Is This The Perfect Village?
Cotswold Life|August 2020
Chris Smith visits charming Ilmington, which earned a place in the Sunday Times’ Best Places to Live guide.
Chris Smith
Is This The Perfect Village?

As you stroll around the village of Ilmington you get the feeling that not much has changed in this corner of the Cotswolds over the years.

It has clung tightly to its idyllic charm, and it’s easy to see why this once self-sufficient farming community has become so sought after, earning a place in this year’s Sunday Times’ prestigious Best Places to Live guide, and just two years ago being shortlisted in Channel 4’s Village of the Year competition.

Sitting at an important crossroads at the northern gateway to the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty and the southern gateway to Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon Avon, and at the foot of the highest peak in the county of Warwickshire, Ilmington is a place of considerable architectural and historic interest.

The village was originally an Anglo-Saxon farming settlement, and is recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as having a manor with three ploughs and a church with a priest. The title of Lord of the Manor has passed through many hands, including those of the famous de Montfort family.

Today it is home to around 800 people, with a patchwork of homes that includes grand properties and chocolate box cottages, some still with their thatches, as well as modern, functional homes, most of which are made from ironstone or Cotswold stone quarried from the surrounding hills, and all are connected by a network of picturesque narrow footpaths that criss-cross their way across the village. Even the road names have a certain quirkiness with Front Street, Back Street, Middle Street, Grump Street, and Frog Lane among them.

Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av Cotswold Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra August 2020-utgaven av Cotswold Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA COTSWOLD LIFESe alt
Gloucestershire After The War
Cotswold Life

Gloucestershire After The War

Discovering the county’s Arts and Crafts memorials of the First World War

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh
Cotswold Life

THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh

The days are getting shorter but there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful, says Sue Bradley, who discovers how a Cotswolds town is becoming more wildlife-friendly and pots up some bulbs for an insect-friendly spring display

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020
Mr Ashbee would approve
Cotswold Life

Mr Ashbee would approve

In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2020
The Cotswolds at war
Cotswold Life

The Cotswolds at war

These might be peaceful hills and vales, but our contribution to the war effort was considerable

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2020
Trust in good, local food
Cotswold Life

Trust in good, local food

‘I’ve been following The Country Food Trust’s activities with admiration since it was founded’

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
Why Cath is an open book
Cotswold Life

Why Cath is an open book

Cath Kidston has opened up almost every nook and cranny of her Cotswold idyll in a new book, A Place Called Home. Katie Jarvis spoke to Cath ahead of her appearance at this year’s Stroud Book Festival STROUD BOOK FESTIVAL – THIS YEAR FREE AND ONLINE: NOVEMBER 4-8

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2020
From the Cotswolds to the world
Cotswold Life

From the Cotswolds to the world

Most people know that the Cotswolds have featured in a fair few Hollywood movies and TV series.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
The Wild Hunt
Cotswold Life

The Wild Hunt

In search of the legendary King Herla in the Malvern Hills

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Fighting spirit amid the flowers
Cotswold Life

Fighting spirit amid the flowers

Tracy Spiers visits Warwick, a beautiful town that is open for business and ready to welcome visitors

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2020
Final journey
Cotswold Life

Final journey

Cheltenham author and volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR), Nicolas Wheatley, recounts the fascinating story of funeral trains

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020