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Self Catering Holiday Accommodation
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Use
the drop-down menus above to find
and book some of
the finest self-catering holiday and short-term rental properties in
the Cotswolds and
adjoining Shakespeare
Country.
As well as
holiday cottages and apartments
which can be booked directly with the owners via our sister sites,
Warwickshire
Tourist Guide.com and Take
a Cotswolf Break.co.uk, you can also check the
availability
calendar and securely book many of the holiday cottages
directly
online using the secure booking
services of our booking partners, including
Stilwells, Blakes and Hoseasons. |
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Self Catering Holiday Accommodation
in the Cotswolds |
The
Cotswolds is a unique and unspoilt region of England,
stretching over six
English counties. The three main Cotswold counties are Warwickshire,
Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, with incursions into Wiltshire,
Somerset &
Worcestershire.
The
Cotswolds covers
an area of 2,038 square kilometres and is the largest
designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England
and Wales.
With sheep-strewn
pastures & enclosures (cots),
gentle
hillsides (wolds),
honey-coloured stone buildings,
unhurrried
villages, cathedral-sized 'wool' churches and
mile after
mile of golden dry stone walling (oolitic
limestone), it is no wonder
the
Cotswolds is thought of as the quintessential English countryside --
and this
being so, it is the perfect place for afternoon tea and a trawl through
the
many antique and ephemera shops. |
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Self Catering Holiday Accommodation
in
Shakespeare Country |
Shakespeare
Country is the area of Warwickshire centred around Stratford-upon-Avon
and the villages,
buildings and history associated with the Bard of Avon. Local places
associated
with Shakespeare include Aston
Cantlow, Bidford-on-Avon,
Broom,
Charlecote Park,
Compton
Wynyates, Hampton Lucy, Luddington, Shottery, Snitterfield,
Temple Grafton, Wilmcote
and Welford-on-Avon.
Other places which are well worth a visit include: Henley-in-Arden
with many fine Tudor buildings; the old coaching town of Southam with its
restored Holy Well and mediaeval
mint; Coughton
and Dunchurch
with their connections to Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot; the magnificent Abbey at Stoneleigh, with its Jane Austen
associations, part of the
grounds of which are now home to the Royal
Showground |
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| Some Cotswold Footnotes |
Lions in the
Cotswolds
It is thought that the Romans introduced sheep to the Cotswolds over
2,000 years ago, when they settled the important Roman stronghold of
Corinium,
modern-day Cirencester. During the medieval period of 13th to 15th
centuries, the Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their
heavy fleeces and high quality of wool -- they were known as 'Cotswold
Lions', probably because of the golden colour of their
fleece. The flocks of sheep on the hillside is still a
classic Cotswold image.
Cotswold wool is what generated the wealth of the
Cotswolds in the Middle Ages and resulted in wealthy landowners and
traders vying to outdo each other in the splendour of their
houses
and their endowments to the Church. The wonderful churches all over the
Cotswolds are known as “wool churches”, and some are the size of
cathedrals. |
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As old as the
Pyramids
Built around 3000BC, Belas Knap
is a neolithic long barrows located on the limestone uplands of the
Cotswolds. Further down the slope below Belas Knap are the
remains of a Roman villa, with another located due west across the
valley on Cole's Hill. The Romans themselves evidently visited Belas
Knap; the remains of Romano-British pottery have been found at the
north end of the barrow. It has been suggested that Belas is
derived from the name Baal", an ancient storm god ("Belus", in Latin).
Knap is thought by some to be a variant form of "Cneph", the Egyptian
sacred winged disk, but is simply Old English for the top, crest, or
summit of a hill. Belas may be a corruption of the Latin word for
"beautiful" -- bellus-- and may describe either the hill itself or the
view from it. |
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Walking in the Cotswolds
The
Cotswold Way National Trail offers 102 miles of quintessentially
English countryside, following the Cotswold escarpement from the World
Heritage City of bath in the soutn to the beautiful Cotswold market
town of Chipping Campden in the north.
Now there are also a series
of circular walks based around the Cotswold Way, with a total set of 26
walks by 2010. Detailed route cards with maps, written
directions
and other useful information are free to download
from www.nationaltrail.co.uk...
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Cycling in
the Cotswolds
Parts
of the National
Cycle Network pass
through the Cotswolds AONB.
The
Colliers Way incorporating National Cycle Network routes 24
runs through the most southerly part of the AONB from the Dundas
Aqueduct to Wellow. National Cycle Network route 4 runs from the Dundas
Aqueduct to Bradford-on-Avon.
The
sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, has an online
shop which
offers a number of maps and guides for cycling around the Cotswolds.
Cycling
maps are available for South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East
Somerset and can be downloaded free of charge from the Lifecycle
Resource Centre.
More
route guides are available:
- Cotswold
Cycling Routes Cotswold District Council, 01285 623000
- Cycling
Around Yate, South Gloucestershire Council, 01454 863640
- Time Travel, Chipping
Sodbury, South Gloucestershire Council, 01454 863640
- Picturesque
Bike Rides - Castle Combe, Sustrans/CTC, 0845 113 0065
- Picturesque
Bike Rides - Wotton-Under-Edge, Sustrans/CTC, 0845 113 0065
Gloucestershire
Rural Community Council has produced a series of five circular cycling
routes in Bourton-on-the-Water, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Bibury and
Kemble. Click
here further information.
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Be a green visitor to the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds area has been a tourist destination for as long as we can
remember, with visitors coming for the beautiful rural setting, high
quality accommodation and wide range of events. To keep the Cotswolds
this way, we need to conserve and enhance the area by making tourism
sustainable.
Why does tourism in the Cotswolds need to be sustainable?
The Cotswolds is among Britain's most beautiful areas - and we want to
keep it that way. As the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB) in England Wales it is extremely important to conserve and
enhance the natural beauty so that future visitors can enjoy the
Cotswolds in the same way.
Your impact on the Cotswolds
Have you ever thought about the impact that your stay in the Cotswolds
may be having on the environment?
Be a responsible tourist and consider the carbon footprint of your
stay. There are a number of ways to do this:
- Consider your method of
transport to, from and around the Cotswolds
- Choose an accommodation
provider accredited by the Green Tourism Business Scheme
- Have a day out with a
difference - leave the car behind and stretch your legs on one of the
Cotswolds' beautiful walking or cycling trails
- Buy local produce to cut down
on 'food miles'
- Ensure you are reducing and
recycling your rubbish
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