Visit the Cotswolds or stay in a cottage to experience stunning countryside sights just perfect at any time of year. Miles of rolling hills, pretty villages with traditional stone architecture and gentle rivers are a winning combination which blend together to make the Cotswolds the highlight of the British countryside. See this beautiful area during one of our Cotswolds tours that will take you deep into the heavenly landscape. Taking a Cotswolds tour from London is one of the best ways to fully appreciate this stunning part of England.
There is evidence of Neolithic settlement from burial chambers on Cotswold Edge, and there are remains of Bronze and Iron Age forts. Later the Romans built villas, such as at Chedworth,settlements such as Gloucester, and paved the Celtic path later known as Fosse Way.
During the Middle Ages, thanks to the breed of sheep known as the Cotswold Lion, the Cotswolds became prosperous from the wool trade with the continent, with much of the money made from wool directed towards the building of churches. The most successful era for the wool trade was 1250–1350; much of the wool at that time was sold to Italian merchants. The area still preserves numerous large, handsome Cotswold Stone "wool churches". The affluent area in the 21st century has attracted wealthy Londoners and others who own second homes there or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds.
The name Cotswold is popularly attributed the meaning "sheep enclosure in rolling hillside.
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