The Cotswolds - Woodstock

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Next in our very occasional series on places to see in the the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, we visit the picturesque market town of Woodstock. The name Woodstock is Old English in origin, meaning a "clearing in the woods". The Domesday Book of 1086 describes Woodstock as a royal forest. Ethelred the Unready, king of England, is said to have held an assembly at Woodstock at which he issued a legal code now known as IX Ethelred.

Henry I, youngest son of William the Conqueror, built a royal lodge in Woodstock and this was enlarged to create a grand manor house by his successor Henry II. The Black Prince was born here in 1330, and It is this area that became the Blenheim estate.

Henry II often stayed at Woodstock with his mistress 'The Fair Rosamund' and during his time spent here granted parcels of land to build hostelries for the use of his men. A weekly market, on Tuesdays was also established when he gave Woodstock a Royal charter in 1179. 

The Cotswolds - Witney

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The Market town of Witney is on the River Windrush, 10 miles from Oxford. Witney is famous for the manufacture of blankets, gloves, and other woollen goods. Witney was selected by The Sunday Times newspaper (2014) as one of the best places to live in Britain. The place-name Witney is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as Wyttannige; it appears as Witenie in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means Witta's island.

The Cotswolds - Kelmscott

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Kelmscott, famous as the home of the writer and designer William Morris, is a small, secluded hamlet on the north bank of the river Thames, and is at the end of a no-through road that peters out at the Thames towpath. It has remained a small and predominantly agricultural community, built around two working farms, and even today it consists of less than 200 residents.

The Cotswolds - Filkins

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The village of Filkins is actually two villages, as sat right next to it is Broughton Poggs, officially the small Broadwell brook marks the boundary separating the two villages, but in reality, you can walk from one to the other and not know it. Broughton Poggs doesn't actually have any roads that lead into the village, so you could only walk to it.

The Cotswolds - Bampton

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Continuing our tour of the Cotswolds, and in recognition of the fact that Downton Abbey is returning to the screens very shortly, we visit the lively town of Bampton. It may seem oddly familiar to Downton Abbey fans, as it doubles as the fictional Yorkshire village of Downton, supposedly somewhere between Ripon and Thirsk!

The Cotswolds - Swinbrook

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Swinbrook is a small village on the River Windrush, about two miles east of Burford. Apparently untouched for generations, it is the quintessential English village with its stone walls, pretty church, cricket pitch with wooden pavilion (above), and an old stone pub next to the historic bridge across the River Windrush, the architecture is typically Cotswolds with cottages of warm-toned stone.

The Cotswolds - Burford

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Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills. The name derives from the Old English words burh meaning fortified town or hilltown and ford, the crossing of a river. 

With its medieval bridge, old stone houses and attractive Tudor and Georgian frontages, Burford is justifiably called one of the most picturesque towns in England. Often referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Cotswolds’, the town was originally a fortified Anglo-Saxon ford, which continued in use until just after the Norman conquest of England, when the town of Burford was built on its current site.

The Cotswolds - Asthall

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For a small village, Asthall is rich in history: a former Roman settlement on Akeman Street, which linked Cirencester with St Albans; the village church, dating back to the 12th century, possibly earlier; and the Elizabethan manor house, home to the Mitford sisters - it was here that Nancy Mitford penned much of ‘Love in a Cold Climate’. She is buried in the churchyard at nearby Swinbrook.

The Cotswolds - Ascott-under-Wychwood

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The smallest of the three Wychwood villages, the other two being Milton and Shipton, Ascott is the most isolated, and is set in a lovely location beside the quiet River Evenlode. 

The name 'Ascott' comes from the Saxon for 'East Homestead', a reference to the fact that Ascott began as a child settlement of Shipton, a few miles to the west.  Wychwood was the ancient royal forest of Wychwood, and its name originated from the 'wood of a tribe called Hwicce'. Little remains today of the forest. 

The Cotswolds - Shipton-under-Wychwood

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Shipton-under-Wychwood is a village in the Evenlode valley, its name refers to the fact that it used to be under the boughs of the ancient Royal Forest of Wychwood and was originally a royal manor, mentioned in the Domesday Book. Langley Lodge, on the east side of Shipton was the site of a Royal hunting Lodge that was built for Henry VII. Most of the Tudor monarchs stayed there when hunting in Wychwood Forest. Some remnants of the forest remain, but for the most part this is now open farmland.

The Cotswolds - Great Tew

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Nestled in the Cotswolds and overlooking the Worton Valley from its limestone ridge location, Great Tew has been described as one of England's most beautiful villages.

Historic remains have unearthed a barrow just south of the village and a Roman mosaic floor and hypocaust heating system from a 4th century Roman villa. By 1086 it was recorded in the Domesday Book as a sizeable settlement and it played an important role in the Civil War and in The Industrial Revolution.

The Cotswolds - Kingham

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Situated in the Evenlode valley, Kingham, which was anciently known as Konigsham, is a beautiful unspoiled Cotswold village with some beautiful cottages mostly dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. 

The Cotswolds - Charlbury

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Charlbury is a small town in the Evenlode valley, it looks across the valley to the fine 600 acre Cornbury Park estate almost surrounded by the great woodlands of Wychwood Forest. Evidence suggests that the town started life as a small Anglo-Saxon settlement in a clearing in Wychwood Forest. The town made prosperous during the 18th century thanks to it's glove making industry.

The Cotswolds - Chipping Norton

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As I'm in the middle of quite an extensive commission for the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, a local government run website and annual tourist guide, documenting the local towns and villages found in this part of the country, I've decided to start a regular series of blog posts with some of the images I've captured on my travels, and first up is the bustling town of Chipping Norton.