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.
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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.
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Gloucestershire After The War
Discovering the county’s Arts and Crafts memorials of the First World War
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
Mr Ashbee would approve
In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown
The Cotswolds at war
These might be peaceful hills and vales, but our contribution to the war effort was considerable
Trust in good, local food
‘I’ve been following The Country Food Trust’s activities with admiration since it was founded’
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
From the Cotswolds to the world
Most people know that the Cotswolds have featured in a fair few Hollywood movies and TV series.
The Wild Hunt
In search of the legendary King Herla in the Malvern Hills
Fighting spirit amid the flowers
Tracy Spiers visits Warwick, a beautiful town that is open for business and ready to welcome visitors
Final journey
Cheltenham author and volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR), Nicolas Wheatley, recounts the fascinating story of funeral trains