A walk around the town gave us an insight into many of these fine buildings and some of the history of our surroundings.

The centrally located Market Hall, still with the original stone floor, was built by Sir Baptist Hicks in 1627.  The building gave shelter to the local market selling produce such as cheese, butter and poultry - not wool as is often thought.  Now owned by the National Trust, the Market Hall is now preserved for future generations.

 

A limestone post at the corner of the Market Hall marks the start of the Cotswold Way and indicates 100 miles to Bath.

While rummaging in a box of old postcards a few weeks previously we had found an image of the Golden Cockerel Public House.  The pub is now gone in name, but we were able to find the building, with evidence of the old pub sign still clearly visible.

 

The oldest house in Chipping Campden was built by William Grevel, one of the country's most influential wool merchants and is thought to date back as far as 1380.

 

Nearby Hidcote Manor Garden was our next stop. Developed and designed over a period of 41 years by Lawrence Johnston, it is now one of England’s most influential 20th century gardens with a series of ‘outdoor rooms’, exotic plants and carefully planned vistas. Bought by Johnston's mother, Mrs Gertrude Winthrop in 1907, it was acquired by the National Trust in 1948, the first property to be taken on for the garden.

 

We spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring the gardens and learning some of the properties history from our knowledgeable guide Graham Pearson, the property’s voluntary archivist. Sunday morning we woke to overcast skies.  However, a brisk walk along the Cotswold Way, through fields enclosed by the famous Cotswold stonewalls, soon blew the cobwebs away.  Envious of the extensive rights of way system, we walked on to the picturesque village of Stanton, nestling below the slopes of Shenbarrow Hill.  After a hearty Sunday lunch in The Mount Inn we continued along the Cotswold Way passing through fields of ‘ridge and furrow’ and landscaped parkland, we admired the huge oaks and guessed their age. 

 

This path led us to Stanway with the ancient Stanway House and gardens.  It was here that we spied our first limestone ‘staddle stones’, standing like a series of mushrooms under the local cricket pavilion. There are so many tracks, lanes, paths, woods and gentle hillsides to explore, so many historic towns and villages to marvel at.. but, it was time to leave the Cotswolds.  With 790 square miles to explore, we will definitely be back to visit England’s largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.