, pretty paper weights and little acrylic vases that look like the flowers are sitting in water.

London House Antiques- a very upscale multi dealer antique shop which had several dealers who dealt in Chinese import china. Joe was very happy.

Windsor House Antiques- this is my favorite shop. It is a three story multi dealer antique shop. I hit the motherlode of my Mason's Watteau in Mulberry, I found 2 jugs that match my set. I was delighted and they gave me a 5% discount even though I paid with a credit card. That and a strong dollar encouraged me to spend.

There were also several book stores where we browsed but didn't buy. These are just a few of the many places more than willing to help you bring home the perfect souvenir or gift.

Parking is usually quite easy here. There is on street parking and a small parking lot right in the center of town.