If you’re a lover of literary works, the Cotswold stories you’ll discover as you travel through our region will bring you a heady mix of classic drama, fantasy, beloved children’s tales, nostalgic memoirs, and Regency romance. Let’s explore…
J.M. Barrie and the cricket matches at Stanway House
During the 1920s, J.M. Barrie (creator of Peter Pan) rented the Jacobean estate Stanway House for his summer retreats. An avid cricket fan, Barrie founded an amateur cricket team called the Allahakbarries. The team famously included fellow literary giants Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A.A. Milne, H.G. Wells, and P.G. Wodehouse. Barrie was a famously terrible cricketer, but he loved the game so much that he funded the construction of a thatched wooden pavilion on stilts in the village, which stands to this day.
Footsteps to Follow: Visit Stanway House & Fountain (near Toddington) to view the estate, walk around the grounds, and see the historic cricket pavilion.
Laurie Lee’s pub tales and Slad Valley memories
Laurie Lee’s 1959 memoir Cider with Rosie immortalized the idyllic, lost rural world of his childhood in the Slad Valley. Lee lived, wrote, and drank in the village. A favourite local story tells of how Lee, in his later years, would sit quietly in the corner of The Woolpack Inn listening to tourists discuss his books, occasionally offering his own opinions without revealing that he was the author!
Footsteps to Follow: Have a pint at The Woolpack Inn in Slad, follow the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way walking trail through the valley, and visit his grave at Holy Trinity Churchyard.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Prancing Pony
As an Oxford professor, J.R.R. Tolkien frequently travelled into the nearby Cotswolds for countryside escapes. The Bell Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh is widely believed to be the real-life model for The Prancing Pony in Bree, where Frodo first meets Aragorn. The local Tolkien Society even presented the pub with a map of Middle-earth as a nod to its place in fantasy folklore. Nearby Broadway Tower and the Yew Tree Arch at St Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold (resembling the Doors of Durin) also bear striking parallels to his legendary world.
Footsteps to Follow: Stop by The Bell Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh for lunch, then head to Stow-on-the-Wold to see the famous yew tree door of St Edward’s Church.
William Shakespeare and The Cotswold Olimpick Games
While Shakespeare is famously tied to Stratford-upon-Avon, his works regularly reference the surrounding Cotswold hills. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Page asks whether Slender’s greyhound was “out-run on Cotsall”. This refers to the Cotswold Olimpick Games, founded by Robert Dover in 1612 on Dover’s Hill near Chipping Campden. Shakespeare is believed to have attended these lively country games, taking inspiration from the rural festivities for plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale.
Footsteps to Follow: Walk up Dover’s Hill (National Trust) near Chipping Campden for views across the Vale of Evesham or explore Charlecote Park just north of the region.
Jane Austen and Regency elegance
While Jane Austen is usually associated with Bath and Hampshire, her mother’s family (the Leighs) had strong Cotswold roots. Austen frequently stayed with her cousins at Adlestrop Park. Local history suggests that the village of Adlestrop, along with the nearby Stoneleigh Abbey, provided direct inspiration for Mansfield Park. Her letters detail her fondness for the rolling hills and quiet vicarages of the area.
Footsteps to Follow: Wander through the tranquil village of Adlestrop or take a short trip to Cheltenham to see where her characters promenaded during the Regency era. Just on the southern border to the Cotswolds, you’ll find Bath Spa, where – if you time it right – you could be lucky enough to witness the Jane Austen Festival. Ten wonderful days of celebrating all that was Jane Austen and her writings.
We do hope you’ve enjoyed wandering through the anecdotes that accompany our more famous residents and regular visitors. For more enchanting Cotswold stories, you simply must spend a few hours in the company of one of driver-guides, who are simply brimming with little facts and amusing tales of the region and it’s folk.
You can book a guided tour, or luxury Cotswold holiday for any time of year, or if you’d like to catch a memorable moment, ask our Travel Designers James and Paola what’s on and we’ll help you decide when to come and where to stay.
