Cirencester Tourist Attractions

Stroud (pop. 20,100), a lively modern town 12mi/19km from Cirencester, was once a prominent center of the textile trade.Steep streets, independent shops and cafes, and a popular farmers' market every Saturday are notable highlights for visitors to Stroud.

Frocester is situated on a steep hill in the Cotswolds. It has a gatehouse leading to its old Court. There is also a large tithe barn dating back to the early 1300s. An excavation near Frocester revealed about 4,000 years of occupation from the Bronze Age and beyond.The village provides great views of the surrounding valley.

This small lively market town has 17th and 18th century houses as well as a noted arts and music scene. Isaac Pitman, the inventor of shorthand, was born on Orchard Street in 1813. The Cotswold Way footpath passes through Wotton-under-Edge offering magnificent views.

Two mi/3km south of Stroud is Woodchester, with an old Dominican abbey and large Roman villa, the latter having been excavated to reveal well preserved mosaic floors.Many of the buildings have been well-preserved and Woodchester Park features a wooded area with access to a chain of lakes.

Four mi/6km north of Stroud on the A 46 lies Painswick (pop. 1750), with many handsome stone houses dating from the great days of the wool trade. The churchyard boasts 99 fine yew trees.Painswick is also noted for the 18th century Rococo Garden with its famous snowdrop display.

Much Roman material, the fruits of excavation, can be seen in the excellent Corinium Museum.Special exhibits include a reconstructed Roman dining room, kitchen and craftsmen's workshop.

In medieval times Cirencester was the largest wool market in England, a fact reflected in its having one of the richest and finest parish churches in the country, St John the Baptist, with an imposing tower (ca. 1400). Particularly notable is the beautifully carved three storied south porch; there is also fine fan vaulting in St Catherine's Chapel and some good stained glass.

Cirencester Park, home of Earl Bathurst, has beautiful grounds, with a 5mi long avenue of chestnut trees. Not far away is another mansion, Barnsley House, dating from 1657, the beautiful garden of which is well worth a visit.

From Cirencester the A 419 runs west through Oakley Woods, passes close to Sapperton, with Daneway House, a manor house of the 14th-17th centuries, and then enters the "Golden Valley" of the Stroudwater, with many cloth factories.

Take the B4632 to Winchcombe (13mi/21km; pop. 4,500), an attractive old Cotswolds town built of gray sandstone. The church, in the Late Perpendicular style (1490), contains carvings from the earlier Benedictine abbey (founded ca. 800), of which nothing now remains.The church at the centre of Winchcombe, St Peter's, is famous for the gargoyles that adorn it.

Two mi/3km northeast of Winchcombe is Hailes Abbey, once a great Cistercian house but now reduced to only a few scanty remains. Adjoining is a small archaeological museum.Hailes Abbey is owned and maintained by the National Trust. Inside the abbey, remains of the dramatic cloister arches have been preserved.

Six mi/9.6km beyond Painswick on the A 46 a short detour can be made to the town of Birdlip on the A 417. From here, on the crest of the Cotswolds' steep western escarpment, there is a beautiful view of the Severn valley.

From Hailes Abbey 3mi/5km further along the B4632 in the direction of Broadway a visit can be made to two picturesque little villages, Stanton, with a street lined by 16th-17th century houses, many of them lovingly restored, and the equally attractive Stanway. Both villages have Tudor manor houses.Stanway House has the tallest fountain in England, over 300 feet high. It is open to the public several times per week during the summer months.

Broadway (pop. 2,000), at the foot of the Cotswolds, is a good center from which to explore the surrounding area on foot, with the added lure of picturesque old inns and numerous antique shops. With its wide, busy, limestone main street and its many Elizabethan houses, Broadway is one of the most attractive of the Cotswold towns. Among the finest houses are Abbot's Grange, the Tudor House, and the Lygon Arms.

From Broadway the A 44 runs southeast, soon climbing in the direction of Stow-on-the-Wold. At nearby Guiting Power the Cotswold Farm Park has a collection of rare British breeds.

After Fish Hill, from the A 44, here following a fairly winding course, a side road goes off left to Chipping Campden, the most northerly point in the Cotswolds and one of the prettiest and most appealing little towns in England. The town is a popular tourist destination with many inns, restaurants and specialty shops.Chipping Campden (pop. 2,000) was once the center of the wool trade, home in the 14th and 15th centuries to many wealthy wool merchants, who built themselves magnificent houses in the town. The finest (late 14th century) belonged to William Grevel, referred to by a commemorative brass in the 15th century church as "the flower of the merchants of all England". Other outstanding buildings are the Town Hall, the Woolstaplers' Hall (partly 14th century), the old Grammar School (1628), the Market Hall (1625) and the late 14th century almshouses.

Rejoining the A 44, the route from Chipping Campden continues by way of Chastleton House, a large Jacobean mansion built by a wool merchant in about 1610, with beautiful old furniture and other items of interest, set in a magnificent garden.

Fish Hill (1024ft/312m), with the Beacon Tower, is famous for its panoramic views; it is said that in good weather thirteen counties can be seen.

Chipping Norton (pop. 5,000) is a wool town in the Cotswolds.The town serves as a gateway into the Costwolds and to a number of surrounding villages. Chipping Norton is also the site of Rollright Stones, a megalithic monument consisting of a stone circle and several standing stones.

Some 3mi/5km outside Chipping Norton are the Rollright Stones, a famous Bronze Age stone circle, less impressive than the larger monuments at Avebury and Stonehenge but in a very beautiful setting. There are about 70 stones in the main circle, known as the King's Men, together with a burial chamber called the Whispering Knights and the isolated King Stone.

West of Chipping Norton is Stow-on-the-Wold (pop. 1,600), a small town situated at the meeting place of eight roads, with a spacious market square in which several big sheep markets are held every year.The houses in Stow-on-the-Wold were built with stone from local quarries and many date back to the 16th century. St Edwards Church was started in the 11th century and completed in the 15th century.

Abbotswood, 1mi/1.6km west of Stow-on-the-Wold, is famous for its beautiful park.

Tetbury was originally the site of a hill fort which was later taken by the Romans. It served as a wool and yarn manufacturing center during the Middle Ages, taking advantage of the abundance of Cotswold hill sheep. The town of Tebury still has fine period architecture, including many cottages. There are also numerous specialty shops and markets.

Malmesbury (5mi/8km southeast of Tetbury; pop. 2,900), a small wool town, was the birthplace of the philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). High Street and Horsefair Street both have attractive 17th century gabled houses and there is also a fine medieval market cross (ca. 1500). St John's Hospital dates from the mid 13th century.Noted as one of the oldest boroughs in England, Malmesbury has a famous 12th century abbey with a parvise, or enclosed area, containing books from the Abbey library.

About 10mi/16km south of Malmesbury, Chippenham (pop. 19,000) is the site of one of the biggest livestock markets in the country. The town has many 16th and 17th century half timbered houses, of which the finest is the Old Yelde Hall (16th century) on the Market Place. Until 1841 it was the town hall and is now the local history museum. Also worth seeing are the handsome Ivy House (about 1730; Bath Road) and the Late Gothic St Andrew's Church, altered in the 19th century. The South Chapel contains tombs of the Hungerford family.Chippenham's location makes it an ideal base for touring the surrounding countryside including the Cotswolds and the Marlborough Downs.

Beside Chippenham is Castle Combe (5mi/8km west), one of the prettiest Cotswold villages, with rows of picturesque medieval houses, a 13th-15th century parish church (St Andrew's; 14th century font), the elegant Manor House (14th-18th centuries; now a hotel) and, contrasting with it, Water Lane and the old weavers' houses.

Sheldon Manor (2mi/3km west of Chippenham) is famous for its collection of Nailsea glass as well as for its roses.

Windmill Tump Long Barrow is a Neolithic long barrow with two porthole entrances.