Winchcombe Cotswolds
Winchcombe is one of the most attractive and most genuine of the smaller Cotswold towns, a settlement of honey-coloured limestone buildings in the valley of the River Isbourne beneath Cleeve Hill whose combination of the medieval church, the excellent independent shops and cafés, the connections to the walking routes of the Cotswold Way and the proximity of Sudeley Castle creates one of the most rewarding and least commercialised Cotswold visits available. The town retains a functioning community character that distinguishes it from the purely tourist character of some more celebrated Cotswold destinations. The Church of St Peter in the town centre is a fine Perpendicular Gothic building of the mid-fifteenth century, its gargoyles among the most grotesque and most celebrated in the Cotswolds and a source of considerable amusement to visitors who take the time to examine them closely. The church interior contains the tomb of Sir Thomas Williams with its brass of 1493 and other medieval features of quality. Sudeley Castle a short walk from the town is one of the most romantically situated and most historically significant castles in the Cotswolds, its apartments surrounding a courtyard and its association with Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII who died here in 1548 and is buried in the chapel within the castle grounds. The castle and its gardens provide an excellent full-day destination in combination with the town. The Cotswold Way national trail passes through Winchcombe and the walking to Belas Knap, the finest Neolithic long barrow in the Cotswolds, from the town is one of the classic short walks of the national trail.