In 1966 the Cotswolds were designated an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) for its diverse and high-quality landscape. When you visit it is not hard to see why. However, there is in fact so much more to see than just the rolling English countryside within the hundreds of tiny villages and towns that are found, often hidden within wooded valleys in the area. It covers in part six English counties with the largest area within Gloucestershire.
Today it is home to a diverse range of people from sheep farmers to King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Over the years it has attracted artists, poets, writers, celebrities, and aristocracy. It was an area where the last battle of the first English Civil war was fought and where Queen Katherine Parr is buried. (The only Queen to be buried in a private Castle).
There are also museums, wildlife parks, glorious gardens open to the public and breweries and farms to visit.
It is also an area which has an impressive industrial past largely based on its wool trade. It is said the finest wool in all the world was manufactured here and indeed it was exported across several continents. The landscape is dotted with old mills and manor houses. There are ancient stone circles, ruined Roman villas, castles, ancient burial tombs and fine churches dating back to Norman times. It has been home to Kings and nobles since Saxon times. The capital of the ancient English Kingdom of Mercia was in the Cotswolds which later became a pilgrimage site for the son of a King who became a Saint.
