Places of Interest - the Cotswolds to the Chilterns

Historic Houses
Gardens
Cathedrals & Churches
General

Visit - www.wiltshireway.co.uk

Historic Houses


LEGOLAND Windsor SHORT BREAKS	LEGOLAND Windsor is a different sort of theme park, with over 50 rides, live shows, building workshops, driving schools and much more. So stop over nights and make the most of your visit. There are a range of great value hotels to choose from. Just pick a date, a hotel, and a ticket, and off you go! ...

*Naer Didcot, Wallingford and Abingdon*
	Discover the history of the Wittenham Clumps landscape at the Northmoor Trust's visitor centre, Project Timescape. Handle ancient artefacts, carry out scientific experiments, come face-to-face with skeletons and learn how your actions TODAY will change the landscape in the FUTURE. Fun for all the family. After your visit to Project Timescape, take a walk up the Wittenham Clumps (photo left) and enjoy the rest of the Northmoor Trust Estate. Project Timescape, Little Wittenham, Wallingford, Oxon, OX14 4QZ. www.projecttimescape.co.uk. Near Didcot.

*Hartlebury*
Worcestershire County Museum Hartlebury Castle Hartlebury Kidderminster Worcestershire DY11 7XZ Tel: +44 (0)1299 250 416	School groups are welcome to visit the museum and take part in the Victorian role-play sessions in the servants' quarters and schoolroom. Please contact the museum for an information pack giving details of discounted admission charges. Evening and group visits by arrangement at reduced rates
Hartlebury Castle - Home of Museum (above) Hartlebury Kidderminster Worcestershire DY11 7XZ Tel: +44 (0)1299 250 416	13th century fortified bishop's palace. Rebuilt after Civil War slighting and then gothicised in the 18th century. Off the A449, 4 miles south of Kidderminster.

*Cirencester*
Corinium Museum, Park Street Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 2BX Telephone: 01285 655 611	Step through a triumphal arch to arrive in Corinium; second largest city in Roman Britain, population c. 15, 000. Experience life as a Roman. Marvel at the stunning mosaics. Dress as a Roman soldier. Explore their engineering and artistry

The Almonry Heritage Centre Abbey Gate Evesham WR11 4BG 01386 446944	The Almonry Heritage Centre is housed in the Almoner’s House of the eighth century Abbey of St. Ecgwin, immediately adjacent to the site of the Great Gatehouse of the Abbey. The present building is the result of successive phases of building, alteration and rebuilding carried out over a period of at least 700 years.

	Home of the Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Wiston Churchill. Visitors can enjoy the Palace tour, park, gardens, butterfly house and train, and famous Marlborough Maze.	Blenheim Palace Woodstock Oxfordshire 01993 811325

Sudeley Castle and Gardens Winchcombe Nr Cheltenham 01242 602308	Once home to Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth wife and garrison headquarters of Charles I's nephew, Prince Rupert, during the English Civil war. Historic apartments, 10 stunning gardens, adventure playground, restaurant, exhibitions, gift shop.

	17th century House with landscape garden by William Kent (1735) also herbaceous borders and pigeon house.	Rousham House and Garden Nr Steeple Aston Bicester Oxfordshire 018869 347110

Owlpen Manor Nr Uley Gloucestershire 01453 860261	Romantic Tudor manor house (1450-1616) in Queen Anne terraced yew gardens. A magnificent Tudor Great Hall, a Jacobean solar wing, Arts and Crafts and family collections, rare textiles.Beautiful woodland walks.

	This historic Elizabethan house contains much of interest - tapestry rooms, furniture and relics of the Cromwellian period.	Chavenage House Chavenage Tetbury 01666 502329

Kelmscott Manor Kelmscott Near Lechlade 01367 252486	The country home of William Morris, Kelmscott Manor is the most evocative of all his houses. Visitors will delight in the charm of its architecture, the fascination of its contents and the beauty of its garden.

	Unique folly tower, once residence to William Morris, with displays on its colourful past. Stunning views from the platform overlooking 13 counties.	Broadway Tower and Park Broadway 01386 858038

Woodchester Mansion Nymphsfield Near Stroud 01453 750455	Hidden in a secluded woodland valley near Stroud, the unfinished Woodchester Mansion is one of Britain's most fascinating Victorian country houses. Fantastic gargoyles adorn the imposing Gothic architecture whilst inside the bones of the building are laid bare to reveal the superb craftmanship of a bygone age.

	England's oldest inhabited castle and most historic home, the 1117 Berkeley Castle is home to 24 generations of the family. It provided the backdrop for the signing of the Magna Carta and Edward 11's brutal murdedr in 1327. Magnificent collections of furniture, tapestries, rare paintings, a Norman keep, terraced Elizabethan gardens, sweeping lawns and Butterfly House.	Berkeley Castle Berkeley (off A38 between Bristol and Gloucester) 01453 810332

Witley Court Nr Worcester 01299 896636	Spectacular ruins of a once great country house.This vast Italianate mansion incorporates porticos by John Nash, whilst William Nesfield's "Monster Work" gardens contain the celebrated Perseus and Andromeda Fountain. A remarkable 18th century baroque church lies nearby.

	Longleat is an exquisitely furnished Elizabethan house , built for Sir John Thynne, Elizabeth's High Treasurer, with the largest private library in Britain and a fine collection of pictures, including Titian's "Holy Family". Now the seat of the Marquess of Bath, it was the first stately home to open its doors to the public as a commercial proposition in 1949. Attractions include the Safari Park, Postman Pat's Village, the world's largest maze and the gardens of Capability Brown.	Longleat House Near Warminster Wiltshire 01985 844400

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Ledbury Herefordshire HR8 1RL 01531 633160 eastnorcastle.com	A fairytale castle surrounded by the Malvern Hills and an arboretum and lake. The Italianate and Gothic interiors are fully restored and filled with Italian art, !7th century Italian furniture, Flemish tapestries and medieval armour.

Gardens

Painswick Rococo Garden Painswick Gloucestershire 01452 813204	The garden is the sole survivor from the 18th century period of flamboyant English Rococo Garden design, with a newly planted maze.

	One of the most delightful gardens in Britain created by the great horticulturalist Major Lawrence Johnston. A series of small gardens within a whole, separated by walls and hedges of different species.	Hidecote Manor Garden Near Chipping Camden 01684 855370

Westonbirt Arboretum Tetbury Gloucestershire 01666 880220	600 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds is home to some of the world's tallest, oldest and rarest trees. Well-known for its spring displays of rhododendrons and wild floral carpets.

	Stourhead House is set in 100 acres of grounds centred on a number of lakes and follies and surrounded by park and woodland. Henry Hoare was commisioned in 1741 to create the landscaped gardens on his return from the Grand Tour - he dammed the Stour, planted blocks of trees, domed temples, stone bridges, grottoes and statues, all mirrored vividly in the water.	Stourhead House and Gardens Stourhead Near Shaftsbury 01747 841152

Cathedrals, Churches , Abbeys and Historic Sites

	Founded in 1084 by Bishop Wulstan, the beautiful Norman crypt is of this period. The choir and lady chapel were built in the 13th century Early English style,while the Norman Nave was reconstructed in the 14th century in Decorated style. The circular Chapter House has a ribbed vault supported by a single central pillar. Elgar window and King John's tomb.	Worcester Cathedral 01905 28854

Gloucester Cathedral College Green Gloucester 01452 528095	This former Abbey Church founded 1300 years ago is now the Cathedral Church of the Gloucester Diocese. It contains many architectural features, notably the Norman Nave with massive columns, the world famous early fan vaulting in the complete, glazed cloisters, the medieval glass of the Great East Window and the tomb of Edward 11.

	The ruins of a 13th century Cistercian Abbey set in attractive woodland, once a pilgrimage centre, now a fascinating museum.	Hailes Abbey Nr Winchcombe Cheltenham 01242 602398

Bath Abbey Bath 01225 422462	Edgar, the first king of united England, was crowned in a church in Abbey Courtyard in 973, but the present abbey, more glass than stone , was built between 1499 and 1616, making it the last great medieval church raised in England. The nave's wonderful fan vaulting was erected in the 19th century. The most striking feature of the abbey's exterior is the west facade, where angels climb up and down stone ladders, commemorating in stone a dream of the founder bishop Oliver King .

	The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most beautiful and cohesive in Britain, an inspiration to the artist John Constable who painted it from across the water meadows. It was built in uniform Early English Gothic, a style characterised by the first pointed arches and flying buttresses and a feeling of austerity. The cloisters lead to the beautiful Gothic Chapter House of 1263-84 which houses one of the four surviving original versions of Magna Carta, the agreement made beween King John and his barons in 1215.	Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Wiltshire 01722 328726

Stonehenge Amesbury Wiltshire 01980 624715	Stonehenge is Europe's most famous prehistoric site. It consists of a ring of enormous stones, built in stages beginning 5000 years ago. Construction started around 3000 BC when the outer circular bank and ditches were constructed. An inner circle of granite stones was erected 1000 years later. The stones weighed up to 4 tons each and were brought from the Preseli Mountains in South Wales, nearly 250 miles away.

General

Pittville Pump Room Pittville Park Cheltenham Glos. GL52 3JE 01242 523852	Pittville Pump Room is one of Cheltenham's finest 'Regency' buildings and was the largest of the town's spas
Cheltenham Cinema, Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 2NE Tel: 0871 22 44 007

***CONTACT & BOOK DIRECT***
SWIM2000 Didbrook Fields Farm Toddington Gloucestershire GL54 5PE	Water Phobics can Learn to Swim, controlling their Fear of Water with unique Relaxation, Floatation, and Residential Swimming Lessons at SWIM2000.. We provide daily Residential 'Learn to Swim' courses for four residential guests each week. Contact: Frank & Jane Kennedy	Tel: +44 (0)1242 620950 Fax: +44 (0)1242 620950

Cheltenham Racecourse Tel: 01242 513 014	Racing at Cheltenham has some of the very best jump racing in Britian.
	The North Gloucestershire Railway is a two foot gauge, predominantly steam hauled, railway which shares the site at Toddington with the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway (GWR???) (an impressive standard gauge preserved railway). At a length of only 400 yards the railway is far from the longest in the country! As befits such a small railway the service is not extensive, confined to a dozen or so summer Sundays and bank holidays each year.	The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Situated between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse

	Ascot Racecourse will reopen in 2006. Ascot Racecourse, founded in 1711 is the world's most famous racecourse. 01344 876 876	Ascot Racecourse 01344 876 876

Everyman Theatre Regent Street Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 1HQ 01242 572573 everymantheatre.org.uk	The Everyman - built in 1891 by Frank Matcham, the great Victorian architect and now his oldest still in theatrical use. With a history spanning three centuries we continue to offer the highest quality entertainment, arts and education

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Places of Interest - the Cotswolds to the Chilterns

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