The Cotswolds reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004
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Cotswolds

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The Cotswolds are a region of England, sometimes called the "heart of England", a hilly area reaching nearly 300 m or 1000 feet). The spine of the Cotswolds runs southwest to northeast through six counties, particularly Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and southern Warwickshire. The northern edge of the Cotswolds is marked by a steep escarpment down to the Severn valley and the Avon, the eastern boundary by the city of Oxford (the city of dreaming spires), the west by Stroud, and the south by the middle reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Cirencester, Lechlade and Fairford.

A Cotswold scene at Bibury in GloucestershireEnlarge

A Cotswold scene at Bibury in Gloucestershire

Cotswolds were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966; which was expanded in 1991 to 2046 square kilometres. A district of Gloucestershire is named Cotswold after the region.

The underlying rock is a yellow oolitic limestone, and the area is characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of this local stone. The area is particularly good for sheep grazing: in the Middle Ages, the Cotswolds were extremely prosperous from the wool trade. Some of this money was put into the building of churches, so the area has a number of large, handsome "wool churches", built of Cotswold stone. The area remains affluent and has attracted wealthy Londoners and others who own second homes in the area or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds.

Typical Cotswold towns include Burford, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold. The Cotswold village of Chipping Campden is notable for being the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris around the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

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