Cornwall’s traditional fishing villages are full of narrow streets, passageways, and delightful little nooks and crannies.
If you’ve ever watched the popular TV sitcom “Doc Martin”, you’ll have seen Dr Martin Ellingham struggling to squeeze his Lexus down the narrow streets of Port Isaac, otherwise known as “Portwenn“.
Lined with whitewashed cottages, or pastel shades like yellow ochre, the picturesque village dates back to the time of Henry VIII, although its centre is mostly from the 18th and 19th century when its prosperity depended on the shipping and fishing trades.
Meaning “corn port”, Port Isaac initially served the trade in corn grown on the surrounding arable lands.
Later, cargoes of coal, wood, stone, and pottery were hauled along its narrow streets to the harbour, then shipped out to sea for export.
“Fore Street” is a name often used in the south west of England to mean the main street of a town or village.
Derived from the Cornish word “Forth”, meaning “Street”, and corrupted to “Fore” in English, there are over seventy examples in Cornwall alone.
English colonists from Cornwall are thought to have named Fore Street in Portland, Maine, in the United States.
Stroll the meandering narrow streets and you’ll pass traditional family-run butchers shops, tucked-away seafood restaurants, and confectionery shops with Cornwall’s famous fudge made from local cream.
Become a stowaway at the Stowaway Tea Shoppe where they also sell delicious Cornish ice cream that some say is the world’s best.
And no trip to Port Isaac is complete without a visit to the Doctor—that’s Doc Martin, naturally.
Famous for the film location of ITV’s Doc Martin comedy-drama series, Port Isaac also played host to the original 1970s version of the BBC’s Poldark series.
Another delightful Cornish village lined with narrow streets is Polperro.
Meaning “Pyra’s Cove” in the Cornish language, Polperro’s tightly-packed fishermen’s cottages, quaint harbour, and beautiful coastline make it a popular tourist destination in summer months.
Dating from the 1700s, a typical old fisherman’s cottage featured a fishing net store on the ground floor with steps leading up to the living accommodation above.
Off-season, when there’s little to no traffic, the locals can have a good old chinwag about the weather in peace.
Don’t forget to buy some postcards and postage stamps at the village Post Office!
Fast disappearing, these icons of the British way of life can still be found in many seaside towns and villages.
Lined with holiday cottages, the “Warren” is a narrow street providing perfect walks along the harbour front.
Tucked away in The Warren is a house covered in seashells called “The Shell House”.
And if you like quirky buildings, why not visit “The House on the Props” restaurant and tearooms which also offers Bed and Breakfast accommodations.
Leading up the hill from the harbour is Lansallos Street which is filled with quaint shops, pubs, and art galleries.
Quaintly named, the little fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced “Mowzle”) is laced with a maze of narrow streets.
Destroyed by the Spanish raid on Cornwall in the Anglo-Spanish war of 1585-1604, the only building to survive any damage was a pub owned by local resident Jenkyn Keigwin who died from a cannonball shot while defending it.
Ringed by lichened cottages and houses, the picturesque harbour reveals a sandy beach at low tide that’s popular with families.
Reminding you of its delightful name and giving you another opportunity to practice how it’s pronounced, The Mousehole giftshop joins galleries, pubs, and restaurants along the harbour front.
Over a thousand years old, the ancient town of Looe in south-east Cornwall straddles the Looe River.
Situated on the east side of the river, East Looe has numerous narrow streets and lanes, one of which is Fore Street—the main thoroughfare—teeming with shops, bakeries, pubs, and restaurants.
Formerly a 15th-century merchant’s house, the timber-framed and painted-stone “Ye Olde Cottage Restaurant” on the tiny alleyway of Middle Market Street features oak ceiling beams and an old oak fireplace lintel.
Only wide enough for single-file traffic, Buller Street joins Fore Street and both are dotted with coffeeshops, pubs, pasty shops, bakeries, and crêperies.
Originally built in 1420 and featuring salvaged oak timbers from a wrecked galleon of the Spanish Armada, the Smugglers Cott is said to have a tunnel leading to the quayside that was used by smugglers bringing their loot ashore.
Now serving loot of the edible variety, the restaurant offers delicious local seafood, steaks, and rib roast carvery.
Just in case anyone is tempted to drive down such a narrow alleyway on Lower Chapel Street, the no-entry sign is a reminder that it’s not a good idea.
Upstairs or downstairs? Many former fishermen’s cottages now offer holiday season lettings.
Set in a quiet traffic-free passageway a few yards from the harbour, Sandpipers is a 150-year-old former fisherman’s cottage, refurbished to offer comfortable accommodations.
If Mevagissey‘s narrow streets were as busy as her little harbour, people might be stuck in traffic for hours!
Nestled in a small valley, tourism may have supplanted a once thriving fishing industry but Mevagissey manages to maintain 63 working fishing boats alongside dozens of pleasure vessels.
Rising up the steep slopes of the surrounding hillsides, the outer areas provide accomodations for local residents while the village centre is filled with eateries and shops aimed at tourists.
Named after two saints —St Mevan and St Issey—in the late 1600s, the village thrived on pilchard fishing and smuggling and there were at least 10 inns, of which the Fountain Inn and Ship Inn remain to this day.
We hope you enjoyed a whirlwind tour of some of Cornwall’s narrow streets and feel inspired to visit one day in the not too distant future.
Most travelers to Britain visit London at least once.
Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey … what’s not to love?
But Britain is so full of beauty and history that it’s just as exciting outside of London as in it.
There are hundreds of places to take amazing photos but we’ll take a look at fifteen of the best that are sure to keep you snap happy!
1. Cambridgeshire
Founded in 1209, the world-renowned university dominates the skyline of Cambridge.
Running through the very heart of the city, the River Cam provides amazing views of the “Backs”—a picturesque area where several of the colleges back onto the river.
Snap away as you glide along on one of the many punts for hire, past the great monuments to education including the Old Court of Clare College (below left), and King’s College Chapel.
Founded in 1441 by King Henry VI, the college’s buildings are a magnificent symbol of the power of royal patronage.
Get up at dawn and you’ll be rewarded with views like this.
Founded in the 7th century with the building of an Anglo-Saxon abbey that was later destroyed by the Danes, Ely is a beautiful cathedral city about 14 miles northeast of Cambridge.
Dating from the 12th century, the current Cathedral was constructed from stone delivered by boat to Ely and paid for with eels from the surrounding fens before they were drained.
Meaning “Isle of Eels”, the slippery critter is thought to be the source of Ely’s name.
Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called the Octagon, built over Ely Cathedral’s nave, the greatest individual achievement of medieval architectural genius.
Grantchester is said to have the world’s highest concentration of Nobel Prize winners, most of whom are current or retired academics from the nearby University of Cambridge.
Students and tourists often travel from Cambridge by punt to picnic in the meadows or take tea at The Orchard tea room.
2. Cumbria
Serving as inspiration for artists, writers, and musicians, the Lake District lies at the heart of Cumbria’s predominantly rural landscape.
Considered one of England’s most beautiful scenic areas, the Lake District National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Living in Grasmere for 14 years, the poet William Wordsworth described it as “the loveliest spot that man hath ever found.”
Meaning “river with oak trees” in the ancient Celtic language, Derwent Water is fed by the River Derwent and is surrounded by hills and densely wooded slopes.
Conveying the fertile nature of the land at both ends of the lake, Buttermere takes its name from the Old English “butere mere”, meaning “the lake by the dairy pastures”.
Local folklore tells of a Norse leader named Jarl Buthar who ran a resistance campaign in the 11th century against the Norman invaders from a stronghold at Buttermere.
Formed by glaciers 13000 years ago during the last major ice age, Windermere is England’s largest natural lake.
Popular for holidays and summer homes since 1847, Windermere has several steam-powered boats operating along the whole 10-mile length, with one dating back to 1891.
3. Dorset
With its rolling green hills, grazing cows, pretty stone walls, and Norman village church, Abbotsbury could be heaven on earth.
Viewed from St Catherine’s Chapel, a 14th-century pilgrimage chapel that stands on a hill overlooking Abbotsbury, you can expect to capture beautiful views like the one below.
According to local tradition, up until the late 19th century, the young women of Abbotsbury would pray to St Catherine, the patron saint of spinsters and virgins, to help them find a good husband.
Described as “one of the most romantic sights in England”, Gold Hill in the town of Shaftsbury has provided the setting for film and television, as well as appearing on countless chocolate boxes and calendars.
Appearing in Britain’s favourite TV advertisement, the 1973 “Boy on a Bike” advert for Hovis bread was directed by Ridley Scott and featured Dvořák’s nostalgic Symphony No. 9.
Like a giant petrified dinosaur turned to rock, Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch on a dramatic stretch of coastline called the “Jurassic Coast”.
Spanning 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion and contrasting rock hardness shaped this World Heritage Site and photographer’s dream.
One of the world’s finest examples of an oval coastal inlet, Lulworth Cove—close to Durdle Door— is a popular tourist attraction with over half a million visitors a year.
4. East Sussex
Gradually being eroded by the English Channel, the massive white chalk cliffs, known as the Seven Sisters, are remnants of dry valleys in the South Downs.
Each of the cliff peaks has its own name: Haven Brow, Short Brow, Rough Brow, Brass Point, Flagstaff Point, Flat Hill, and Baily’s Hill.
Reportedly haunted by smugglers, the Mermaid Inn (covered in Ivy on the right) has a long and turbulent history dating from the 12th century.
One of the best-known inns in southern England, the black and white timber-framed buildings and the sloping cobbled Mermaid street provide a beautiful setting for a timeless photograph.
Built in 1385 by a former knight of King Edward III, its purpose was to protect the region from a French invasion during the Hundred Years’ War (1337 – 1453).
Surrounded by a moat, and of a quadrangular plan with crenelated towers, it provides a perfect photographic subject at any time of day, but especially in the warm late afternoon sunlight.
Opening in 1899, the Palace Pier is the only one of three piers still in operation at Brighton.
Featured in many works of British culture including the gangster thriller Brighton Rock and the Mods and Rockers film Quadrophenia, against a sunset sky, it takes on a sublime quality.
5. Gloucestershire
Depicted on the inside cover of UK passports, Arlington Row is a series of cottages converted from a 14th-century monastic wool store, becoming weaver’s homes in the 17th century.
Used as a film and television location, it has been featured in the movies Stardust and Bridget Jones’s Diary and attracts thousands of tourists hoping to capture a shot like this.
Inhabited since the 11th century, Lower Slaughter is a beautiful village in the Cotswolds with a river running through it spanned by several small stone footbridges.
At the west end of Lower Slaughter sits a 19th-century water mill with a chimney that, together with nearby honey-colored stone cottages, provides a lovely photograph with near perfect reflections.
Straddling the River Wye on the county border between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, Symonds Yat is an English village within the Forest of Dean and a popular tourist destination.
The name is said to come from Robert Symonds, a 17th-century sheriff of Herefordshire, and “yat” meaning a gate or pass.
6. Cornwall
Popular with tourists and painters alike, the dramatic stretch of rocky coastline known as Bedruthan Steps is one of the most popular destinations in Cornwall, providing spectacular clifftop views.
According to legend, the massive granite rocks rising from the beach are stepping stones for the Giant Bedruthan.
Notice the scale of the huge rock stacks compared to the people on the beach.
Fans of British TV may recognize Port Isaac as the backdrop for the comedy-drama Doc Martin about a belligerent London surgeon who develops a fear of blood and moves to a backwater Cornish village to begin a new life as the community doctor.
With a history dating back to the time of Henry VIII, this picturesque fishing village is one of the delights on the South West Coast long-distance footpath which provides perfect views of the harbour like this one.
Centered around the steep-sided valley of the River Looe, the small coastal town of Looe dates to the 12th century.
During the Middle Ages, it was a major port, exporting local tin and granite, as well as a thriving fishing and boatbuilding center.
But by the 19th century, the Victorians recognized its charm as a seaside holiday town for which it remains popular today, with dozens of hotels, guest houses, restaurants, pubs, and vendors of traditional regional specialties like Cornish ice-cream and pasties.
Situated on the Lizard peninsula—the most southerly tip of the British mainland—the ruggedly beautiful Keynance Cove became popular with Victorians including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Stunning views over Keynance Cove like this one can be enjoyed from the South West Coast long-distance footpath.
7. Isle of Wight
Winding its way through Shanklin Old Village, the High Street is lined with charming thatched cottages, traditional tea rooms, and restaurants with names like Pencil Cottage, the Village Inn, and Strawberry Thatch.
Shanklin Old Village ranks as one of the best chocolate box photographic opportunities in Britain.
Overlooking the village of Godshill stands the medieval All Saints Church which is fronted by a row of pristine thatched cottages as seen from Church Hill road.
Noted for its medieval wall painting of a Lily crucifix—one of only two in Europe—it was whitewashed during the Reformation to save it from destruction, remaining hidden until the 19th century.
Built between 1845 and 1851 as a summer house for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Osborne House is a must-see on the Isle of Wight.
Designed by Prince Albert himself in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo, it became the place of Queen Victoria’s death in 1901.
Rising nearly 100 feet out of the sea off the Isle of Wight’s western coast, three giant stacks of chalk called “the Needles”, with a Victorian-era lighthouse at the outer edge, make a dramatic photograph from the clifftop viewing spots.
Taking their name from a fourth needle-shaped chalk stack that collapsed in 1764, the name stuck even though the remaining stacks are not needle-like.
8. Norfolk
Built in 1816 for miller Edmund Savory, Burnham Overy Staithe Mill is one of almost 200 surviving mills across Norfolk county.
Converted to holiday accommodation, the mill is a protected building of historical importance and provides beautiful photographic opportunities, especially at sunrise.
Dating from 1912 and built on the foundations of an 18th-century mill, Horsey Windpump is a drainage windmill in the beautiful Norfolk Broads near the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth.
Dating back to the Tudor period, the historic cobbled lane of Elm Hill is a famous landmark in the city of Norwich.
Named after the old elm trees that once stood in the town square, Elm Hill was home to wealthy 15th-century merchants in the city’s weaving industry.
Like Gold Hill in Dorset and Mermaid Street in East Sussex, Elm Hill makes a beautiful photographic subject.
Constructed out of flint and mortar and faced with cream-coloured limestone from northwestern France near Caen, work began on Norwich Cathedral in 1096 and took another fifty years to complete.
Exceeded only by Salisbury Cathedral, the cloisters are the second-largest in the UK, through which a beautifully framed image of the second-tallest spire can be photographed.
9. Northern Ireland
About three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills in County Antrim lies an area of ancient lava flow comprising some 40,000 interlocking basalt columns known as the Giant’s Causeway.
Legend has it that the columns were built by the Irish giant Finn MacCool from Gaelic mythology, who was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner.
Upon seeing Benandonner was much larger than himself, Finn hides and his wife disguises him as a baby, thus fooling Benandonner into thinking Finn’s father must be a true giant of giants.
Benandonner flees back to Scotland and destroys the causeway behind him.
Identical basalt columns from the same lava flow can be found on the Scottish side of the causeway at Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa.
Linking the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede, a famous rope bridge spans the 66-ft gap, with a drop of nearly 100 feet to the rocks below.
Designated an area of outstanding beauty, it makes for stunning photographs, but be wary of crossing the bridge if you’re afraid of heights—some people cannot stomach the return journey and have to be taken off the island by boat.
If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you may recognize this remarkable avenue of beech trees used as a location in the fantasy drama television series.
Celebrating the completion of Gracehill House in 1775, James Stuart planted over 150 beech trees along the approach road to create an imposing corridor.
According to legend, the ghost of the Grey Lady haunts the road, flitting from tree to tree.
10. Oxfordshire
Founded around 1096, the University of Oxford—the oldest university in the English-speaking world—dominates the “city of dreaming spires”.
If you’re lucky enough to take a hot air balloon ride over Oxford, incredible views like the one below are yours to savour.
38 constituent colleges are scattered throughout the city centre, forming a beautifully preserved architectural wonder.
Viewed from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, the neo-classical Radcliffe Camera looks resplendent in the golden evening sunlight.
Built between 1737 and 1749 to house a science library funded by wealthy local doctor John Radcliffe, it is considered the most magnificent structure in Oxford.
Birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace is a monumental English Baroque country house originally granted as a gift to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his military triumphs in the Battle of Blenheim of 1704.
Larger than Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, or even Versailles, the sheer scale of Blenheim has to be seen to be appreciated and is difficult to squeeze in the frame.
With its richly colored stone columns against a dramatic sky, Blenheim is a photo gem.
Known as the “gateway” to the Cotswolds, Burford is a delightful medieval town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire.
It was the scene of a great battle in AD 752 between Cuthred, king of the West Saxons and Æthelbald, king of the Mercians, in which the Saxons vanquished the Mercians.
Local legend tells of a ghostly apparition of an unpopular 16th-century Lord and his wife riding a fiery coach through the town and bringing a curse upon all who see it.
Fortunately, the ghosts were corked in a glass bottle during an exorcism and cast into the river!
11. Scotland
“Bonnie” meaning “pretty, attractive” is the perfect word to describe Scotland’s dramatic landscape.
Covered by ice sheets during the ice age, Scotland has been shaped by glaciation, forming towering mountains, deep glens, glittering lochs, thick woodland, and rolling pastureland.
Steeped in history and the struggle for freedom, Scotland is dotted with romantic historic castles and ruins that take your breath away.
One of the most iconic landmarks is Eilean Donan Castle in the western Highlands.
Fictional setting of Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake and the opera La donna del lago by Rossini, Loch Katrine is a popular scenic attraction within reach from Glasgow on a day trip.
Forming the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands, Loch Lomond is the largest inland stretch of water in Britain by surface area.
Surrounded by hills, Loch Lomond is popular as a leisure destination and is featured in the song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”, a well-known traditional Scottish song first published in 1841.
Dominating the skyline of Edinburgh from its position atop Castle Rock, Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress and one of Scotland’s most-visited attractions, with over 2 million visitors a year.
Princess Street Gardens makes a superb location from which to capture the castle, featuring the Victorian Ross Fountain, once exhibited at the International Exhibition of 1862 in Kensington, London.
12. Somerset
Crafted from honey-coloured stone, Bath became a popular spa town in the Georgian era as word spread of its curative natural spring water.
Designed by Robert Adam, one of the most successful and fashionable architects of the 18th century, his Palladian-style Pulteney Bridge is exceptional for having shops built across its entire span on both sides.
On a still day, the much-photographed bridge reflects almost perfectly in the River Avon.
Built around a Roman site for public bathing, the Roman Baths complex is a major tourist spot, attracting over a million visitors a year.
Attracting about half a million visitors a year is a deep limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills of Somerset known as Cheddar Gorge.
Rising almost 450 feet with near-vertical cliff-face sides, a dramatic photo opportunity is from the top looking down on the road snaking its way along the bottom of the gorge.
Built between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral is a dominant feature of the city of Wells and the surrounding Somerset countryside.
Called “the most poetic” of English cathedrals, the style is pure Gothic and thought to be the first truly Gothic structure in Europe.
Displaying more than 300 sculpted figures, the façade has been described as “the supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England”.
It is a superb opportunity to capture in detail the fruits of medieval English craftsmanship.
13. Wales
Known as the “land of song” thanks to a centuries-old Welsh festival of literature, music, and performance, this Celtic nation of valleys is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain.
Pen-y-Gwryd is a mountain pass close to the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.
The famous mountaineering hostelry, Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel, is located in the pass and is where the first successful Everest expedition team of 1953 stayed to train in the mountains of Snowdonia.
Formed by a post-glacial massive landslide that dammed the lake within the glaciated valley, Tal-y-llyn Lake is the most-photographed lake in Wales.
For a long time from the 13th century on, Llanrwst’s wool trade was so important that it set the price of wool for the whole of Britain.
Across from Pont Fawr—a narrow three-arch stone bridge built by famed 16th-century English architect Inigo Jones—sits the beautiful ivy-covered Tu Hwnt I’r Bont Tearoom.
Originally a farmhouse, the building predates the bridge by about 100 years and creates a perfect chocolate box photograph.
Formed from Carboniferous Limestone, the Green Bridge of Wales is a natural arch on the stunning Pembrokeshire coastline
Described as the most spectacular arch in Britain, at around 80ft high, the Green Bridge is a popular tourist attraction and makes for a superb photo opportunity from the coastal footpath above.
14. Wiltshire
Best known for the prehistoric monument of standing stones called Stonehenge, Wiltshire has much to offer the avid photographer.
Constructed between 3000 and 2000 years before Christ, each stone is around 13 feet high, 7 feet wide and weighs around 25 tons.
Surrounded by myth, exactly how Stonehenge was built and what it was used for remain a mystery.
Quintessentially English, and often considered the prettiest village in England, Castle Combe is unsurprisingly popular as a filming location, having featured in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and the original Dr Doolittle film.
Unmistakably Cotswold, with its honey-coloured local stone, beautiful photos are all but guaranteed.
If you enjoyed the 2005 movie Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, then you’ll love the gardens of Stourhead’s 2,650-acre estate where some of the filming took place.
One of the best views is across the bridge towards the Pantheon, thought to be the most important visual feature of the gardens.
Perched on a perfect green lawn, Salisbury Cathedral is a true wonder of medieval architecture.
Not only has it the tallest spire in Britain at 404 feet, but the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close.
Containing the best surviving copy of the Magna Carta—the founding text of Liberty—and one of the oldest working clocks in the world, Salisbury Cathedral is a must-see and a sight to behold.
15. Yorkshire
Largest of all British counties, Yorkshire is home to the historic city of York and to vast areas of unspoiled countryside.
Sometimes nicknamed “God’s Own Country”, the Yorkshire Dales comprises river valleys and hills with pastures separated by dry-stone walls and grazed by sheep and cattle.
Swaledale is a typical limestone Yorkshire dale, with narrow valley floor, glacier-formed valley sides, green meadows, and fellside fields.
Opened in 1875 to carry the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Baty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble, the Ribblehead Viaduct is one of the great feats of Victorian engineering and complements the scenery with its graceful curve of arches.
Overhanging timber-framed buildings dating back as far as the 14th century characterize the medieval street known as “the Shambles” in the city of York.
Once home to 25 butchers’ shops, its name derived from the Anglo-Saxon Fleshammels meaning “flesh shelves”.
Today, the Shambles is a mix of eateries, souvenir shops, a bookshop, and a bakery that make for a delightful photograph, especially in the early light of dawn.
Dramatically set into a rocky gorge, Knaresborough is a historic medieval market town and spa.
Weaving up from the river, a maze of cobbled paths and stone staircases begs to be explored.
Built in 1851, the castellated viaduct with its soaring arches spanning the River Nidd makes an excellent photo taken from the ruins of Knaresborough Castle.
Beautiful villages, a Regency spa town, an ancient city, historic docklands, and some of England’s most picturesque open countryside are yours to discover and explore when you visit Gloucestershire.
Comprising part of the Cotswold Hills, the River Severn fertile valley, and the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire offers some of the most outstanding scenery anywhere in Britain.
Gloucestershire’s Countryside
On a clear day, one of the finest views across the spa town of Cheltenham and out toward the Malvern Hills beyond can be enjoyed from the top of Leckhampton Hill.
Gloucestershire’s countryside is gorgeous.
Winding through the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom and forms part of the border between England and Wales.
Above a disused quarry in Leckhampton, a peculiar-shaped limestone rock formation known as “the Devil’s Chimney” rises from the ground.
Legend has it that the Devil would sit atop Leckhampton Hill and hurl stones at Sunday churchgoers, but that God turned the stones back, driving the Devil underground and trapping him there forever.
Reserved for royal hunting by Anglo-Saxon kings, the Forest of Dean is one of the last surviving ancient woodlands in England.
Covering almost 43 square miles, the name is thought to originate from the Viking settlements, referring to the region as “Danubia” meaning “land of Danes”.
Rising in the Cotswold Hills of Gloucestershire, the River Churn is the first tributary of the famous River Thames.
Much of the catchment basin of the River Churn is known to have been an important area of Roman settlement in the second to fourth centuries AD.
Gloucestershire’s Roman Beginnings
Founded in AD 97 by the Romans under Emperor Nerva, Gloucester is the county city of Gloucestershire.
Derived from the Roman name “Glevum” or “Glouvia” and the Anglo-Saxon word “ceaster” meaning fort, Gloucester was once a Roman colony for retired legionaries.
Granted farmland and called upon as Roman auxiliaries, legionaries built luxurious villas with exquisite mosaic floors.
Gloucestershire has some of the best Roman villas in Britain.
Including a heated and furnished west wing containing a dining-room (triclinium) with a fine mosaic floor, as well as two separate bathing suites—one for damp-heat and one for dry-heat—Chedworth Villa was an elite dwelling and one of the largest Roman villas in Britain.
Gloucester’s Medieval Gothic Cathedral
Originating in the 7th century as a church for the abbey dedicated to Saint Peter, Gloucester Cathedral has a Norman core with a 15th-century tower rising 225ft and topped by four delicate pinnacles—a local landmark visible for miles.
The cathedral cloisters were used for corridor scenes in several Harry Potter films, whilst the crypt featured in Sherlock’s Christmas special.
At over 1000 years old, Gloucester Cathedral is the oldest building in the world to have a solar array installed to reduce energy costs.
Designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Canterbury, the cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan vaults.
Gloucester’s Docklands
Victorian ships once discharged their cargoes of corn from Ireland and Europe, timber from the Baltic and North America, and wines and spirits from Portugal and France.
Transferred to narrow canal boats, the goods were carried up the River Severn and through the inland canal network to the growing industrial towns of the Midlands.
Cheltenham Spa
Meaning “health and education”, Cheltenham’s motto “Salubritas et Eruditio” helped establish the town as a health and holiday spa resort since mineral springs were discovered in 1716.
Recognizing the commercial potential of its mineral springs, Captian Henry Skillicorne was regarded as “the founder of Cheltenham as a watering place”.
Building a pump room to regulate the water flow and an elaborate well-house with ballrooms and billiard room, well-to-do Georgian society flocked to Cheltenham.
Known for its elegant Regency buildings, tree-lined promenades and gardens, Cheltenham has remained a popular upscale shopping and entertainment destination through the Victorian era and up to the present day.
Regarded by many as among the finest Regency buildings in Britain, Cheltenham’s municipal offices were constructed during the reign of King George IV (1820 – 1830).
Since 1815, horse racing has been an important sport in Cheltenham, with £6m in prize money and over 700,000 visitors each year.
Cotswold Towns and Villages
Dozens of pretty villages and towns dot the Gloucestershire landscape.
Rising from the meadows of the upper River Thames is a range of rolling hills with a grassland habitat and a beautiful honey-coloured stone used to build villages, towns, and country houses.
Notable for its elegant terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century, Chipping Campden was a rich wool centre of the Middle Ages.
“Chipping” derives from the Old English “cÄ“ping”, meaning marketplace.
Built in 1627, the arched Market Hall stands proudly at the centre of town.
Meaning “Farmstead on the Moor”, the delightful town of Moreton-in-Marsh has many buildings made from the local honey-colored Cotswold Stone, including several antique shops, art galleries, and hotels.
Known for its picturesque High Street, flanked by long, wide greens with the River Windrush running through it, Bourton-on-the-Water is known locally as the “Venice of the Cotswolds”.
Once part of the second-largest area of a city in Roman Britain, Cirencester grew into a thriving market town in the Middle Ages, trading in wool and cloth.
Built in 1380 as a monastic wool store, the picturesque Arlington Row cottages were converted into weavers cottages in the 17th century and are a very popular tourist hotspot and photographers’ favorite.
Castles, Country Houses, and Gardens
Castle-building in Gloucestershire began after the 1066 Norman invasion, with fortified manor houses becoming more popular in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Built in the 15th century, Sudeley Castle replaced a much earlier 12th-century castle that was destroyed by King Stephen during the “Anarchy”—a civil war against his cousin Empress Matilda.
Severely damaged during the English Civil War, the current castle is the result of extensive Victorian restoration.
Dating back to the 11th century, Berkeley Castle is believed to be the scene of King Edward II’s murder.
His body is interred in a canopied shrine in Gloucester Cathedral
Built by Walter and Miles de Gloucester for the crown in the 11th century, St Briavels Castle was used to govern the Welsh Marches on the border of England and Wales.
Empress Matilda held the castle during the Anarchy and it later became a hunting lodge for King John and then a center for making crossbow arrows.
Hidcote Manor Garden is one of the best-known Arts and Crafts gardens in Britain.
Flourishing in Europe and North America between 1880 and 1920, Arts and Crafts was a movement of decorative and fine arts that began in Britain and advocated traditional craftsmanship of simple forms, with medieval, folk, and romantic influences.
Built in the 1860s in an Elizabethan style, the Victorian mansion of Westonbirt House replaced earlier buildings in the Georgian and Tudor eras.
Occupied by Westonbirt School—a girls’ boarding school—since 1928, the house and 210-acre grounds are open to the public on certain days.
Surrounded by 274 acres of formal gardens, the baroque Dyrham Park country house was built during the 17th and early 18th centuries.
Sumptuously decorated with wood paneling and tiles of Dutch Delftware, the artwork and artifacts include a collection of Dutch Masters.
Stanway House is a Jacobean manor house set in historic parkland with a recently installed fountain rising 300ft, making it the tallest gravity fountain in the world.
Churches and Abbeys
One of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Britain, Tewkesbury Abbey is also the second largest parish church in the country.
Formerly a Benedictine Monastery, it became one of the wealthiest abbeys of medieval England.
Housing the most complete set of medieval stained glass in Britain, the parish church of Saint Mary at Fairford is an example of late Perpendicular Gothic architecture characterised by slim stone window mullions and light but strong buttresses.
The style enabled larger windows than previously, allowing much more light into the building.
Known as the “Cathedral of the Cotswolds”, St John the Baptist parish church in Cirencester was financed by wealthy wool merchants.
Whether you visit for a day trip or a longer stay, you’re sure to fall in love with Gloucestershire again and again.
Rolling hills, sandy beaches, fossil cliffs, medieval towns, and moorland—the English county of Devon has it all.
Deriving its name from the ancient Dumnonii tribe of Brittonic Celts, Devon is thought to mean “deep valley dwellers”.
With so much to experience and enjoy, we’re convinced you’ll be dreaming of dwelling in Devon for your next vacation.
Landscape and Scenery
Devon is the only English county with two separate coastlines—the ruggedly beautiful rural north, with its dramatic cliffs rising 1000 ft from the sea, and the gentler rolling hills of the south, dotted with pretty towns and seaside resorts.
Lashed by the Atlantic ocean, North Devon’s coastal swells draw surfers from far and wide.
Bathed in the semi-tropical warmth carried on the Gulf Stream, South Devon experiences a milder climate, with seaside family resort towns and pretty fishing villages.
Seaside Towns and Beaches
The opening of Britain’s railways during the Victorian Era enabled ordinary folk to travel to seaside resorts all across Britain.
Comparing well with the French Riviera, Victorians began calling the outstanding 22-mile stretch of coastline centered on Torbay the “English Riviera”, and the name stuck.
With its picturesque harbours, bustling towns, and family-friendly beaches, the English Riviera is perfect for either a day trip or a longer stay.
Captivated by the beauty of the Georgian town of Sidmouth, the Poet Laureate John Betjeman called it “a town caught in a timeless charm”.
Family fun and happy childhood memories are what a holiday in Devon is all about.
National Parks
Encompassing two National Parks, two World Heritage Sites, and five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), over half of Devon’s land is protected by law.
Known for its rounded boulder-like outcrops of granite called tors, over 160 hills include the word “tor” in their name.
Hardy, and with excellent stamina and a kind temperament, Dartmoor ponies have lived in the south west of England for hundreds of years.
Used as a working animal by local quarries and tin mines, their numbers have fallen from around 25,000 in the 1930s to a few thousand today.
Inspiring Britain’s writers for centuries, Devon has featured in many famous works, including Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, RD Blackmore’s Lorna Doone, Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies, and a host of Agatha Christie murder mysteries.
Wild and windswept, Dartmoor soaks up the warmth of the setting sun.
Cathedrals, Abbeys, and Churches
Completed in around 1400 and dedicated to Saint Peter, Exeter Cathedral’s Decorated Gothic style replaced a much earlier Norman design, of which two massive towers remain.
Constructed entirely of local stone, notable features include the multi-ribbed ceiling, the Great East Window containing 14th-century stained glass, and Britain’s earliest complete set of fifty misericords (wooden carvings on seats designed to fold up and act as support during standing prayer).
Exeter Cathedral has the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in the world, at about 315 ft.
Buckfast Abbey is an active Benedictine monastery that was refounded in 1882 after the previous 12th-century abbey was destroyed during King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.
Dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon princess Werburgh, the parish church at Wembury, in the hills above the beach, has commanding views across the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
There are literally dozens of historically significant village churches to explore, many dating from Norman Britain.
Named after a Roman centurion who converted to Christianity, the parish church at Tavistock is a “wool church”—financed primarily by rich wool merchants and farmers during the Middle Ages, hoping their largesse would ensure a place in heaven.
Castles and Country Houses
Powderham Castle is a fortified manor house and home to the Courtenay family, Earls of Devon.
The appellation “castle” was added in the 17th century and although never a true castle with a keep and moat, it had a protective curtain wall and yard on the east side.
Featuring a mixture of medieval towers and fine 18th-century decoration, Powderham Castle is named from the ancient Dutch word “polder”, and means “the hamlet of the reclaimed marsh-land”.
The Staircase Hall has an impressive mahogany staircase decorated with carved heraldic beasts and intricate plasterwork.
Used as the filming location for the highly-rated 1983 version of Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Knightshayes Court is pure Victorian Gothic, complete with gargoyles, corbels, and a medieval-inspired great hall.
Renowned architectural scholar Nikolaus Pevsner called it “an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house”.
Designed by Scottish neoclassical architect Robert Adam, the beautiful Georgian mansion of Saltram House was described by architectural scholar Pevsner as “the most impressive country house in Devon”.
Considered one of Adam’s finest interiors, the sumptuous drawing room features Rococo plasterwork, exceptional paintings, luxurious Axminster carpets, and the finest damask upholstered Thomas Chippendale furniture.
Devonshire Cream Tea
Derived from Devon county, the term “Devonshire Cream Tea” refers to a light meal taken in the afternoon at around 4 pm, consisting of a pot of tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam.
Anglo-Saxon texts from around the 8th century refer to “Defenascir”, meaning “Devonshire” after it changed from the Latin name “Dumnonia” following the fall of Roman rule in Britain.
Devon and Cornwall have different ideas over how to eat scones with cream tea.
Devonians prefer to add cream first followed by jam, whereas the Cornish way is to add the jam first.
Either way, Devonshire Cream Tea remains one of the most popular snacks ordered at countless tea shops and cafes in the region and across Britain.
Dairy farming has been important to Devon for centuries, with the 11th-century monks at Tavistock Abbey known to have offered bread with cream and jam to local workers who helped rebuild the Abbey after it was attacked by Vikings in 997 AD.
The best cream comes from happy cows, and Devon’s cows are among the happiest—churning out cream by the churnful!
Watersmeet House is a beautiful former fishing lodge turned into a tea room and shop by the National Trust.
Surrounded by pristine countryside, it makes a perfect place to stop for afternoon tea for the whole family.
The 18th-century 16-sided “A La Ronde” is a licensed award-winning tea-room offering delicious homemade cakes, afternoon tea, and light meals.
Sourced from local farms, specialties include the smoked chicken, the South Devon sweet chilli jam and, of course, the Devonshire clotted cream.
Eat inside the tea-room or out on the lawn taking in the estuary views with picnic rugs provided.
Coastal Walks
Stretching for 630 miles along the coasts of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset, the South West Coast Path is England’s longest waymarked footpath and National Trail.
Originating as a path for coastguards to walk between lighthouses while patrolling for smugglers, the South West Coast Path covers both the north and south coasts of Devon.
Pretty Villages and Towns
Devon is dotted with dozens of pretty coastal and inland villages and towns.
Brightly-coloured fishing villages and quaint thatched cottages typify the beautiful settings—perfect for strolling among antique and gift shops, bookstores, and galleries.
Step back in time in the beautiful seaside village of Clovelly on Devon’s north coast.
Flanked by whitewashed houses—most of which are architecturally listed and protected as historically important—Clovelly’s steep cobbled main street descends 400 ft to the harbour below.
Dating back to 907 AD, Totnes was a thriving market town with many wealthy merchant’s houses from the 16th and 17th centuries lining the “Fore Street”—the name given to the main thoroughfare in many towns of south west England.
Operating over part of a converted railway branch line, the Tramway in the little seaside town of Seaton runs 13 half-scale replicas of classic British trams on a 3-mile route through East Devon’s beautiful Axe Valley.
With so much to offer, Devon is sure to have you dreaming of your next visit.
Doomsday is approaching for many rural English churches.
The Church of England has warned that dozens of churches will become redundant within 10 years unless it can attract new members.
continue reading …
Fortunately, there are government bodies such as “Historic England” that are tasked with protecting the historical environment of England by preserving and listing historic buildings and ancient monuments.
Instead of simply being demolished or left to ruin, many redundant churches that aren’t protected by Historic England find new uses as community centres, museums, or even homes.
Accounting for about 2% of English building stock and amounting to about 500,000 across the United Kingdom, “listed buildings” are those are on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.
There are three types of listed status for buildings in England and Wales: Grade I: buildings of exceptional interest. Grade II*: particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Grade II: buildings that are of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them.
Most of the beautiful churches in our selection are Grade I listed buildings chosen from several counties across England.
For added atmosphere, consider playing the British patriotic hymn “I Vow to Thee, My Country”, a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice set to music by Gustav Holst.
Bedfordshire
Dating from the 12th century and made of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, the Church of All Saints, Riseley is designated a Grade I listed building.
Paired belfry windows, embattled parapets, crocketed pinnacles, and gargoyles give the 15th-century tower a classic gothic appearance.
Mostly 13th-century with various later details and reworkings, the Church of St Mary the Virgin at Salford is constructed of coursed rubble, a mixture of limestone and ironstone, and ashlar dressings.
Replacing an earlier tower, the gable of this Grade I-listed building is surmounted by a distinctive 19th-century bell-cote of heavy timbers topped with a spirelet.
Cheshire
English architectural historian, writer and TV broadcaster, Alec Clifton-Taylor includes St Mary and All Saints Church in Great Budworth in his list of ‘best’ English parish churches.
Mostly of the English Gothic style, with the older north transept of Decorated Gothic, a reference to a priest in Great Budworth dates back to the 11th century.
The oldest part of the present Grade I-listed church is the 14th-century Lady Chapel—a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to “Our Lady”, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Originally built during the reign of Edward III in the 14th century, St Lawrence’s Church in Over Peover was later rebuilt in brick in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Round windows and arched bell-windows with pilasters characterize the tower’s three stages, whereas the south chapel has two bays, three buttresses surmounted by gargoyles, and a battlemented parapet.
During the Second World War, General George Patton and his staff worshipped in the church while stationed in the village at Peover Hall.
Cornwall
Known as the Cathedral of the Moor, the Church of St Nonna is the second largest church on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
Stood in the village of Alternun, meaning “altar of Nonn”, the Grade I-listed church is dedicated to Saint Non (or Nonna), who was the mother of St David, the patron saint of Wales.
Largely 15th-century English Gothic in style, it is known for its fine Norman font and fine old woodwork dating to 1684.
Of Norman origin with 15th-century additions, the Grade I-listed St Clarus’s Church at St Cleer is constructed of granite rubble with a slate roof and crested ridge tiles over the nave and chancel.
Saint Clarus was an Englishman who traveled to Cornwall to preach to local inhabitants in the 8th century.
Founding the church of St Cleer, he lived a saintly life until a local chieftainess fell in love with him.
Although he fled to France to escape her advances and continue an isolated saintly life, the spurned woman had him pursued and murdered.
Cumbria
Although dating from about 1500 in its present form, the materials from earlier churches have been incorporated into the Grade I-listed St. Andrew’s Church at Sedbergh.
Constructed in rubble stone with sandstone quoins and dressings, the three-stage tower features an embattled parapet with pinnacles at each corner.
The churchyard is said to contain a yew tree under which English Dissenter George Fox preached the Christain awakening from which came the Quaker movement.
Poet, American loyalist, and Anglican missionary to colonial South Carolina, Revd. Charles Woodmason is said to be buried here in an unmarked grave.
Constructed of rubble stone with a slate roof, the Grade I-listed St Michael and All Angels Church at Hawkshead was first established in the 12th century and extended in about 1300.
The tower features a doorway on the west side, with a two-light window above, a small window and a clock face on the south side, louvred bell openings with straight heads, and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles.
Derbyshire
Dating from the 14th century and having a heritage designation of “Grade II*”, St Mary the Virgin’s Church at Newton Solney was restored between 1880 and 1882.
Recessed behind battlements atop the tower having narrow slit bell-openings on three sides, the octagonal stone spire features tall gabled lucarnes.
Mostly 14th- and 15-century, but dating from the 11th century, St Michael’s Church at Breaston is a Grade I listed parish church.
Some restoration work was completed in 1871 by noted English architect Robert Evans, with pews and choir stalls replaced, flooring and tiling work to aisles and re-leaded roof.
Devon
Known as the Cathedral of the Moor due to its 120-ft tower and large seating capacity for such a small village, the Church of Saint Pancras was originally built in the 14th century in late gothic style.
Proceeds from the local tin-mining industry paid for several extensions over the years.
Legend has it that St Brannock’s Church in Braunton was founded by Saint Brannock in the 6th-century who was told in a dream to look for “a sow and piglets” and that should be the site to build a church.
Designated Grade I, the present church dates from the 13th century and has been described by historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as “one of the most interesting, and also one of the most puzzling in North Devon”.
Dorset
Described as “one of the most exciting parish churches in the county”, St Mary’s in Puddletown’s has 12th-century origins—parts of the tower date from 1180–1200, and the 12th-century font has a notable tapering beaker shape, with diapering depicting crossing stems and Acanthus leaves.
Puddletown village provided the inspiration for the fictional settlement of Weatherbury in his novel Far from the Madding Crowd.
Named after the statue of St Michael which still exists from the earliest structure in Norman times, this was Thomas Hardy’s local church and where he was baptised.
Stinsford is the original ‘Mellstock’ of Hardy’s novels Under the Greenwood Tree and Jude the Obscure.
Hardy truly left his heart in Stinsford, which is buried alongside the graves of his first and second wives.
Essex
Standing for nearly 1,200 years in the little village of Greensted-juxta-Ongar in Essex, Greensted Church is the oldest wooden church in the world.
Dated to the mid-9th century, the oak walls are often classified as remnants of a palisade church or a kind of early stave church.
All Saints Church at Rickling is a 13th-century flint church known for its intricate screen and pulpit and designated as a Grade I listed building.
The chancel, south aisle, and west tower were built in 1340 and later alterations made in the 15th, 16th, and 19th centuries.
Gloucestershire
Chipping Campden’s medieval gothic church of St James’s features extravagant monuments to local wealthy wool merchants hoping to ensure a place in heaven thanks to their largesse.
Standing 120 ft tall, the tower dates from around 1500.
With a nave thought to be from Saxon times, a 12th-century chancel and 16th-century tower, St Michael’s Church in the Cotswold village of Duntisbourne Rouse is designated Grade I for exceptional interest and international importance.
Still visible on the south wall of St Michael and All Angels parish church in Stanton is evidence of stone benches for the old and infirm, dating from when most of the congregation stood during the parts of the service that did not require kneeling.
Featuring columns from about 1200, early English Gothic pointed arches, and 15th-century font, porch and parvise, the church is designated Grade I.
Hampshire
Notable for its variety of architecture, the Church of St Lawrence in Alton, was also the site for the concluding action of one of the most savage encounters of the English Civil War (1642 – 1651).
Designated a Grade I listed building, repeated additions and extensions down the centuries have resulted in an amalgam of architectural styles, ranging from early Norman and early English to Perpendicular and Tudor.
Dating from the 12th century, Binsted’s Holy Cross parish church consists of stone walls, a tiled roof, and stone-slated porch and is designated Grade I.
Recorded in the Domesday Book under the name Cilbodentune, the parish church of St Mary the Less at Chilbolton in Hampshire dates back to the 12th century, on the site of an earlier wooden church.
St Mary’s Church at Breamore is noted for its Anglos-Saxon rood—the large crucifix above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.
Lancashire
Protected as Scheduled Monuments, three well-preserved Anglo-Saxon crosses in the churchyard are evidence of a church existing on the site from before the Norman Conquest of England.
Dating from the 13th century and designated Grade I by English Heritage, the current Church of St Mary and All Saints in Whalley was constructed from sandstone rubble with a stone slate roof.
Monks from Fountains Abbey had the Church of St Mary le Ghyll in Barnoldswick built in about 1160 to replace an older church on the same site.
Designated as Grade I, the stone and slate-roofed structure has a tower with diagonal buttresses and a stair turret.
Lincolnshire
Built on a hillside overlooking the Vale of Belvoir, the Church of All Saints at Barrowby suffered damage to stained glass windows and its rood screen during Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries.
Constructed from limestone ashlar and ironstone with a Westmorland and Welsh slate roof, its tower is of Decorated style with six bells and an octagonal spire containing two tiers of lucarnes.
Greatford’s church dedicated to St Thomas Becket of Canterbury is built in the Early English style, and is Grade I listed.
Norfolk
Dominating the Market Place and surrounding area, the 98 ft tower of St Michael and All Angels parish church has a small spire on top that can be seen for miles around.
A fine example of Gothic architecture of the Decorated style, the nave, aisles, and chancel were built in the 13th century with the tower added in the 14th.
One of 125 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk, St Mary’s Church at Burnham Deepdale houses a Norman font.
Northamptonshire
Dating from about 1300, the Grade I Church of St Nicholas in Stanford-on-Avon is built from squared coursed limestone, lias and granite with ashlar dressings and slate roof.
It contains the oldest metal organ pipes surviving in Britain.
Built from ashlar, coursed limestone rubble and ironstone, the Church of St Edmund at Warkton has 12th-century origins with the tower added in the 15th century.
The 4-stage tower has plinth clasping buttresses, a quatrefoil frieze with gargoyles, and castellated parapet with corner pinnacles.
Staffordshire
Containing the tombs of four Bishops of Lichfield, the 13th-century Holy Trinity church in Eccleshall is Grade I listed.
Showing two phases of English Gotic architecture, the tower is 13th-century Early English for most of its height, with the upper section of 15th-century Perpendicular style.
A church has stood on the site of All Saints’ parish church in Alrewas since at least 822AD, although construction of the current Grade I-listed structure was mainly from the 13th, 14th, 16th, and 19th centuries.
Believed to be made of timber, the original building was from a time when Alrewas was a flourishing settlement owned by Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia.
Replacing the simple wooden church with one of local stone, parts of the later Norman structure are still visible in the tower doorway, the north aisle door and the heavy rough hewn pieces of masonry in the north wall.
Suffolk
Considered to be one of Suffolk’s finest churches, the parish church of Southwold is dedicated to St Edmund and renowned for its East Anglian flushwork, especially that of the tower.
Narrowly missed by a German bomb during World War II, the explosion destroyed nearby houses blew out most of the churches 15th-century stained glass windows.
One of 38 existing round-tower churches in Suffolk, the 13-century St. Andrew’s Church in Bramfield has a separate 12th-century tower standing in the church grounds—the only example of its kind in the county.
Both the church and the tower are Grade I listed buildings.
Sussex
Dating from the 12th century and made from Sussex Marble, the font is the oldest part of the Holy Trinity Church, Rudgwick.
With a 13th-century tower, and most of the remaining structure dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, the church is designated Grade I in historical importance.
Built in the 1370s, the GradeI-listed St Andrew’s parish church in Alfriston is known as the “Cathedral of the Downs”.
Thought to be the site of a pre-Christian place of worship, the church sits on a small, flint-walled mound in the middle of the village green.
Surrey
Built during Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods, records show that St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Godalming was a redevelopment of a prior Anglo-Saxon church.
Made from the local hard sandstone, the church has two integrated medieval chapels and is designated Grade I.
Dating back to the year 1250, All Saints’ parish church in Warlingham is built of flint rubble with stone dressings and is designated Grade II*.
Local vicars maintain that long-serving Archbishop Cranmer began experimenting with the first Book of Common Prayer at this church.
Warwickshire
Under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust as a Grade II* listed building, St John the Baptist church in Avon Dassett is a redundant church no longer used for regular worship.
Built in 1868 on the site of an earlier Norman church, the north wall of the chancel has a recess containing a 13th-century stone coffin with a lid.
St Leonard’s Church in Spernall is another example of a redundant church no longer used for service but of architectural and historical significance.
Under the care of a registered charity called “Friends of Friendless Churches” as a Grade II* listed building, much of the structure dates from the 12th century, although work continued until 1844.
Wiltshire
Standing close to “Old Sarnum”, the earliest settlement of Salisbury, St Lawrence’s church in Stratford-sub-Castle is a Grade I listed building thought to have used much of the stone from abandoned buildings at the settlement during the 13th century.
Restored in various stages during the 20th century, the church was said to have been consecrated in 1326.
Dedicated to a Norman saint, the Church of St Cyriac in Lacock is a 14th-century building designated Grade I and having Norman origins.
Prospering as an important market town on the Bath, Somerset sheep-droving route to London, substantial local tax revenues enabled the more extensive 15th-century rebuild that we see today.
Worcestershire
Built in the 13th-century, the parish Church of St. John the Baptist reveals a close connection of the Sandys family who owned the manor at Wickhamford village with the American colonists.
Penelope Washington, whose mother married Sir Samuel Sandys and moved to the Manor House, is buried in the church and was a distant relative of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America.
St Peter’s Church in the village of Pirton, Worcestershire is a Grade I listed building thanks largely to its timber-framed tower—the only example in Worcestershire of a tower with aisles.
Yorkshire
Corner pinnacle and gargoyles decorate the tower of All Saints’ parish church in Kirk Deighton, and an octagonal spire rises 100 ft.
Dating from the 11th century and mentioned in the Domesday book—the manuscript record of King William the Conqueror’s “Great Survey”—the church underwent restoration in 1849 and is a Grade I listed building.
Built in the 13th and 14th centuries and restored in 1843 and again in 1913, All Saints’ Church in the village of Roos is designated Grade I.
Breathtaking views, stunning architecture, and lazy summer afternoons punting on the River Cam.
Cambridge is a beautiful city full of beautiful minds, where mankind first split the atom and discovered the secret to life through DNA.
Cambridge University
Founded in 1209 by scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townsfolk, Cambridge University is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world.
31 constituent colleges with over 100 academic departments have educated scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking, philosophers like Francis Bacon and Bertrand Russell, economists like Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes, poets like Lord Byron and John Milton, and no less than 95 Nobel laureates and 15 British prime ministers.
Peterhouse was Cambridge’s first college, founded by the Bishop of Ely in 1284.
Founded in 1326, Clare College is the second-oldest college
Clair College is known for its beautiful gardens on “The Backs”—the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam.
Among the highest in academic performance, Pembroke is Cambridge’s third-oldest college and one of its largest.
Housing a Victorian neo-gothic clock tower, the college library has an original copy of the first encyclopaedia to contain printed diagrams.
No less than ten Nobel Prize winners, seven prime ministers, and twelve archbishops were educated at St John’s College.
English Romantic poet William Wordsworth studied here, as did slavery abolitionists William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson.
Chapels and Churches
Taking almost 100 years to complete, King’s College Chapel is one of the greatest examples of Gothic English architecture.
Seen as a symbol of the city of Cambridge, King’s College Chapel was built in phases during the Wars of the Roses by a succession of English kings.
King’s College Chapel houses Peter Paul Rubens 8 ft by 11 ft masterpiece “Adoration of the Magi” from 1617.
Bought in 1959 for a then world-record price, property millionaire Alfred Ernest Allnatt donated it to King’s College Cambridge in 1961.
Noted for its splendid acoustics, the world-famous chapel choir sings on most days during term and performs concerts, and makes recordings and broadcasts such as those on Christmas Eve for the BBC.
Twenty-four of the twenty-six stained glass windows date from the sixteenth century.
Featuring the world’s largest fan vault, this uniquely English design resembles a fan in which the ribs are all of the same curvature and spaced equidistantly.
Pembroke College Chapel was Sir Christopher Wren’s first architectural project, which his uncle, the Bishop of Ely, asked him to design in 1663.
Wren would become best known for designing St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Designed by English architect Henry Hutchinson in 1831, the Bridge of Sighs of St John’s College is probably Cambridge’s best-known bridge and based on a similarly named bridge in Venice.
Connecting two courts of S John’s College, the Bridge of Sighs is one of Cambridge’s main tourist attractions and Queen Victoria is said to have loved it more than any other spot in the city.
Built in 1640, Clair Bridge is the oldest of Cambridge’s current bridges crossing the River Cam.
It is the only remaining bridge from the English Civil War period.
Crafted from a single block of limestone, carved to give the appearance of masonry, Kitchen or Wren Bridge is the second-oldest bridge and was built to designs by Sir Christopher Wren.
Connecting two parts of Queen’s College, Mathematical Bridge is a wooden footbridge built in 1749.
Built entirely of straight timbers, its sophisticated engineering design gives it a curved appearance.
Designed by English architect James Essex who built portions of many colleges in Cambridge, Trinity Bridge is a triple-arched stone road bridge completed in 1765.
Punting on the River Cam
For beautiful picture postcard views of elegant bridges, green lawns, and graceful willows, what better way to while away an afternoon than punting along the River Cam as it passes through a stretch known as “the Backs” where several colleges back onto the river.
Designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water, punts are flat-bottomed boats with a square-cut bow propelled by pushing against the river bed with a pole.
Parks and Gardens
Leafy green spaces abound in Cambridge, ranging from “the Backs”, which is the name given to the gardens by the river behind various colleges, to larger parks like Jesus Green and Midsummer Common.
The Cambridge Beer Festival held on Jesus Green is the longest running CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Beer Festival in Britain.
Cambridge has the best of both worlds for those who love to shop.
All the popular brand names can be found in the Grand Arcade on St Andrew’s Street, but venture down the older streets and you’ll discover long-established boutiques, bookshops, and jewellers nestled inside grand Georgian townhouses and half-timbered Elizabethan buildings.
How about this little gem of an Edwardian-era Art Nouveau fronted shop?
Restaurants and pubs are equally at home in gorgeous old structures like the La Tasca Spanish tapas restaurant on Bridge Street.
Rose Crescent is one of several pedestrianized streets connecting to Cambridge’s market square.
Operating since Saxon times, the outdoor marketplace has dozens of pretty stalls selling everything from local produce to works from some of the region’s most talented artists, craftsmen, potters, sculptors, and photographers.
History and culture are never far away in Cambridge.
Stop for a pint at The Eagle pub where Nobel prize winners Crick and Watson sketched the structure of DNA on a napkin.
The Champion of the Thames pub’s name derives from an oarsman who won a sculling race on the Thames before moving to Cambridge in 1860.
Requesting that all his mail be addressed to ‘The Champion of the River Thames, King Street, Cambridge’, the rowing connection continues thanks to the pub’s sponsorship of the “Champion of the Thames” rowing club.
The Cycle-friendly City
Cambridge is the most bicycle-friendly city in the UK.
Relatively flat and boasting over 80 miles of cycle lanes and routes, cycling is the easiest and most eco-friendly way to enjoy the beautiful architecture and open spaces of Cambridge.
Known throughout the world for their beauty, the quintessential English village is a magical escape for urban city-dwellers.
Quaint cottages nestled around a village green or bordering little rivers and surrounded by rolling countryside, there are dozens to enjoy across the British Isles.
Here are 10 of our favorite English villages.
1. Abbotsbury, Dorset
With nearly a hundred structures listed by English Heritage for their historic or architectural interest, Abbotsbury will surprise and delight.
Surrounded by hills and sat within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Abbotsbury is only a mile inland from the English Channel coast.
Abbotsbury’s 11th-century Benedictine Abbey was founded by one of King Cnut’s nobles from Scandinavia.
Abbotsbury comprises a long street called Rodden Row filled with pretty thatched cottages, some dating to the 1500s and built using stone from the ruined 11th-century Abbey.
Notable for its fine coastal views, the road between Abbotsbury and Burton Bradstock reveals an 18-mile section of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site famous for fossil discoveries in the 19th century.
2. Clovelly, Devon
Noted for its steep cobbled main street and stunning views over the Bristol Channel, Clovelly is a privately owned English village with over 800 years of history.
Descending 400 feet to the pier, Clovelly’s main street is too steep for wheeled traffic and uses sleds for deliveries of goods and collection of refuse.
Donkeys used to haul the sleds uphill, but now goods are delivered to the top of the street and the sleds are pulled down the slope by hand, leaving the donkeys free to entertain holidaymakers.
Charles Kingsley’s 1855 British historical novel Westward Ho! which celebrates England’s victories over Spain in the Elizabethan era, mentions this part of North Devon and helped make Clovelly a popular tourist destination.
Captured by artists for its richness of colour, the scenery along the South West Coast Path National Trail from Clovelly to Hartland Quay is particularly spectacular.
3. Dedham, Essex
Formerly a rich wool town and market town, Dedham is a flourishing commercial village, with good old-fashioned shops like a butcher, grocer, delicatessen, and art shop.
Lovely colourful Georgian and Elizabethan timber-framed houses line the High Street.
Nestled along the River Stour on the border between Essex and Suffolk counties, Dedham is frequently rated as having some of England’s most beautiful water-meadow landscapes.
Even on a crisp winter morning, a walk along the River Stour is idyllic, with its rows of evenly-spaced pollarded willow trees.
Dedham is “Constable Country” where famed English Romantic painter John Constable set up his easel to paint iconic scenes.
I should paint my own places best, painting is but another word for feeling.John Constable, 1821
Revered as one of the greatest British paintings and currently hanging in the National Gallery, London, “The Hay Wain” of 1821 depicts a rural scene on the River Stour with “Willy Lott’s Cottage” in Suffolk on the left and the Essex meadows on the right.
You can visit the famous 16th-century cottage today at Flatford in the heart of the Dedham Vale.
Meaning “crooked or irregularly-shaped hill” in Anglo Saxon, Hambleden is a beautiful little village just north of the River Thames about 40 miles west of London.
Hambledon was granted a royal charter in 1315 to hold a market in the village and a fair on St Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, every year.
The brick and flint cottages in the centre of the village have dormer windows topped with red tiles.
Hambleden served as a base for US soldiers in the build up to D-Day 1944 and was depicted as the training ground for Easy Company in the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers.
Used as a location for several films including Disney’s 1996 “101 Dalmatians” and Warner Bros. 1998 “The Avengers”, Hambleden also played host to Johnny Depp and Cristina Ricci for a month-long location shoot during filming for Tim Burton’s 1999 gothic horror “Sleepy Hollow”.
Dating from the 14th century, St Mary’s church has an intricately decorated ceiling and a tower with eight bells.
Hambleden’s village post office also serves as the local shop and cafe.
5. Hawkshead, Cumbria
An important wool market in medieval times, Hawkshead in the Lake District sits in a valley to the west of Windermere and east of Coniston Water.
Originally owned by monks of 12th-century Furness Abbey, once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the country, Hawkshead became prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries.
English Romantic poet William Wordsworth was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School and English writer Beatrix Potter lived nearby, marrying a solicitor from Hawkshead.
Hawkshead’s timeless atmosphere encourages visitors to explore its alleyways, overhanging gables, and medieval squares.
St Michael and All Angels Church in Hawkshead is considered to be one of the best Lake District churches.
Constructed in rubble stone with a slate roof, the 12th-century chapel was extended in 1300 and the north and south aisles added 200 years later.
Listed as a Grade I building of exceptional interest, the interior is thickly whitewashed with five-bay arcades consisting of segmental arches on round piers.
6. Lacock, Wiltshire
Unspoiled and owned almost entirely by the National Trust conservation organization, Lacock’s pristine appearance makes it a popular tourist spot.
Mentioned in the Domesday Book manuscript record of 1086, Lacock was later granted a market and developed a thriving wool industry during the Middle Ages.
Lacock village has been used as a film and television location, most notably the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, a series of Downton Abbey, and brief appearances in two Harry Potter films.
St Cyriac’s Church was founded in the 14th century and dedicated to the Norman saint, St Cyriac.
Lacock has two public houses and a number of shops in its High Street including a grocery store, a bakery, gift shops and a National Trust shop.
7. Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire
Built on the banks of the River Eye in Gloucestershire, records exist showing that Lower Slaughter has been inhabited for over 1000 years.
A 19th-century water mill sits at the west end of the village, complete with an undershot waterwheel and a chimney for additional steam power.
Dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, the 13th-century Anglican parish church was enlarged in 1866, with the spire and peal of six bells benefiting from a recent restoration.
Several small stone footbridges join the two sides of the Lower Slaughter community that is divided by the river.
Honey-coloured Cotswold sandstone adorns the beautiful homes in the village, many with mullioned windows and other embellishments such as projecting gables.
8. Nether Wallop, Hampshire
Derived from the Old English words waella and hop, which together mean “the valley of the springing water”, Nether Wallop was once the site of an ancient battle between Britons and the invading Jutes, in which the Britons were victorious.
Nether Wallop is one of three beautiful villages known as The Wallops, with the other two being Over Wallop and Middle Wallop.
With its many old thatched cottages, Nether Wallop has featured in books and TV as one of the prettiest villages in England.
For over 200 years the village pub, The Five Bells, was the centre of village life and the community social hub, where villagers met to eat and enjoy real ales.
Tightly-packed ancient fisherman’s cottages, a quaint little harbour, and pristine coastline combine to make Polperro a well-loved tourist destination.
The name Polperro is derived from old Cornish “Porthpyra” meaning “harbour named after Saint Pyran”, a 5th-century Cornish abbot and patron saint of tin miners.
Recognised as a fishing settlement as early as the 13th century, smuggling helped local fishermen boost their income from as early as the 1100s.
High taxation of imports caused by Britain’s wars with France and America made it worthwhile for spirits, tobacco, and other goods to be smuggled from Guernsey and elsewhere.
19th-century Coast Guards and the threat of stiff penalties eventually deterred the smugglers.
Typical old fisherman’s cottages in Polperro had storage for fishing nets on the ground floor with steps leading to the living accommodation above.
Polperro legends include the ghost of smuggler Willy Wilcox who disappeared whilst hiding in the beaches’ labyrinthine caves.
The Spirit of the Forest is said to come down from the woods above the village and leave sweetmeats at the homes of the poor during times of great economic hardship and foretells of good fortune for the recipients.
10. Staithes, North Yorkshire
Once a thriving fishing village, Staithes is now a center for tourism within the North York Moors National Park.
Derived from Old English, the name Staithes means “Landing Place”.
Staithes has a sheltered harbour, bounded by high cliffs and two long breakwaters.
More than half of the houses are second homes of outsiders from cities such as Leeds and York.
Villagers still practice local traditions, with many of the local women buying Staithes bonnets and local men singing in the Staithes Fisher Men’s Choir.
In the late 19th century, there were 80 full-time fishing boats putting out to sea from Staithes.
Now there are a handful of part-time fishermen still plying their trade in traditional fishing vessels called cobles.
Staithes’s most famous resident, James Cook worked as a grocer’s apprentice in 1745, beginning a lifelong passion for the sea.
Steeped in history and legend, Winchester is a reminder of Britain’s mythical past.
Soak up the gothic splendor of Winchester Cathedral, stroll along ancient river walks, laugh at street theatre, or relax over wine or a fine ale.
Winchester is an adventure in time.
Here are 10 reasons you’ll fall in love with Winchester.
1. Ancient Capital of England
Honored by a huge statue 17 feet high, Alfred the Great stands watching over the city he built on top of the old Roman settlement of Venta Belgarum.
Today it is known as Winchester—the Anglo-Saxon capital of England before London.
Venta Belgarum means “Town of the Belgae”—a confederation of tribes mostly living in present day Belgium, but some living in southern England.
Following the Roman invasion of Britain, the Romans founded the settlement in around 70 AD and developed it into a major trading center with city walls, before withdrawing from Britain some 340 years later.
During diggings at the corner of Little Minster Street and Minster Lane in 1878, a beautiful Roman mosaic was discovered.
Depicting a dolphin, you can see the mosaic on display at the Winchester City Museum.
But Winchester’s history goes back much further to the Iron Age (1200 BC – 1 BC), with the remains of three hill forts all in the nearby vicinity—Oram’s Arbour, St. Catherine’s Hill, and Worthy Down.
One day in 2000, a retired florist was out in the fields of Winchester hoping to get lucky with his metal detector and perhaps find something interesting.
Striking one of the most important Iron Age gold hoards for fifty years and valued at £350,000 ($457,000), he was a little more than lucky.
Housed in the British Museum, the Winchester Hoard is thought to be a lavish diplomatic gift dating from about 75-25 BCE.
2. Winchester Gothic Cathedral
Having the longest nave and overall length of all Gothic cathedrals in Europe, it comes as little surprise that Winchester Cathedral is the major landmark of the city.
Originally founded in 642 and known as the “Old Minster”, it was demolished by the Normans in 1093 and a new cathedral built in its place.
Squat and square, the tower is 150 ft tall which pales in comparison with Salisbury Cathedral’s 404 ft spire—just 25 miles to the west of Winchester.
Some speculate that Winchester Cathedral may have later had a spire if funds had been available since spires were highly desirable.
But the current tower is the second after the first collapsed in 1107—an accident blamed on the impious William Rufus (William the Conqueror’s heir) who was buried in the Cathedral.
It’s possible this “bad omen” halted any plans for a spire that would reach to the heavens—which might have looked like the image below.
Honored as a beautiful statue, Saint Joan of Arc stares in vain at the Chancery Chapel of Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, a man who helped condemn her to death by burning at the stake in 1431.
Spire or no, Winchester Cathedral is beautiful inside and out, and whether out for a stroll in the grounds or a guided tour, the setting is absolutely magical.
3. Winchester Castle and King Arthur’s Round Table
Arthur increased his personal entourage by inviting very distinguished men from far-distant kingdoms to join it.
At one time, Winchester had a castle, of which only the Great Hall still stands, but it houses one of the greatest artifacts from Arthurian Legend—The Round Table.
Symbolizing equality since a round table has no head, by the close of the 12th century, it came to represent the chivalric order of King Arthur’s court and the Knights of the Round Table.
Normal poet Robert Wace said that Arthur created the Round Table to prevent quarrels among his barons, none of whom would accept a lower place than the others.
In Celtic lore, warriors sit in a circle around the king or lead warrior.
British cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth says that after establishing peace throughout Britain, Arthur “increased his personal entourage by inviting very distinguished men from far-distant kingdoms to join it.”
4. Winchester College
Claiming the longest unbroken history of any school in England, Winchester College was established in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and chancelloer to Edward III and Richard II.
Founded in conjunction with New College, Oxford, it was meant to prepare students to attend Oxford University.
Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge would later follow the same model.
Be sure to pop into the Wykeham Arms pub for a bite to eat and a pint of delicious local ale.
You can even sit at old school desks from the college, complete with ink wells.
An independent boarding school for boys in the British public school tradition, according to Tatler Magazine, 35% of leavers in 2015 had places at Oxford or Cambridge; most of the rest attended other universities, including those in North America.
Performance like that doesn’t come cheap, with fees of £38,100 per year (almost $50,000 per year).
5. Jane Austen’s House
Living in Chawton, Hampshire, about 18 miles north-east of Winchester, Jane Austen started feeling unwell early in the year of 1816.
When her uncle died leaving nothing of his fortune to his relatives, her condition deteriorated and by mid-April she was bed-ridden.
Suffering agonizing pain, her sister Cassandra and brother-in-law Henry brought her to Winchester for treatment in May.
She lived here, at 8 College Street, Winchester for the last few weeks of her life.
On 18 July, at the age of 41, Jane Austen, one of the most prolific writers of the Regency Era, passed to another place free from pain.
She is buried in the north aisle of the nave of Winchester Cathedral.
6. Ancient City Walls, Streets, and the River Itchen
When you enter Winchester through one of the medieval arched gateways, you get a buzz—a feeling that this is going to be special, that you are traveling back in time to a land of Anglo-Saxon Kings, Knights, Bishops, and peasants.
In short, Winchester has atmosphere.
Parts of the medieval city walls still stand, strong and imposing, forever protecting the city inhabitants.
Sat here, time stands still, allowing your mind to wonder how many travelers passed this way on pilgrimages to the magnificent cathedral.
Fortunately, advances in city architecture have left Winchester largely free from blight.
It’s a city with relatively few brutal buildings from the 60’s and 70’s and has remained beautiful for hundreds of years.
The town clock still reminds you what time it is regardless of how many carry mobile phones.
There’s time to enjoy the simpler things in life.
The Victorians appreciated aesthetics—their gothic revival architecture blended with the medieval to keep the mythical past alive.
Powered by the River Itchen, the old City Mill is probably the country’s oldest working watermill, with over a thousand years of history.
7. Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty
Founded in the 1130s by Henry de Blois—the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Winchester, and grandson of William the Conqueror—the Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty is the oldest charitable institution in the United Kingdom.
Built on the scale of an Oxbridge college, the almshouses are the largest medieval examples in Britain.
Since at least the 14th century, and still available today, a ‘wayfarer’s dole’ of ale and bread has been handed out at the chapel.
The sustenance was supposedly instigated to aid pilgrims on their way to Canterbury.
8. Street Theatre, Fairs, and Farmers Market
Just as our medieval forebears enjoyed street entertainments, so too do Winchester residents who gather on the cathedral lawns or the High Street to celebrate street theatre during the summer festival season.
Winchester hosts one of the UK’s largest farmers’ markets, with about 100 stalls of fresh locally grown produce.
During the Christmas holiday season, hundreds of children holding paper lanterns process along the High Street to the Cathedral Close to mark the opening of the Christmas Market and Ice Rink.
9. Walking, Cycling, and Surrounding Countryside
Whether you’re working off a big evening meal with a pleasant stroll or engaged in a more active pursuit, Winchester’s walks are a delight for the senses.
From the City centre, there is a lovely 20-minute walk along the riverside footpath to the ancient Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse.
How much more enjoyable does it get to soak up Winchester’s sights than on a bicycle made for two?
Hampshire’s countryside, towns, and villages are some of the prettiest in Britain, with fields of green and bright yellow stretching for miles.
An ancient Roman road that is now a footpath will take you on an adventure from Winchester Cathedral to Salisbury Cathedral—this is “Pillars of the Earth” country.
Hampshire is one of the best counties to see gorgeous thatched cottages.
Winchester boasts some of the oldest pubs in Britain.
From debating the best way to grow prize roses to who will win the county cricket championships, there’s not much beats a glass of wine al fresco.
Delightful pubs and restaurants abound in Winchester.
Whether you’re looking for a delicious lunch at the Chesil Rectory—Winchester’s oldest house—or something French for evening upscale dining at the Hotel du Vin, Winchester is sure to be one of your best and favorite memories.
One of the most famous university cities in the world, Oxford is steeped in history, with beautiful honey-coloured college buildings dotted throughout the city.
Wander the cobbled streets and peaceful courtyards and admire the famed spires reaching to the heavens as you contemplate the enormous wealth of human talent Oxford has given the world over the centuries.
Here are 10 of our favorite things to love about Oxford.
1. The “City of Dreaming Spires”
So beautiful were the views of Oxford from nearby Boar’s Hill that 19th-century poet Matthew Arnold was inspired to write a poem called Thyrsis in memory of his close friend and fellow poet Arthur Hugh Clough who lived in the city of dreaming spires.
And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not June for beauty’s heightening Matthew Arnold
Today, those spires are best appreciated from atop St. Mary’s Church or Carfax Towers in the city center, or from South Park.
2. History
On this spot, where the Folly Bridge crosses the River Thames, basking in the golden glow of the evening sunlight, there was once a ford.
It was no ordinary ford. It was a ford to be crossed with a valuable cargo of oxen—”Oxnaforda” in Anglo-Saxon, from which Oxford derives its name.
Oxen were the haulage lorries (trucks) of the Middle Ages, used for hauling carts and wagons and also for ploughing.
They were a form of wealth comparable to money, and Oxford might have been a major crossing point on a cattle “drove road”, along which they were driven for long distances.
Another theory about the origins of Oxford’s name is that “Ox” derives from the Celtic word for river.
Either way, for history buffs, Oxford will not disappoint since centuries past remain to explore and enjoy.
It’s nice to know that in this world of change, some things don’t change.
The carriages may be different, the people dressed differently, but Oxford High Street looks the same now as it did at the end of the 18th century.
And that’s reassuring—some things are worth preserving.
3. University of Oxford
Evidence of teaching at Oxford dates as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
Banned from attending the University of Paris by King Henry II, students flocked to Oxford instead and the university grew rapidly from 1167.
But in 1209, disputes between students and townspeople led some faculty to move north-east and establish Cambridge University.
The two universities became known as “Oxbridge” and are frequently cited in the top five in world rankings, with Oxford currently rated #1 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017.
Oxford University has 38 constituent colleges and has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates, 27 British Prime Ministers, and many other heads of state.
Christ Church alone has produced 13 British Prime Minsters—more than any other Oxbridge college.
Known as the Bridge of Sighs because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Hertford Bridge is, however, closer in appearance to the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
Built as a skyway over New College Lane, the “Bridge of Sighs” joins two parts of Hertford College and has become a city landmark.
All Souls College was founded in 1438 and is unique in having only Fellows as members of the college, and no undergraduates.
All Souls College features a magnificent quadrangle, with striking twin towers designed in the 1720s by Nicholas Hawksmoor in the Gothic style to harmonise with the medieval college chapel.
There are lots of old doors like this one all over Oxford and one thing is for certain: there’s a lot of scholarly things going on behind each one.
4. Architecture
Demonstrating noteworthy examples of every English architectural period since the late 11th century, the historic buildings in Oxford make it an ideal location for film and TV crews.
Occupied by the Carfax Tobacco Company and a branch of Lloyds Bank since first opening in 1901, the ornate Rennaissance Revival building marks the start of Oxford High Street.
Further down the adjacent Cornmarket Street on the corner of Ship Street is a 14th-century timber-framed building originally built as the New Inn and now owned by Jesus College, which restored it in 1983.
Jesus college was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571.
The Sheldonian Theatre was built for the University of Oxford between 1664 and 1669 after a design by Sir Christopher Wren who also designed and built St Paul’s Cathedral.
Named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the University from 1667 – 1669 and the project’s main financial backer, it is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies.
But since 2015 has it also been used for drama, with the Christ Church Dramatic Society staging a production of The Crucible.
5. Museums
Established in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum was the world’s first university museum and is the oldest museum in the United Kingdom.
Originally housing a “cabinet of curiosities” give to the University of Oxford in 1677, it now holds significant art and archeology works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and Picasso, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead, Parian Marble, the Alfred Jewel, and “The Messiah” Stradivarius violin—regarded by many as the world’s finest.
Housed in a large neo-Gothic building in Oxford University’s Science Area, the University Museum of Natural History boasts skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, and the most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world.
Founded in 1884, the Pitt Rivers Museum contains over 500,000 items from the University’s archaeological and anthropological collections.
This is where some of the great luminaries of the Enlightenment would meet to exchange ideas, acting as a supplementary sphere to the university.
The absence of alcohol created an atmosphere more conducive to serious conversation than an alehouse.
Coffeehouses also played an important role in the development of financial markets and newspapers, and political groups frequently used them as meeting places.
Oxford’s pubs overflow with enough character and atmosphere to stimulate the minds of some of the best fiction writers of all time.
Meeting here every Tuesday morning between 1939 and 1962, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and other friends, popularly known as the “Inklings” would drink beer and discuss the books they were writing.
The Head of the River Pub is adjacent to Folly Bridge which crosses the River Thames at the point of the ancient ford for which Oxford is named.
For light refreshment, why not try Gee’s Restaurant and bar, serving a uniquely rustic, Mediterranean dining experience set in an iconic Glasshouse.
7. Religious Buildings
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew.
With an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, its spire is claimed by some church historians to be one of the most beautiful in England.
Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1854–60, the chapel at Exeter College, Oxford, was heavily inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
8. Footpaths, Waterways, and Cycle Lanes
Oxford has 28 nature reserves within or just outside the city ring road, making it one of Britain greenest cities.
Whether you prefer a leisurely walk along one of Oxford’s many footpaths, a relaxing punt ride down the river, or an invigorating cycle ride, Oxford is a magical place for all.
While away the hours in the peace and tranquility of Oxford’s Botanic Gardens.
Oxford is second only to Cambridge in the popularity of cycling.
22% of Oxford’s residents ride three or more times per week.
9. Books, Books, and more Books
The University of Oxford maintains the largest university library system in the UK.
With over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library.
Entitled to a free copy of every book published in the UK, the Bodleian is growing its collection at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year.
Visitors can take a guided tour of the Old Bodleian Library to see inside its historic rooms, including the 15th-century Divinity School, medieval Duke Humfrey’s Library, and the Radcliffe Camera.
Designed by James Gibbs in the neo-classical style and built in 1737–49, the Radcliffe Camera (Camera, meaning “room” in Latin; colloquially, “Rad Cam” or “The Camera”) was built to house the Radcliffe Science Library.
Book lovers, be warned—you might be here a long time.
Blackwell’s Bookshop has the largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe—the cavernous 10,000 sq ft Norrington Room.
10. Literature and Film
Oxford was mentioned in fiction as early as 1400 when Chaucer referred to a “Clerk of Oxenford” in his Canterbury Tales.
Oxford University’s hallowed halls have been a source of inspiration for several authors of classic children’s literature.
It was July of 1862 and a slightly eccentric young man named Charles Dodgson rowed up the river Thames with a colleague and the three daughters of the Dean of Christ Church college where Dodgson taught mathematics.
Better known today as Lewis Carroll, the young man told a story to keep the children amused during the five-mile journey to Godstow.
Star of the adventure was Alice Liddell, the ten-year-old middle sister, who, as Dodgson began, had followed a rabbit down a hole.
Much inspiration for Dodgson’s story came from Christ Church.
The long-necked “firedogs” that held the logs in the fireplace gave him the idea for Alice’s neck to stretch.
When Alice Liddell’s father, the dean, descended a narrow spiral staircase, it reminded him of a rabbit disappearing down a hole.
And a cat perched on a mulberry tree outside the library was the inspiration for the Cheshire cat.
Studying English Literature at Oxford University when World War One broke out, J. R. R. Tolkien finished his degree before enlisting in the Oxford University Officer’s Training Corps.
It was the experience at the Battle of the Somme, where one million men were wounded or killed, that helped him describe the evil barren landscape crossed by the hobbits on their way to Mordor.
Here nothing lived, not even the leprous growths that feed on rottenness. The gasping pools were choked with ash and crawling muds, sickly white and grey, as if the mountains had vomited the filth of their entrails on the lands about.J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Christ Church college’s dining hall was used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
The “Inspector Morse” and “Lewis” TV series were both set in Oxford as were “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh and the trilogy “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman.
Once an important working market and the backdrop for the musical My Fair Lady, Covent Garden today is one of London’s biggest tourist magnets, attracting over 44 million visitors annually.
Here are 10 fascinating facts about this historic area of London.
1. Covent Garden was once the bustling center of an Anglo-Saxon trading town
Established about a mile to the west of Londinium—the old Roman settlement now known as the City of London or “the Square Mile”—was a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon trading town called Lundenwic, centered around the area that is now Covent Garden.
Described by the English monk, Bede the Venerable, in the 8th century as “a trading centre for many nations who visit it by land and sea”, the Old English term -wic derived from the Latin word vicus for “trading town”—so Lundenwic meant “London trading town”.
During Viking invasions in the 9th century, the Danish “Great Heathen Army” sacked Londinium and held it until 886 when Alfred the Great, “King of the Anglo-Saxons”, recaptured it and repaired the Roman walls.
As trading shifted to Londinium once more, Lundenwic was abandoned and became a wasteland.
Lundenwic became known as Ealdwic, meaning “old trading town”.
Recent excavations in Covent Garden have revealed that the early Anglo-Saxon settlement once stretched from where the National Gallery is now to the area called Aldwych—some 150 acres.
2. Covent Garden derives its name from the French word couvent meaning Convent
“Covent Garden” is essentially a corruption of “Convent Garden” using the French couvent derivation as opposed to the Latin conventus.
Couvent means a religious building such as a nunnery or monastery.
By the 13th century, most of the present Covent Garden area was land belonging to Westminster Abbey which included a walled vegetable garden tended by the monks.
3. Henry VIII seized the lands of Covent Garden and gave them to a friend
Dissolving the monasteries in the 16th century gave King Henry VIII plenty of new lands, including those formerly owned by Westminster Abbey.
Covent Garden was given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford.
Sitting idly by for over 100 years in the family estate, it wasn’t until Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford had the bright idea to build a house on the land, that the Covent Garden we know today got its start.
Two of the area’s street names—Russell Street and Bedford Street—commemorate the family’s involvement in Covent Garden’s beginnings.
4. Covent Garden was designed by Royal Architect Inigo Jones
Commissioning Inigo Jones to build a square “fit for Gentlemen with ability”, the Earl of Bedford also asked Jones to build a church—St Paul’s—for his aristocratic clientele.
Inigo Jones is considered to have been the first significant architect of the early modern period.
To keep costs down for the church, the Earl requested nothing more extravagant than a barn.
“You shall have the finest barn in London”, replied Jones.
The porticoed St Paul’s Church has sat proudly overlooking the piazza to this day.
Influenced by the grand piazza’s of Europe, Covent Garden’s piazza was originally bounded by “portico houses” on its north and east sides with continuous arcades running underneath, creating a passageway reminiscent of the Place des Vosges in Paris.
Known as the Great Piazza and the Little Piazza respectively, the houses sold quickly to aristocrats and court society.
Influencing the overall design of Covent Garden was Inigo Jones’s knowledge of town planning in Europe, particularly the Grand Piazza in Livorno, Tuscany.
Setting up stalls against the garden wall of Bedford House, the early market traders served mostly wealthy tenants.
Wooden rails were erected around the piazza and traders with baskets, trestles and carts congregated on the south side outside the rails.
After the Great Fire of London in 1666, scores of Londoners left the City and descended on Covent Garden.
Dozens of traders hawking fruit and vegetables became an established feature of Covent Garden.
Granted a Royal Charter in 1670, the Earl of Bedford sought to regulate the market’s spread.
And in 1830, his descendant John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, commissioned English architect Charles Fowler to build a neo-classical market building that remains at the heart of Covent Garden today.
7. Covent Garden was an 18th-century red-light district
Published from 1757 to 1795, Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies was an annual directory of prostitutes working in and around Covent Garden.
In lurid detail, the pocketbook described the physical appearance of the Covent Garden Ladies and their sexual specialties.
Miss B of Old Compton is described as:
a mistress of every Manoeuvre in the amorous contest that can enhance the coming pleasure. In bed she is all the heart can wish, or eye admire, every limb is symmetry, every action under cover truly amorous; her price is two pounds two.
Miss R from Rathbone Place:
pleasing, though fond, and can make wantonness delightful; every part assists to bring on the momentary delirium, and then each part combines to raise up the fallen member, to contribute again to repeated rapture; her price is commonly two guineas.
Kitty Fisher and Fanny Murray were two high-class courtesans.
Connections in high places had their advantages.
Famed prostitute Betsy Cox was refused entry to a gathering of polite society at the newly opened Pantheon assembly rooms.
But the Duke of Fife came to her aid, drawing his sword to enforce her entry.
8. Both the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane are said to be haunted
During construction work in 1999, workers were struck by flying debris.
Bits of brick and metal would be flung at them throughout the day.
Since security was so tight, it was thought almost impossible to be someone who walked in from the street.
Could the work have awoken the resident poltergeist?
Paranormal expert Tom Ogden calls the Theatre Royal one of the world’s most haunted theatres.
Frequenting the theatre, the appearance of any one of its ghosts is said to signal good luck for the actors or production.
According to legend, a famous ghost called the “Man in Grey” was an 18th-century nobleman who was stabbed to death in the theatre, his skeletal remains having been found in a walled-up passage in 1848.
He wears a cape, a tricorne hat, riding boots, and a sword and is often seen in the upper circle moving along the rear gangway near the royal box where the remains were discovered.
Could the spirits of patrons past still visit the theatre?
Or could it be Mr Bean who just got lost on his way to the restrooms?
9. Covent Garden has over 60 pubs and bars
There’s no shortage of liquid refreshment to accompany the cultural entertainments in Covent Garden.
Listed as historically important buildings, several pubs will transport you back in time.
With a reputation as the oldest pub in the area, the Lamb and Flag will take you back to a time of bare-knuckle prize fights in the early 19th century.
So gruesome were these gladiatorial clashes that the pub earned the nickname “Bucket of Blood”.
The Freemasons Arms on Long Acre is linked with the founding of the Football Association in 1896.
Charles Darwin attended the annual meeting of the Philoperisteron Society for pigeon fanciers here on 8 January 1856 and became a member later that year.
10. Covent Garden street performers run shows every day of the year except Christmas Day
Street performances have long been a tradition at Covent Garden.
17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys recorded the first mention of a Punch and Judy show in Britain.
Licensed for street entertainment, performers audition for timetabled slots in a number of venues around Covent Garden, including the North Hall, West Piazza, and South Hall Courtyard.
“Market town” is a term originating from the Middle Ages for a settlement that has the right to host markets.
Performing an important role for the community, market towns acted as centres of trade for regional farms and villages where goods and services were exchanged.
During more recent times, market towns have become desirable places to live for the well-heeled thanks to their historic significance and overall quaintness.
Here are 10 beautiful English market towns, each set in a different county, and each providing a perfect day trip or a weekend getaway.
1. Dorchester, Dorset
A historic market town, Dorchester sits on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs.
Pathways around the town known as “The Walks” follow the remains of ancient Roman Walls and the museum contains many artifacts from Roman finds.
The Romans named the settlement Durnovaria, and by the 9th century, Saxons calling themselves Dorsaetas, meaning “People of the Dor”, dominated the area.
By the 17th century, the town was at the heart of Puritan emigration to America. Local rector John White organized the colonization of a settlement of the same name—Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Thomas Hardy’s novel “The Mayor of Casterbridge” is set in Dorchester, with his childhood home just to the east of the town.
2. Downham Market, Norfolk
Lying on the edge of the once marshy region known as the Fens and on the banks of the River Great Ouse, Downham Market is about 30 miles north of Cambridge.
During the Middle ages, Downham Market was famous for its butter market and horse fair.
King Charles I hid in the town after the disastrous Battle of Naseby during the English Civil War (1642 – 1646), where the New Model Army of the Parliamentarians almost wiped out the Royalist force, inflicting 6,000 casualties out of 7,400.
Buildings of note are the medieval parish church and the Victorian clock tower, dating from 1878.
3. Faversham, Kent
Head towards Canterbury from London and after 48 miles you’ll find Faversham, a beautiful market town next to the Swale—a strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey.
Latin and Old English in origin, the name Faversham means “the metal-worker’s village”, indicating it’s importance as a local centre of trade.
Nearby is an ancient British trackway known as Watling Street, which was used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons.
Watling Street was the site of Boudica’s defeat by the Romans and the southwestern border of the Danelaw.
Settled since pre-Roman times, Faversham was mentioned in the Domesday Book—a “Great Survey” of England and parts of Wales ordered by William the Conqueror.
4. Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Henley-on-Thames is a market town on the River Thames in Oxfordshire.
King Henry II bought some land in 1179 and by 1278, the town was described as a hamlet with a chapel.
Granted by a charter of King John, who signed the Magna Carta (a medieval “sacred text’ that was an early precursor to the constitution of the United Kingdom), the Thursday market is thought to have been in existence since 1269.
Henley is a world-renowned centre for rowing. Each summer the Henley Royal Regatta is held on Henley Reach, a naturally straight stretch of the river just north of the town. The event became “Royal” in 1851, with the patronage of Prince Albert.
5. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
Hitchin is a market town first mentioned in a 7th-century document called the “Tribal Hidage” which lists 35 tribes of Anglo-Saxons.
In 673, the Archbishop of Canterbury Theodore of Tarsus, is said to have chosen Hitchen for the “Councils of Clovesho” where Anglo-Saxon kings, bishops, abbots, and nobles met to decide important issues for Christianity in England.
The name “Hitchen” is associated with the River Hiz that runs through the town and was at one time pronounced “River Hitch”, although today pronounced exactly as it’s spelled.
Prospering from the wool trade, the town built the largest church in Hertfordshire—St Mary’s Church. Apart from the tower, which dates from 1190, most of the church was built in the 14th and 15th centuries.
6. Keswick, Cumbria
Keswick is an English market town situated in the Lake District National Park.
King Edward I granted a charter for Keswick’s market in 1276 and it has been running continuously ever since.
First recorded as “Kesewik”, it is thought the Old English name means “farm where cheese was made”.
Although in Tudor times. Keswick was an important mining centre, since the 18th century, tourism has been the biggest industry.
English poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey together with William Wordsworth from nearby Grasmere helped popularize the scenic beauty of the area.
7. Ledbury, Herefordshire
Ledbury is a market town in Herefordshire, lying west of the Malvern Hills.
Although the Market Place was established as early as 1122, the Tudor timber-framed Market House was built much later in 1617.
Raised on 16 pillars, the upper floor of the two-storey building is thought to have been used for storing corn, wool, hops, and acorns for the tanning of animal hides.
Ledbury itself dates from about 69 AD and was recorded in the Domesday Book as “Liedeberge”, taking its name from the River Leadon and the Old English “burg”, meaning fortified or defended site.
Ledbury was the birthplace of poet laureate John Masefield and poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
William Wordsworth wrote of Ledbury in his sonnet “St Catherine of Ledbury”
“WHEN human touch (as monkish books attest) Nor was applied nor could be, Ledbury bells Broke forth in concert flung adown the dells, And upward, high as Malvern’s cloudy crest; Sweet tones, and caught by a noble lady blest”
Legend has it that Saint Catherine had a mare and colt stolen from her and saw their hoofprints in the bed of a nearby brook. Following the footprints the horses were safely recovered and the thieves punished by being petrified as “Hoar Stone”. At one time locals made fake hoofprints as souvenirs for visitors.
8. Market Harborough, Leicestershire
Market Harborough is situated on land that was once a medieval royal hunting forest.
The old market was run from the open ground floor of a small timber building dating from 1614, the upper floor of which was the Old Grammar School.
Founded by the Saxons between 410 and 1066, Market Harborough was originally known as “hæfera-beorg” meaning “oat hill”.
Established in 1204, the market has been held every Tuesday since 1221.
During the English Civil War, Market Harborough acted as the King’s headquarters from where he planned the ill-fated Battle of Naseby.
In 1841, a cabinet maker named Thomas Cook walked from Market Harborough to Leicester to attend a meeting of the Temperance Society.
During his walk, he had the idea to organize excursions on the newly opened rail line.
A pioneer in the tourism industry, he would later found the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son.
9. Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a historic market town spanning the River Kennet in Berkshire—located about halfway between the cities of Oxford and Winchester.
Featuring a rare medieval Cloth Hall and half-timbered granary, it has a wealth of 17th- and 18th-century buildings of special historic interest.
Founded in the 11th century following the Norman conquest, Newbury became an important centre for the cloth trade.
John Winchcombe, nicknamed “Jack O’Newbury”—one of the richest and most influential cloth merchants of the 16th century—resided in Newbury and is thought to have owned England’s first factory.
The famous tale of the “Newbury Coat” tells of a bet that a gentleman’s suit could be made in a single day, starting with the shearing of the sheep in the morning.
Newbury lies on the edge of the picturesque Berkshire Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty and is also famous for horse racing, with events having run since 1805.
10. Oswestry, Shropshire
Oswestry is the largest market town in Shropshire and close to the Welsh border.
With a story dating back some 3000 years, Old Oswestry has one of Britain’s best preserved Iron Age hill forts.
It is sometimes called Caer Ogyrfan, meaning The City of Gogyrfan, the father of Guinevere, wife of the legendary King Arthur.
Legend has it that in 642, two Anglo-Saxon kings fought at the Battle of Maserfield. One of the kings—Oswald of Northumbria—was killed and dismembered. A raven carried one of his arms to an ash tree where miracles were said to have been performed since Oswald was considered a saint.
And so “Oswald’s Tree” is thought to be the origin of the name Oswestry.
The right to hold a market each Wednesday was granted in 1190 and saw an influx of Welsh farmers, with many townsfolk becoming bilingual.
Towns and cities were often sited on rivers. Besides providing fresh water for drinking and irrigation, rivers provided a convenient means of transport and created natural boundaries and defenses.
Britain has many examples of beautiful towns and cities built around rivers. Some even have their own medieval castles.
In the 2nd century AD, the great Hellenistic writer Ptolemy described a river that ran through the steep vale of the South Downs of Provincia Britannia (Roman Britain) as Trisantonis, from an ancient Celtic language meaning “the trespasser”.
He was alluding to the river’s propensity to flood its lower reaches close to the sea. But in its upper reaches, it flowed quickly, and smoothly, and locals called it Arno meaning “run”.
And so it is believed that the town of Arundel means “dell of the flowing river”.
Arundel is home to the Dukedom of Norfolk—the premier Dukedom in the peerage of England. As such, the Duke is also the Earl of Arundel, the premier Earl. As if that wasn’t enough greatness for a single peer, he is also the hereditary Marshal of England—the Earl Marshal, a chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom.
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle is the Duke of Norfolk’s home. Although the title refers to the county of Norfolk, Arundel is in West Sussex.
As the first Norman King of England, following the successful invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror set about dividing up the country among his Norman magnates.
Roger de Montgomery, a cousin and top lieutenant of King William, was declared first Earl of Arundel and established Arundel Castle, high on a hill, on Christmas Day of 1067.
And so began nearly 1000 years of history, with Arundel Castle handed down through successive generations of noble families, and sometimes reverting back to the crown.
The current owners are the Fitzalan-Howard family, 18th generation of the Dukedom of Norfolk—and they actually live at the castle.
Fitzalan Chapel
14th-century St Nicholas Church sits on the western grounds of Arundel Castle and is one of only a few churches that is divided into areas of Catholic and Anglican worship.
Its Catholic chapel is a private mausoleum of the Dukes of Norfolk and their families.
For nobles of high birth, it was common practice to place a recumbent effigy on top of their tomb.
A husband and wife were often depicted together, side by side in a state of eternal repose, awaiting resurrection.
There was also a period when cadaver tombs displayed the life-sized effigy of the person, as they were just before death, above a rotting cadaver in the macabre state of decomposition.
Arundel Cathedral
Suppressed from worship in 1664, the Roman Catholic Dukes of Norfolk could no longer attend a religious service in a Catholic church or cathedral until the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.
In 1868, the Duke of Norfolk commissioned a new Roman Catholic sanctuary in celebration of the 1850 restoration of Catholic hierarchy in England.
Complementing Arundel Castle’s medieval architecture, he chose the French Gothic style, which was popular between 1300 and 1400 at a time when the Dukes of Norfolk rose to prominence in England.
Arundel Cathedral is regarded as one of the finest examples of French Gothic Revival architecture in the country.
Arundel Town and Environs
Arundel’s pretty High Street rises up the hill towards the castle, it’s side walks lined with traditional shops and restaurants. There’s an old-fashioned butcher, a greengrocer, a second-hand bookstore, and even a shop specializing in walking sticks.
There’s nothing quite like enjoying your favorite beverage in a pub with centuries of history. Arundel has more than its fair share.
The Duke of Norfolk built the Norfolk Arms in 1785. Fashionable visitors from Brighton stayed there and by the early 1800s, it was the chief coaching inn of the town. The room over the entrance archway could accommodate 150 people for dinner.
The Swan Hotel is recorded as far back as 1759 and was a favorite for carriers. Both it and the Red Lion—possibly built as early as 1658—catered to the new pastime of cycling in the late 19th century. St. Mary’s Gate Inn dates from the early 1800s and had its own bowling green at that time.
Passing through Arundel is a long-distance footpath that approximates the route taken by King Charles II when he was on the run after being defeated at the Battle of Worcester by Oliver Cromwell’s “New Model Army”.
Without reservation, the answer is To Be, for Stratford-upon-Avon is not only the birthplace of Shakespeare—the greatest playwright of all time—but a beautiful medieval market town with lots to see and do.
Here are 10 of the best.
1. Shakespeare’s Birthplace
Described as “a Mecca for all lovers of literature”, this restored 16th-century half-timbered house on Henley Street is where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his formative years.
Considered a substantial dwelling for the time, it was divided into two parts: living accommodations and a separate area for Shakespeare’s father to conduct his business as glove maker and wool dealer.
Over the centuries, changes were made to the original façade, and so in 1847, with the aid of luminaries like Charles Dickens, the house was purchased and restored to its original 16th-century appearance.
At the back of the house, the walled garden has been specially planted with flowers and herbs known to be from Shakespeare’s time.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.William Shakespeare
2. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
About one mile west of Stratford-upon-Avon sits a beautiful 12-roomed farmhouse where Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, spend her childhood.
Known as Hewlands Farm in the 16th century, it had more than 90 acres of land and is about three times the size of a typical cottage.
Included in the rare animal breeds kept at the farm are Mangalitza and Tamworth pigs, Cotswold sheep, Long Horn cattle, Baggot and Golden Guernsey goats, geese, and even a Hooded Vulture.
4. Hall’s Croft
Housing a collection of 16th- and 17th-century paintings and furniture, Hall’s Croft was once the home of William Shakespeare’s daughter, Susanna Hall, and her husband Dr John Hall.
The impressive walled garden contains plants that Dr Hall may have used in his obscure medical practices—about which there are further exhibits inside the house.
5. Holy Trinity Church
Known as the place of baptism (1564) and burial (1616) of William Shakespeare, Holy Trinity Church is Stratford-upon-Avon’s oldest building, dating from 1210.
Buried next to him are his wife Anne Hathaway and eldest daughter Susanna.
Just one month before Shakespeare’s death, his son-in-law was found guilty of fathering an illegitimate son by a woman who died in childbirth. The shame of such an incident would have brought great distress to the family and may have hastened William Shakespeare’s demise.
In modern English, the inscription reads:
Good friend for Jesus sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
6. Nash’s House and New Place
Converted into a museum that traces the history of Stratford-upon-Avon from the earliest known records, Nash’s House on Chapel Street sits next to the ruins and gardens of Shakespeare’s last residence, known as New Place.
Shakespeare died at New Place in 1616, leaving the house to his daughter, Susanna, who moved in with her husband Dr John Hall.
7. Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Home to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the recently redeveloped theatre complex sits on the banks of the River Avon and is dedicated to the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Going back to its roots, the “one-room” theatre brings actors and audience closer together, with a stage that reaches out into an audience on three sides—creating a more personal, traditional Shakespearean theatre experience.
The redeveloped theatre takes design inspiration from the first Victorian memorial theatre complex, with the observation tower providing the same commanding views of the River Avon and environs.
8. Walking the beautiful Tudor-lined streets
The name Stratford derives from a combination of the Old English strÇ£t, meaning “street”, and ford, where a road forded the river Avon.
As you walk Stratford-upon-Avon’s streets, you are immersed in the timber-framed Tudor architecture of Shakespeare’s era.
Until around the late 19th century, sheep from the nearby Cotswold Hills were brought to slaughter in Sheep Street.
One of the oldest buildings in Stratford-upon-Avon, a resident of Shrieves House on Sheep Street (below) is said to have been the inspiration for the character Sir John Falstaff—appearing in three of Shakespeare’s plays.
Military and political leader Oliver Cromwell, who beheaded King Charles I of England, is thought to have stayed here in 1651.
Just off Sheep Street is Shrieves walk, a very quaint walkway with several small independent stores, including a Vintage Clothing shop.
From “hop-on hop-off” open top buses, to relaxing canal and river cruises, there are lots of ways to see and experience Stratford-upon-Avon’s many delights.
Centrally located between the main shopping streets and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is Stratford Canal Basin, a bustling mooring center for Canal and River tours.
Whether you prefer a leisurely 45-minute cruise or lunch, dinner, or cream tea aboard the “Countess of Evesham” luxury restaurant cruiser, you’ll find it here, along with a large selection of snack and ice-cream vendors.
10. Pubs, Restaurants, and Hotels
Whether you prefer cozy pubs with a fireplace or the opulence of a Victorian mansion, Stratford-upon-Avon has a wealth of options for accommodations and dining.
Garrick Inn is reputedly the oldest pub in town. Although the precise date of construction is not known, it is considered to be built in the late 16th century, with parts dating back to the 1300s.
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew Stratford. A place of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. Alas, can it be time to leave already?
If you’ve decided on a trip to England for your next vacation, after you’ve enjoyed the bright lights of London, with all its glamour, sophistication and culture, one of the best places to slow-it-down and experience the quintessential English countryside is the Cotswolds.
Continue reading …
The Cotswolds is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) by the government, which provides the same level of protection from development as the UK’s national parks. And it’s not difficult to see why this area is protected—gently rolling hills and meadows dotted with honey-colored stone-built historic villages, towns, country houses, and gardens.
There are many, many places to visit, but here are a few we visit on our journey through the Cotswolds.
One essential piece of equipment will be your camera because when you visit, you will want to capture the memories of this beautiful place forever.
Here are 7 reasons why you’ll fall in love with the Cotswolds.
1. The beauty will astound you
2. The buildings are made from the gorgeous honey-coloured local stone
Rich in fossils and dating from the Jurrasic period, the yellowish limestone of the Cotswolds varies in color from honey in the north to golden in central and southern parts and almost pearl-colored in the city of Bath.
The color takes on an especially warm hue as it reflects the afternoon sunlight.
3. The Cotswolds is steeped in history
Dating from the 14th century, Chipping Campden was once a thriving market town made rich from the wool trade.
Under these arches and on this cobbled floor, 17th-century wool merchants would ply their trade.
Built in 1627, the Market Hall was donated to the village by Viscount Campden.
Standing 65 ft (20 m) tall, the Broadway Tower has a commanding view as the second-highest point in the Cotswold hills.
Built for Lady Coventry in 1799, the “Saxon” folly was the inspiration of Capability Brown—”England’s greatest gardener”—who wanted to answer a whimsical question from Lady Coventry: if a beacon tower were built here, could she see it from her house 22 miles away? Lady Coventry was so intrigued, she sponsored the construction.
Even buildings in the high streets of dozens of small Cotswold towns hold stories from centuries past.
Below, a rider passes in front of the Lygon Arms hotel in Broadway. Once called the White Hart Inn, Oliver Cromwell stayed here on 2nd September 1651, the night before the Battle of Worcester—the final and decisive battle of the English Civil War, fought between King Charles I’s royalist “Cavaliers” and Parliament’s “Roundheads”.
4. The Cotswolds is a garden lover’s dream
For gardening fans, there are several famous and historic gardens.
Hidcote Manor Garden at Kiftsgate is owned and managed by the National Trust and open to the public.
Property owners love their gardens and it’s common to see flowers used as creative decoration to adorn front doors.
5. It’s like stepping back in time
Dreaming of a bygone era? Look no further than the Cotswolds where good old-fashioned values take prominence over progress.
6. Shops, pubs, tea rooms, and restaurants abound
The Cotswolds is a place where villages still have a greengrocer on the corner and local residents walk the dog to fetch a morning newspaper, stopping along the way to chat with neighbors.
Whatever time of year you visit, the Cotswolds will delight and surprise. Enjoy fine dining or a beverage (or two) by a cozy fireplace.
7. There are public footpaths and cycle paths everywhere
Up until the early 19th century, thatching was the only style of roofing available for most people living in the English countryside.
From about 1820, Welsh slate started to replace thatch as the roofing material of choice and the canals and later railways made it easier and cheaper to transport to remoter areas of England.
By the late 1800s, thatch became a sign of poverty as mechanization replaced agricultural jobs and people migrated to cities to work in factories.
Over the last 30 years, there has been a resurgence of interest in historic building preservation and thatch is now a symbol of wealth.
Join us as we take a look at some beautiful thatched cottages from the counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, and Gloucestershire.
Hampshire
Hampshire is the 3rd largest “shire” county in the UK. It has two national parks: the New Forest and the South Downs.
William the Conqueror created the New Forest as his personal hunting ground, evicting many poor peasant families from their homes in the process.
Two of his sons died in the forest, including his successor, King William II (William Rufus), who was struck by an arrow in mysterious circumstances. According to local folklore, this was an ‘act of God’ as punishment for his mistreatment of the area’s inhabitants.
You can visit the place where the king fell, called the Rufus Stone. The inscription reads:
Hampshire is famous for other other reasons too. Jane Austen and Charles Dickens both grew up here, as did one of the most prominent figures of the industrial revolution—Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
If you reside in New Hampshire, or Southampton or Portsmouth, Virginia, in the United States, you may be interested to know that some of the earliest Jamestown settlers hailed from Hampshire, England and named places after their old English home towns of Southampton and Portsmouth.
Wiltshire
The home of Stonehenge, the medieval Salisbury Cathedral, and Longleat and Stourhead country houses, Wiltshire has much to offer residents and tourists alike.
Largely agricultural, 390 mills, and even vineyards, are mentioned in the Domesday Book—William the Conqueror’s “Great Survey” in 1086.
Prized for its wool in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Cistercian monasteries of Wiltshire supplied Florentine and Flemish markets.
Two thirds of the county lies on chalk, and has several white horses carved into the Wiltshire hillsides.
Claimed to commemorate King Alfred, who was born in the Vale of White Horse, according to legend, the first Anglo-Saxon invaders into England fought under a white horse standard.
Dorset
With a long history of settlement dating back to the Neolithic era, Dorset is no stranger to invaders, with Romans conquering the Celts, and the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles in the 8th century.
Invaders of a different kind entered England in 1348 by way of flea-ridden rats carrying the Black Death at the Dorset coastal town of Melcombe Regis.
No wonder it was favored by invaders—over half of Dorset is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and three-quarters of its coastline is a World Heritage Site.
Gloucestershire
Comprising part of “The Cotswolds”—an area of gently rolling hills with golden-colored stone-built villages, historic towns and stately homes and gardens—Gloucestershire is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle—a year by year historical record of life in 10th century England.
The county is steeped in historic buildings from medieval Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey and the church at Cirencester, to the Tudor Thornbury Castle which was thought so grand that it roused the jealously of a very powerful man—Cardinal Wolsey, who promptly beheaded its builder, the Duke of Buckingham, for alleged treason.
Hope you enjoyed the guided tour of some of England’s loveliest areas and their beautiful thatched cottages.
Do you like human history? How about art and culture? Variety? London?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then we can heartily recommend the British Museum as a place you will find hours of pleasure.
Don’t have time to visit? Too far away?
Fret not, dear reader, because we are going on a virtual tour without leaving our seats.
By clicking on the “Google Street View” links at the end of each section, we can go inside the British Museum and get a good look at these exhibits as though we were actually there. Amazing!
10 of the best things to see at the British Museum (from your favorite armchair).
1. The Sutton Hoo Treasures
Sutton Hoo is a fascinating archaeological site located near Woodbridge, Suffolk
The burial is believed to be of a high-ranking figure, possibly even a king, from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles—a tribe originating from Angeln in Germany—now an area called East Anglia (shown in re. The artifacts provide valuable insights into their beliefs, customs, and social structure.
The cemeteries were in use at a time when Rædwald, the ruler of the East Angles, held sway among the English people and played an important role in establishing Christian rule in England. It was a time when myths and legends melded with the historical record.
The site has been vital in understanding the early Anglo-Saxon period.
2. The Rosetta Stone
To appreciate the significance of the Rosetta Stone, we need to understand how difficult it was to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs without it. For about 1400 years, from the time hieroglyphs ceased to be used until the 1820s, they were a complete mystery.
The key to the mystery lay in three versions of the same text that are inscribed on the stone’s surface. The upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest is Ancient Greek.
By transcribing between the alphabets, French scholar Jean-François Champollion was able to unlock the secrets of the Ancient Egyptians.
The story of the Rosetta Stone’s discovery is almost as interesting as the stone itself. In 1799, one of Napoleon’s soldiers found it while on the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt. But just two years later, British forces defeated the French in Egypt and took the stone back to England. It is now the most-visited object in the museum.
3. The Hinton St Mary Mosaic
Thought to be one of the oldest known representations of Jesus Christ, the Hinton St Mary Mosaic is a large Roman mosaic named after the village where it was discovered in Dorset, England.
Christ is portrayed as clean-shaven with the letters chi (X) and rho (P) behind his head—the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ “Christos”.
Britain was a far-flung province of the Roman Empire at the time Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in AD 312. The mosaic was found in the dining room or house-church of a villa belonging to a Roman aristocrat.
4. The Parthenon Sculptures
Originally part of the temple of Parthenon in the Acropolis of Athens, Greece, the marble sculptures were brought to Britain by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin in 1816 under a controversial royal decree from the Ottoman Empire that had ruled Greece since 1460.
While some supported the move, cultural leading figure and poet Lord Byron disapproved, likening the removal of the sculptures to vandalism or looting.
In 2014, the Greek government urged Britain to return the sculptures as part of its efforts to restore one of the world’s greatest cultural monuments. But Professor of Law and Art at Stanford University, John Merryman argued that the sculptures were obtained legally, adding that the Ottoman sultan had no interest in the Parthenon and permission to remove the sculptures was also a token of gratitude to the British for checking Napoleon’s expansion in the region.
5. The Bust of Ramesses (The Younger Memnon)
Ramesses II, renowned as Ramesses the Great, stands as an iconic figure in ancient Egyptian history, often hailed as the most formidable pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire.
Ascending to the throne during his youth, Ramesses orchestrated triumphant military expeditions that reinstated Egyptian dominance in Canaan, encompassing present-day Israel and Lebanon. His rule endured an astonishing span, reaching the remarkable age of approximately 91 years.
Picture the grandeur of his army, a formidable force of 100,000 soldiers, their chariots gleaming under the scorching Egyptian sun. Ramesses’ vision extended beyond military conquests; he embarked on ambitious construction projects of monumental proportions, mobilizing the populace to reshape the landscape of Egypt.
His unwavering commitment to leaving an indelible legacy ensured that his colossal structures and accomplishments would transcend time, solidifying his status as a pharaoh of unparalleled significance in the annals of Egyptian civilization.
6. Easter Island statue
The Easter Island statue at the British Museum has been described as “the finest example of Easter Island sculpture”.
At the time it was removed, it was identified by islanders as being of Hoa Hakananai’a, meaning “stolen or hidden friend” in Polynesian.
Made from a block of flow lava, Hoa Hakananai’a’s blocky face with prominent nose and heavy brow watched over an extinct volcano, with his back to the sea.
Found in 1868 by the Royal Navy, the statue was offered as a gift to Queen Victoria, who proposed it should be given to the British Museum.
7. Samurai Armor
From a country that was never invaded came the lightest, strongest, and most lethal weapon in the world—the samurai sword.
An equal, if not greater, level of sophistication and precision was required to protect samurai against such a cutting weapon. In addition to swordsmanship, samurai practiced archery on horseback and needed very lightweight armour that allowed for freedom of movement.
Samurai armour was made from leather and iron scales, connected together with leather and silk lace. Specific patterns and colors of silk thread would identify noble families, but could take many months to complete just one suit of armour.
Even as the 16th century introduced firearms from Portugal, Japanese armour makers were able to make bullet-proof armour using a combination of iron and steel plates.
8. Jade terrapin from India’s Mughal court
Carved from a single piece of jade and weighing 90 lbs (41kg), the Jade Terrapin from Allahabad dates from the early 17th century Mughal Empire.
Covering vast areas of the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan, the Mughal Empire was best known for Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, who constructed the Taj Mahal at Agra as well as several other monuments.
Shah Jahan’s predecessor was Jahangir, who had the jade terrapin carved as a decorative ornament for the landscaped pools of his palace gardens at Allahabad.
Discovered by accident in 1803 during engineering work, it’s historical value was immediately recognized and it was shipped to England and later bequeathed to the British Museum in 1830.
In Ancient Egypt, meticulous care of the deceased was imperative, driven by the belief in appeasing Osiris and ensuring a prosperous afterlife. Over four millennia, the mummification process underwent minimal evolution. Removal of perishable organs and desiccation of the corpse were standard procedures. The brain, liquefied and drained through the nose, showcased the meticulous nature of the process. Filling the abdominal cavity with aromatic herbs, dehydrating with salt, and wrapping the body in bandages soaked in waterproof and antimicrobial gum culminated in the preservation of the deceased.
The British Museum houses a significant collection of 120 mummies, offering a profound glimpse into the ancient Egyptian rituals surrounding death and the afterlife.
10. The Mechanical Galleon
The Mechanical Galleon is a clockwork automated table ornament in the shape of a ship.
Made by Hans Schlottheim (1545–1625), a goldsmith and clockmaker from Augsberg Germany, the mechanical galleon had moving figures and played music. Seven figures were made to walk before the seated Holy Roman Emperor as trumpets blared, and the cannons could even produce smoke.
Clockwork was a novelty in the 16th century and the Mechanical Galleon might have entertained guests at imperial banquets—its three clockwork mechanisms driving its movement across a table, guns blazing and trumpets blowing.
Nestled in the picturesque Avon Valley surrounded by gently rolling hills, Bath is a World Heritage city with elegant neoclassical buildings blending harmoniously with Roman baths.
Here are 10 of the best things to see and do in Bath.
1. Bath Abbey
Founded in the 7th century, Bath Abbey is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic
architecture in the West Country.
The abbey is a Grade I listed building, which means it’s listed by the statutory body “Historic England” as being of exceptional historic and architectural interest.
Of particular note are the fan vaulting and stained glass. Beautifully bright inside, windows cover 80% of the wall area.
2. Roman Baths and Grand Pump Room
One of the finest historic sites in Northern Europe, the Roman Baths is a bathing complex around the source of three natural hot springs. 257,000 gallons (1.2M litres) of water at 115°F (46°C) rises from a geological fault every day.
There are four main things to see: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and a Museum of Roman artifacts.
You can even taste the water in the Grand Pump Room—a Georgian-era Grade I listed building made from the honey-colored stone that gives Bath its distinctive character.
The Pump Room was featured in Jane Austen novels, including Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
It has an elegant restaurant which is very popular for afternoon tea.
3. Pulteney Bridge
Completed in 1774 in a Palladian style, the bridge spans the River Avon and is one of only four bridges in the world to have shops on both sides of its entire length.
The bridge is named after Frances Pulteney, wife of wealthy Scottish lawyer and Member of Parliament William Johnstone.
Take a virtual walk across the bridge and do some window shopping.
4. Royal Crescent and the Circus
Georgian architecture is characterized by grand tall houses with symmetrical facades and box sash windows.
The Royal Crescent is a superb example of this classic Georgian style, forming a sweeping crescent of 30 elegant terraced houses—the same today as it was in 1780.
No. 1 Royal Crescent is a museum—a must see for anyone interested in how the wealthy furnished their homes in the late 18th century.
Following the same theme is “The Circus”—a complete ring of Georgian townhouses.
Composed of three equal segments, it is divided in such a way that whichever road you approach on, you are presented with a glorious Georgian facade.
5. Bath Street
Another must see for lovers of architecture is Bath Street.
Built in 1791, the 2-story buildings have French-influenced Mansard roofs, pedimented windows, and decorative friezes. The two upper floors overhang the lower, supported by rows of white pillars and providing an attractive covered walkway.
6. Jane Austen Centre
Fans of Jane Austen will appreciate the writer’s home museum—the Jane Austen Centre—representing her life in Bath and how it affected her writing.
The showpiece of the centre is a life-size wax model of Jane Austen that took three years of painstaking research to create.
The Jane Austen Centre also has a tearoom. With a “Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence” award, the Regency Tea Room has a period atmosphere and serves loose-leaf tea, coffees, and Belgian hot chocolate, in addition to soups, cakes, and toasties.
7. The Bath Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum
Where did the nobility, socialites and celebrities like Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens go to mingle, to see and be seen in Bath society? They went to the Assembly Rooms—an elegant venue for balls, concerts, and even gambling.
This was the place for well-to-do mothers and chaperones to bring their daughters for the social season, hoping to find suitable husbands.
When not being used for private functions, admission is free.
8.Theatre Royal and Garrick’s Head Pub
Described by the Theatres Trust as “one of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture”, the Theatre Royal was built in 1805, making it one of the oldest working theatres in the country.
9. Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House and Museum
One of the oldest houses in Bath, the medieval building is now a tearoom and museum. It’s also home to the original Bath Bun—based on the recipe of Sally Lunn. Legend has it that Sally Lunn was a French Huguenot refugee who brought the recipe to Bath in 1680. The Sally Lunn bun is mentioned in Charles Dickens “The Chimes” (1845).
10. Royal Victoria Park
Opened in 1830 by the 11-year-old Princess Victoria, the Royal Victoria Park was the first park to carry her name.
Featuring a 9-acre botanical garden, golf course, boating pond and open-air concerts, it is on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
We can learn a lot about the history of a place just from its name.
“Shambles” is an archaic term for an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market.
Aptly named The Shambles, this beautiful medieval cobbled street in York was once lined with butcher’s shops and stalls, or benches, for displaying meat known as “Shamels” in Anglo-Saxon.
As you walk down the ancient street and look up, the overhanging timber-framed buildings—some dating from the 14th century—appear to almost touch in places.
Jettying was a building technique used in medieval times in which the upper floors projected beyond the lower floors, thus increasing available space without obstructing the street.
It had the added benefit of not raising property taxes, which were based on the ground floor area.
In 1872, there were twenty-five butchers’ shops lining the street, but now there are none.
Today, the Shambles is a wonderful place to stroll, to shop, and to eat.
Quaint little shops, cafes, tea rooms, and restaurants line the street—winner of Google’s Most Picturesque Street in Britain for 2010.
And with street signs like this, you won’t have to worry about losing your way.
The following paragraph contains an affiliate link to Amazon, which means we may earn a small commission from any qualifying purchases. Thanks for supporting our work.
Several “snickelways” lead off the Shambles. In his book A Walk Around the Snickelways of York, author Mark W. Jones coined the word Snickelway from the words snicket (a passageway between walls or fences), ginnel (a narrow passageway between or through buildings), and alleyway (a narrow street or lane).
Take a little snickelway off the shambles called “Little Shambles” (they thought of everything), and you walk into Shambles Market, a historic and vibrant open-air market complete with fresh produce, unique crafts and essential merchandise. Sample the street food and enjoy courtesy seating and even Wi-Fi!
The Shambles Street View. Take a virtual walk back in time to medieval York.
How changed is here each spot man makes or fills!
In the two Hinkseys nothing keeps the same;
The village street its haunted mansion lacks,
And from the sign is gone Sibylla’s name,
And from the roofs the twisted chimney-stacks—
Are ye too changed, ye hills?
See, ’tis no foot of unfamiliar men
To-night from Oxford up your pathway strays!
Here came I often, often, in old days—
Thyrsis and I; we still had Thyrsis then.
Runs it not here, the track by Childsworth Farm,
Past the high wood, to where the elm-tree crowns
The hill behind whose ridge the sunset flames?
The signal-elm, that looks on Ilsley Downs,
The Vale, the three lone weirs, the youthful Thames?—
This winter-eve is warm,
Humid the air! leafless, yet soft as spring,
The tender purple spray on copse and briers!
And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not June for beauty’s heightening,
Lovely all times she lies, lovely to-night!
Only, methinks, some loss of habit’s power
Befalls me wandering through this upland dim;
Once pass’d I blindfold here, at any hour,
Now seldom come I, since I came with him.
That single elm-tree bright
Against the west—I miss it! is it gone?
We prized it dearly; while it stood, we said,
Our friend, the Scholar-Gipsy, was not dead;
While the tree lived, he in these fields lived on.
Too rare, too rare, grow now my visits here!
But once I knew each field, each flower, each stick;
And with the country-folk acquaintance made
By barn in thresting-time, by new-built rick.
Here, too, our shepherd-pipes we first assay’d.
Ah me! this many a year
My pipe is lost, my shepherd’s-holiday!
Needs must I lose them, needs with heavy heart
Into the world and wave of men depart;
But Thyrsis of his own will went away.
It irk’d him to be here, he could not rest.
He loved each simple joy the country yields,
He loved his mates; but yet he could not keep,
For that a shadow lower’d on the fields,
Here with the shepherds and the silly sheep.
Some life of men unblest
He knew, which made him droop, and fill’d his head.
He went; his piping took a troubled sound
Of storms that rage outside our happy ground;
He could not wait their passing, he is dead!
So, some tempestuous morn in early June,
When the year’s primal burst of bloom is o’er,
Before the roses and the longest day—
When garden-walks, and all the grassy floor,
With blossoms, red and white, of fallen May,
And chestnut-flowers are strewn—
So have I heard the cuckoo’s parting cry,
From the wet field, through the vext garden-trees,
Come with the volleying rain and tossing breeze:
The bloom is gone, and with the bloom go I.
St Catherine of Ledbury
by William Wordsworth, 1835
When human touch (as monkish books attest)
Nor was applied nor could be, Ledbury bells
Broke forth in concert flung adown the dells,
And upward, high as Malvern’s cloudy crest;
Sweet tones, and caught by a noble lady blest
To rapture! Mabel listened at the side
Of her loved mistress; soon the music died.
And Catherine said, Here I set up my rest.
Warned in a dream, the wanderer long had sought
A home that by such miracle of sound
Must be revealed: she heard it now, or felt
The deep, deep joy of a confiding thought;
And there, a saintly anchoress, she dwelt
Till she exchanged for heaven that happy ground.