Historic Towns and Villages in Gloucestershire

A lovely north Cotswold village blessed with some beautiful half-timbered medieval cottages, some exhibiting cruck-frame construction, and Elizabethan houses. The parish church of St George displays musket holes in the west door made by soldiers after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 when Lancastrian soldiers were captured and killed in the church.
Didbrook, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Dursley is an old market town in the heart of the Cotswold hills. The most striking building is the 18th-century market hall, raised on pillars like stilts. Dursley was once a hub of the cloth-making industry that supported so many Cotswold villages and there are many enjoyable older houses that stand as a testament to Dursley's former prosperity.
Dursley, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Heritage Highlight: 18th century Market Hall

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A pair of idyllic Cotswold villages in the lovely valley of the River Leach, near Bibury. The villages are so close that the parish churches are practically a stone's throw apart.
Eastleach Martin and Eastleach Turville, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Elkstone is a small village near Cheltenham, set on a high hill (indeed, the parish church is the highest above sea level in the county). The most interesting historic attraction in the village is that same Norman church, which boasts an unusual dovecote over the chancel. There is also a beautifully carved Norman tympanum over the south entrance.
Elkstone, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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One of the prettiest towns in the Cotswolds, Fairford owes its prosperity to the medieval wool trade. The parish church of St Mary's is one of the finest 'wool churches' in England, and boasts one of the finest and most complete collections of medieval stained glass in Britain.
Fairford, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Great Barrington is an idyllic Cotswold village on the peaceful River Windrush. An old 17th-century inn stands by a bridge across the river. St Mary's church has a lovely Norman chancel arch.
Great Barrington, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Heritage Highlight: Barrington Park historic house

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One of the numerous pretty villages that make the north Cotswolds area such a wonderful place to visit. Guiting Power is located a few miles from Stow on the Wold. The parish church of St Michael and All Angels is notable for its wonderfully carved Norman doorway.
Guiting Power, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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Hampnett is a small village in the north Cotswolds, close to Northleach. There is not a lot to Hampnett save for a few lovely Cotswold stone cottages, and the parish church of St George, with a striking interior decorated in Victorian stencils.
Hampnett, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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A small north Cotswold village near Stow-on-the-Wold, Icomb was the haunt of the original "Tom, Dick, and Harry", three outlaw brothers. There are lovely Cotswold stone cottages, and the parish church of St Mary the Virgin boasts striking medieval carvings and the tomb of a knight who fought at Agincourt.
Icomb, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England

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The Gloucestershire village of Kempsford was not always such a peaceful place. In AD 800 a battle between the armies of Wessex and Mercia took place here. At least five kings visited Kempsford, and Blanche, the wife of John of Gaunt, was raised here. Gaunt paid for the tower of St Mary's church, but his father-in-law remembered Kempsford as the place where his heir drowned in the river. After his son's death the Earl rode off to war, and when his horse cast a shoe when leaving the village, the villagers nailed it to the church door, where it can still be seen.
Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England, GL7 4ET

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Heritage Highlight: John of Gaunt's tower at St Mary's church

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