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See also Cotswold

Cotswolds
The village of Bibury features Cotswold stone cottages
Country	England
Counties	Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire.
Highest point
- location	Cleeve Hill
- elevation	330 m (1,083 ft)
Plant	Hawkweed, Pasque flower, Woolly Thistle, Yellow Archangel.
Animal	Badger, Goldfinch, Grey Wagtail, Treecreeper

The Cotswolds is a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England", an area 25 miles (40 km) across and 90 miles (145 km) long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 feet (330 m), 2.5 miles (4 km) to the north of Cheltenham.

Contents 1 Location 2 Description 3 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 4 Principal Settlements 5 Noteworthy historical structures 6 Transport 7 See also 8 External links

The Cotswolds lie mainly within the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset and Worcestershire.

The spine of the Cotswolds runs south west to north east through six counties, particularly Gloucestershire, west Oxfordshire, and south western Warwickshire. The northern and western edges of the Cotswolds are marked by steep escarpments down to the Severn valley and the Warwickshire Avon. This escarpment or scarp feature, sometimes called the Cotswold Edge, is a result of the uplifting (tilting) of the limestone layer, exposing its broken edge. This is a cuesta, in geological terms. The dip slope is to the south east. On the eastern boundary lies the city of Oxford and on the west is Stroud. To the south the middle reaches the Thames Valley and towns such as Cirencester, Lechlade, Tetbury and Fairford are often considered to mark the southern limit of this region. However, key features of the area, especially the characteristic uplift of the Cotswold Edge, can be clearly seen as far south as Bath and towns such as Chipping Sodbury and Marshfield share elements of Cotswold character.

The area is characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone (a yellow oolitic limestone). This limestone is rich in fossils, in particular fossilised sea urchins. In the Middle Ages, the wool trade made the Cotswolds prosperous; hence the Speaker of the British House of Lords sits on the Woolsack showing where the Medieval wealth of the country came from. Some of this money was put into the building of churches so the area has a number of large, handsome Cotswold stone "wool churches". The area remains affluent and has attracted wealthy people who own second homes in the area or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds.

Typical Cotswold towns are Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway, Burford, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Winchcombe. The town of Chipping Campden is notable for being the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. William Morris lived occasionally in Broadway Tower a folly now part of a country park. Chipping Campden is also known for the annual Cotswold Games, a celebration of sports and games dating back to the early 17th century.

The Cotswolds were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1966, with an expansion on 21 December 1990 to 1,990 square kilometres (768 sq mi). In 1991 all AONBs were measured again using modern methods. The official area of the Cotswolds AONB increased to 2,038 square kilometres (787 sq mi). In 2000 the government confirmed that AONBs had the same landscape quality and status as National Parks.

The largest of 40 AONBs in England and Wales, the Cotswolds AONB stretches from the border regions of South Warwickshire and Worcestershire, through West Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire and takes in parts of West Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset in the South.

The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, approximately 103 miles (166 km) long, running the length of the AONB, mainly on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment with good views over the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham.

The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens Service was established in 1968 to help conserve and enhance the area. There are now over 300 Wardens. In 2005 they gave over 36,000 hours of their time.

• Moreton-in-Marsh
• Chipping Norton
• Stow on the Wold
• Chipping Campden
• Burford
• Shipston on Stour
• Broadway

• Beverston Castle
• Calcot Manor
• Chavenage House
• Chedworth Roman Villa
• Cirencester Abbey
• Malmesbury Abbey
• Owlpen Manor
• Sudeley Castle
• Tetbury Market House

The Cotswolds is ringed by the M5, M40 and M4 motorways, giving easy vehicular access to the area. The main non-motorway roads through the area are the A46: Bath — Stroud — Cheltenham; the A419: Swindon — Cirencester — Stroud; the A429: Cirencester — Stow on the Wold — Moreton-in-Marsh; and the A40: Oxford — Burford — Cheltenham. These all roughly follow the routes of ancient roads, some laid down by the Romans, such as Ermin Street and the Fosse Way.

The area is bounded by two major rail routes: in the south by the main Bristol-Bath-London High Speed line and in the west by the Bristol-Birmingham main line. In addition, the Golden Valley Line runs from Swindon to Gloucester, carrying high speed and local services.

Main line, high speed rail services to the big cities are reached via stations such as Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Cheltenham and Worcester. High speed services to London are also available from Kemble station near Cirencester, Kingham station near Stow on the Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh station.

Cheltenham is a hub for National Express coach services. Local bus services across the area do exist, but are infrequent. The best sources of information are local tourist information centres.

• Cotswold disambiguation page
• Cloisters, Sheppey Corner, Stanton, Gloucestershire/ Worcestershire
• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England
• Geology of the United Kingdom

• Cotswolds - Official Cotswolds guide for visitors (accommodation, sighseeting, events and culture)
• Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Website (Countryside Agency)
• The Cotswold Hyperguide — A visitor's view of some Cotswold towns and villages
• Photos of Lower Slaughter in 3D (Anaglyphs)
• Genealogy researcher pages of the Cotswolds — includes 274 researcher pages for the Cotswolds & surrounds, 715 census pages and over 8000 images of 765 parish churches in the surrounding area

v • d • e Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England

Arnside and Silverdale | Blackdown Hills | Cannock Chase | Chichester Harbour | Chilterns | Cornwall | Cotswolds | Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs | Dedham Vale | Dorset | East Devon | East Hampshire | Forest of Bowland | High Weald | Howardian Hills | Isle of Wight | Isles of Scilly | Kent Downs | Lincolnshire Wolds | Malvern Hills | Mendip Hills | Nidderdale | Norfolk Coast | North Devon Coast | North Pennines | Northumberland Coast | North Wessex Downs | Quantock Hills | Shropshire Hills | Solway Coast | South Devon | South Hampshire Coast | Suffolk Coast and Heaths | Surrey Hills | Sussex Downs | Tamar Valley

Coordinates: 52°00′00″N 1°42′00″W / 52, -1.7