Encyclopedia
| Cotswolds
Encyclopedia
|
| Tutorials | Encyclopedia | Dictionary | Directory |
|
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds is a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England", an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at , to the north of Cheltenham.
LocationThe Cotswolds lie mainly within the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. DescriptionThe spine of the Cotswolds runs south west to north east through six counties, particularly Gloucestershire, west Oxfordshire, and south western Warwickshire. The northern and western edges of the Cotswolds are marked by steep escarpments down to the Severn valley and the Warwickshire Avon. This escarpment or scarp feature, sometimes called the Cotswold Edge, is a result of the uplifting (tilting) of the limestone layer, exposing its broken edge. This is a cuesta, in geological terms. The dip slope is to the south east. On the eastern boundary lies the city of Oxford and on the west is Stroud. To the south-east the upper reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Lechlade, Tetbury and Fairford are often considered to mark the limit of this region. To the south the Cotswolds, with the characteristic uplift of the Cotswold Edge, reach as far south as Bath and towns such as Chipping Sodbury and Marshfield share elements of Cotswold character. 
Corsham in the south western Cotswolds Typical Cotswold towns are Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway, Burford, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Winchcombe. The town of Chipping Campden is notable for being the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. William Morris lived occasionally in Broadway Tower a folly now part of a country park. Chipping Campden is also known for the annual Cotswold Games, a celebration of sports and games dating back to the early 17th century. Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Late summer scene in the Cotswolds 
A horse in a field of buttercups in the Cotswolds The Cotswolds Conservation Board is the organisation that exists to conserve and enhance the AONB. Established in 2004 the board carries out a range of work from securing funding for 'on the ground' conservation projects to providing a strategic overview of the area for key decision makers, such as planning officials. The board is an independent organisation funded by Natural England and the 17 local authorities that sit within the AONB. The Cotswold Voluntary Wardens Service, now part of the Cotswolds Conservation Board, was established in 1968 to help conserve and enhance the area. There are now over 300 Wardens. In 2007 they gave over 41,000 hours of their time. The Cotswold Way is a long-distance footpath, approximately long, running the length of the AONB, mainly on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment with views over the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. Principal Settlements
Noteworthy historical structures
Transport
Map of Cotswolds roads from 1933 The area is bounded by two major rail routes: in the south by the main Bristol-Bath-London High Speed line and in the west by the Bristol-Birmingham main line. In addition, the Cotswold Line runs through the Cotswolds from Oxford to Worcester, and the Golden Valley Line runs from Swindon to Gloucester, carrying high speed and local services. Main line, high speed rail services to the big cities are reached via stations such as Bath, Swindon, Oxford, Cheltenham and Worcester. High speed services to London are also available from Kemble station near Cirencester, Kingham station near Stow-on-the-Wold, Charlbury station and Moreton-in-Marsh station. Cheltenham is a hub for National Express coach services. There are local bus services across the area, but some are infrequent. The best sources of information are the Gloucestershire County Council website,[1] or local tourist information centres. In popular cultureWriter and comedian Karl Pilkington writes of a holiday to the Cotswolds in his book Happyslapped by a jellyfish. The story was read in 2007 on the Ricky Gervais Show. British playwright and actress Charlotte Jones set her award winning play Humble Boy[2] in the Cotswolds. Humble Boy received the Smith Blackburn Award, 2001, as well as the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play and the People's Choice New Play Award in 2002. See also
References
External links
ar:????????? de:Cotswolds fr:Cotswolds it:Cotswolds nl:Cotswolds ja:??????? no:Cotswolds pl:Cotswold simple:Cotswolds fi:Cotswolds zh:????? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
|
|
top
©2008-2009 TutorGig.com. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement
