In the wet-central region of England you can find a range of hills that are 40 kilometres across and 145 kilometres long that are known as the Cotswolds. These hills make up the region of the Cotswolds which is an area of outstanding beauty. Within the range of these hills, the highest point is known as Cleeve Hill and it can be found just 4 kilometres to the north of the town of Cheltenham. Cleeve Hill sits along the Cotswold Edge and is 330 metres above sea level.
The Cotswolds themselves are composed of oolitic limestone which is pressed upwards along the north and western edges forming steep limestone cliffs and roll gently downward to the Stroud District along the south and eastern edges. Mostly located in Gloucestershire County, the Cotswolds cover an area across 6 counties in all, but out of those 6 counties the largest portion of the area falls within Gloucestershire followed by Oxfordshire and Warwickshire accordingly. The remaining counties that the Cotswolds can be found in include Wiltshire, Somerset and Worcestershire.
All throughout the Cotswolds you can find a great number of small towns and villages. Most of these locations are composed of structures which are made of locally quarried oolitic limestone taken directly from the Cotswolds. This makes the homes and buildings as well as the towns and villages in the Cotswolds carry that old world charm that many people seek in England. With most of the small towns and villages spotted across the Cotswolds countryside, a vast amount of money was spent in the various churches and abbeys; so it is here in the Cotswolds where you can truly see the beauty of the many still-standing churches which can be dated back to the 15th century and abbeys which go back as far as the 11th century.
The many towns in the Cotswolds are also known as the starting place of the Arts and Crafts movement. People who talk about the Cotswolds are usually speaking of towns like Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping, Bufford, Cirencester or even Norton; but when speaking about the Arts and Crafts movement, it is the town of Chipping Campden that is considered to be the home town, when William Morris started it back in 19th century.
One of the finer points about the Cotswolds is the long-distance footpath which meanders its way through the countryside and often crosses the paths with various small villages. This footpath is known as the Cotswold Way and it is more than 166 kilometres in length.
When it comes to getting to the Cotswolds though, do not worry about having to hike along the Cotswold Way to visit the towns and villages as there are a number of great choices for transportation. For starters, the entire area is surrounded by the M4, M5 and the M40 motorways. There are also a great number of regular roads which actually go into the region like the A419, A429 as well as the A40. These are not the only ways of getting into the Cotswolds though, thanks in part to the many ancient and Roman paths of old that ran through the Cotswolds, you now have routes such as the Fosse Way as well as Ermin Street which were laid on top of these ancient roads.
If you do not want to drive there though, you can always take a train. There are a number of high speed as well as local train rails that go near as well as into the Cotswolds. The Bristol-Bath-London high speed line for example runs through the South of the Cotswolds as well as the Bristol-Birmingham line runs through the West side of the region. There is also the Cotswold Line which runs between Oxford and Worcester as well as the Golden Valley line which runs from Gloucester to Swindon.
Regardless of how you choose to get to the Cotswolds, make sure you check out the many old sites as well as sites of historical importance like the St. Mary’s Church in Painswick. There is a lot to see and do in the Cotswolds and never enough time to do it in.
