Cotswold Tours: Places to visit – Stately Homes and Houses
Stanway HouseHouse and Fountain: Open July to September - Tuesday and Thursday’s 2.00pm to 5.00pm
The gatehouse is a gem, one of the best pieces of architecture in the Cotswold’s. It was built for Sir Richard Tracy in 1630. It is unusually positioned at right angles to the house, presumably because the church was in the way in front of the house. The lodges, either side of the gateway, have narrow bay widows and the whole is topped by shaped gables crowned with Tracy scallop shells. The archway has fluted columns either side. It is a very attractive building. Stanway House is a popular Filming location for many Cinema and TV films including The Libertine (August 2004), Vanity Fair (May 2004), The Wyvern Mysteries (1999), The Buccaneers (1994), and Emma TV dramatisation. Sudeley Castle & GardensOpen 31 March to 28 October Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Cotswold Hills, Sudeley Castle is steeped in history. With royal connections spanning a thousand years, it has played an important role in the turbulent and changing times of England's past. The Castle was once home to Queen Katherine Parr, the last and only surviving wife of Henry VIII. Henry, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth I have all lived at or visited Sudeley. King Charles 1 stayed here and his nephew, Prince Rupert, established his headquarters at the Castle during the Civil War. Sudeley is now the family home of the Dent-Brocklehursts and Lord & Lady Ashcombe.
EVENTS ROSE WEEK 2009 LACE MAKING DEMONSTRATION RODMARTON MANOROpen: 2nd May - 29th September Rodmarton Manor, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6PF Tel: 01285 841253 Fax: 01285 841298 Prinknash Abbey
A small monastic café and shop selling light refreshments, monastic gifts and books is open 10am-4pm Wednesday to Sunday inclusive. Prinknash is not only an Abbey in which some seventeen monks live but a whole complex of buildings spread over an estate of 300 acres. These spacious acres contain the dominating new Abbey, the Pottery, the Workshops, Saint Peter's Grange [the old Abbey] which is now a Retreat and Conference Centre, the Farm, the houses for the tenants, the Bird Park, and the facilities for the recreation and refreshment for over 100,000 visitors each year. It is a friendly association of Monks and Laity who work in partnership to form a living Community for the benefit of all. Owlpen ManorOpen 1 April to 30 Septemberwww.owlpen.com
Owlpen has long been recognised as one of England's most romantic manor houses. In 2006 it was voted one of finalists in the Country Life - Savills award for "England's Favourite Manor House". The Tudor manor (1450-1616) stands with its early formal garden of magnificent yews at the centre of a clutch of medieval landmark buildings. The Owlpen estate, steeped in 900 years of history, forms its own remote and picturesque wooded valley under the edge of the Cotswold Hills. The licensed Cyder House is an atmospheric medieval restaurant set at the heart of the hamlet. It serves home-cooked gourmet meals and light lunches in the summer with an emphasis on the fresh produce of the working farm and garden. Malmesbury AbbeyThe Abbey is open nearly 365 days a year - closing for a few days after Christmas and New Year's Day and for occasional filming or maintenance. Malmesbury Abbey in the market town of Malmesbury was founded in the 7th-century as a Benedictine Monastery by Aldhelm, a nephew of King Ina of Wessex. The Abbey was once a major European centre of scholarship and learning. The present building, now about a third of its original size, was consecrated in about 1180 AD. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII (1539), it was sold with all its lands to William Stumpe, a local wealthy clothier, for just over £1500. Malmesbury is a wonderful place to visit for the day or for a short break. As well as exploring the beautiful 12th century Abbey, the grounds and the bookshop, you can also spend time at Abbey House Gardens, the Athelstan Museum, and numerous shops, cafes and pubs.
Lodge Park & Sherborne EstateWebsite: National Trust Situated on the picturesque Sherborne Estate in the Cotswold’s, Lodge Park was created in 1634 by John 'Crump' Dutton. Inspired by his passion for gambling and banqueting, it is a unique survival of what would have been called a grandstand, with its deer course and park. It was the home of Charles Dutton, 7th Lord Sherborne, until 1983 when he bequeathed his family's estate to the National Trust. Kelmscott ManorOpen April to September
Kelmscott Manor, a grade 1 Listed Tudor farmhouse adjacent to the River Thames, was built in 1570, with an additional wing added to the northeast corner in about 1665. The Manor is built of local limestone on the edge of the village of Kelmscott near Lechlade. William Morris chose it as his summer home, signing a joint lease with the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the summer of 1871. Morris loved the house as a work of true craftsmanship, totally unspoilt and unaltered, and in harmony with the village and the surrounding countryside. He considered it so natural in its setting as to be almost organic, it looked to him as if it had "grown up out of the soil"; and with "quaint garrets amongst great timbers of the roof where of old times the tillers and herdsmen slept". The house - perhaps the most evocative of all the houses associated with Morris - contains an outstanding collection of the possessions and works of Morris, his family and associates (Benson, Burne-Jones, Rossetti and Webb amongst them), including furniture, original textiles, pictures, carpets, ceramics and metalwork. Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott, Lechlade, Glos GL7 3HJ Hailes ChurchOpen all year Hailes Church was built in 1130. On the walls are the remains of murals dating from 1300, and a fine St. Cecilia on the Chancel window jamb, dating from 1290. The rood screen is medieval, and the pulpit is Jacobean. This is one of the original 3-decker pulpits, where the Rector would have gone up to the top deck to preach, so that he could look over the sides of the box pews and see his congregation. The Commonwealth arrangement in the Chancel is still retained, with the oak-paneled seats and the Puritanized style of altar, as the seventeenth century table stands on the original altar stones. The Church is located next to Hailes Abbey. Hailes Abbey13th-century Cistercian abbey
Richard Earl of Cornwall (brother of Henry III) was in danger of shipwreck and to thank God for his safe delivery, he built a Cistercian Abbey at Hailes. The abbey was founded in 1246. Cistercians always built their abbeys well away from towns (e.g. Fountains, Rievaulx, Tintern etc). Isabel Countess of Gloucester, the widow of Gilbert de Clare, Lord of the Manor of Tewkesbury, had married Richard after a period of mourning for Gilbert. It was a disastrous marriage, and when she died Richard tore her heart out and sent it to the Abbot of Tewkesbury, telling him to bury it at Tewkesbury as it had always been there. It is buried in Gilbert's grave in the presbytery of Tewkesbury Abbey. The remainder of Isabel's body was buried in Beaulieu Abbey. Richard donated a phial of the Holy Grail to Hailes Abbey. It attracted huge crowds of pilgrims and the abbey became very rich, but the phial was analysed after the Dissolution and it was found to contain duck's blood. The abbey was closed by Henry VIII on Christmas Eve 1539, and its ruins are now maintained by the National Trust. Great Coxwell BarnWebsite: National Trust
The Great Barn in Great Coxwell village is the sole surviving part of a thriving 13th-century grange that once provided vital income to Beaulieu Abbey. It is an impressive reminder of the skills of Gothic carpenters and the wealth and influence of the great monastic orders. William Morris, one of the Barn's most ardent admirers, called it 'unapproachable in its dignity'. The Barn was built of Cotswold rubble-stone walling, with a Cotswold slate roof. There are several slit windows and on the outside are small, square putlog holes in which mason's poles were placed during construction. Coughton CourtOpen 17 March to 28 October One of the great Tudor Houses, Coughton Court has been the home of the Throckmorton family since 1409. It has important associations with the Gunpowder Plot, about which there is an exhibition and also much activity in the Civil War. The house has fine collections of furniture, porcelain, and paintings. The grounds contain two churches, a lake, riverside walk, formal walled garden, and bog garden. Chedworth Roman VillaOpen March to October
The remains of one of the largest Roman Villas in the country and set in a wooded Cotswold Combe. Over 1 mile of walls survives and there are several fine mosaics, two bathhouses, hypocausts, a water-shrine and latrine. Excavated in 1864, the site still has a Victorian feel to it and the site museum houses objects from the villa. A 15 minute audiovisual presentation gives visitors an insight into the history of this fascinating place. Chastelton HouseOpen 4 Apr to 3 Nov www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Charlecote ParkOpen 24 March to 4 November
Buscot Park Limited Opening - April to September
NB: This property is administered on behalf of the National Trust by Lord Faringdon, and the contents of the house are owned by The Faringdon Collection Trust Buscot Park, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8BU, England Broughton CastleOpen 30 April to 15 September
Broadway Tower10.30am-5.00pm daily (April-October) 11.00am -3.00pm Saturday and Sunday Opening times may vary according to weather conditions
Broadway Tower is one of England’s outstanding viewpoints and, at 1024 feet (312m) above sea level; it is the second highest point on the Cotswold Ridge. Built in 1799, it is a perfect example of an eighteenth century Gothic folly from which it is possible to survey an area which includes as many as thirteen counties. The views encompass the Vales of Evesham and Gloucester and on a clear day you may also see across the Severn Valley and as far as the Welsh Mountains. Today, the Tower houses fascinating exhibitions connected with its past and the surrounding area. Notable occupants include Sir Thomas Phillips, renowned printer of his time and Pre-Raphaelite artists including designer, writer and craftsman William Morris, who used the Tower as a country retreat.
Blenheim PalaceOpen March to end October.
Berkeley Castle Open April to September
Berkeley Castle is one of the March Castles, built to keep out the Welsh, and has all the trappings to match: trip steps designed to make the enemy stumble during an assault, arrow slits, murder holes, enormous barred doors, slots where the portcullis once fell, and worn stones where sentries stood guard. It is also a fairytale Castle with its warm pink stone that glows in soft sunset light. Outside, the battlements drop some 60' to the Great Lawn below; but inside the Inner Courtyard, the building is on a human scale, with uneven battlements, small towers, doors and windows of every shape and size. The surrounding land would have been flooded for defence. Snowshill Manor & GardensOpen 31 March to 4 November
Once described as 'a house for the evening hours, surely the loveliest spell of the day', Snowshill Manor is a typical, traditional Cotswold house, built of golden yellow local stone and set on a hillside above the Vale of Evesham. The Manor holds one of the most remarkable collections that the National Trust maintains and is surrounded by an intriguing and intimate garden. Snowshill Manor is packed to the rafters with a spectacular collection of craftsmanship and design from across the globe. Charles Paget Wade amassed more than 22,000 items during his lifetime, creating an Aladdin's cave of unexpected delights. Experience his uniquely presented collection, which includes samurai armour, clocks, toys, bicycles, tools and musical instruments. Outside, wander through the numerous small 'outdoor rooms', with their terraces and ponds, and admire the views. The grounds contain a beautiful 'cottage garden'. Snowshill Manor and Garden, Snowshill, nr Broadway, Gloucestershire WR12 7JU Rollright StonesOpen all year
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Sudeley's gardens are amongst the very best in England. The Tudor era is recalled by the elaborate knot garden, The Victorian era by the masses of yew hedges and the present day by sumptuous plantings and wildflowers. There are flowers in abundance throughout the seasons but most famous of all are the hundreds of varieties of roses, some whose history predates even that of the Castle itself. 
Open all year, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday, 
Chastleton House is one of England's finest and most complete Jacobean houses and competed in 1612. The same family occupied the house for nearly 400 years with little or no modernisation taking place. The rules for the game of Croquet were written here. Since acquiring the property the National Trust has concentrated on conserving it rather than restoring it to pristine condition. Located near the village of Chastleton a few miles from 
The House is the home of the Lucy family, begun in 1551 and situated next to the river Avon in the heart of an ancient deer-park with views to 
Neo-classical mansion with fine art and furniture collection set in landscaped grounds
“About the most beautiful castle in all England ... for sheer loveliness of the combination of water, woods and picturesque buildings.” A generous tribute from historian Sir Charles Oman in 1898, and one continued by the noted diarist James Lees-Milne in a 1989 - "It is still the most romantic house imaginable. English to the core, as Henry James says. ... Perfection, what with moat, gatehouse, church, and gorgeous orange and buff stone". A more recent accolade came in 2003 in England's Thousand Best Houses by Sir Simon Jenkins. The author gives only twenty of the thousand houses five stars - and Broughton Castle is proud to be one of them.
Home of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir 
There are many prehistoric remains in the Cotswold’s but the most impressive is probably the Rollright stones. Situated high on an exposed ridge, this is England's third most important stone circle after Stonehenge and Avebury and is thought to be about 3500 years old. There are many legends and superstitions associated with the stones, which are made even more atmospheric by their bleak and elevated position. They say you cannot count the same number of stones in the circle more than once.