Today is part two of my Thanksgiving weekend in The Cotswolds. While some villages are more famous than others, I don’t know that you can really go wrong here. They are all cute, historic and have fascinating stories and personalities. For us, five villages in one weekend was plenty. That was enough for us to experience a variety of what the region has to offer. As I mentioned in a previous post, the website Plan Your Trip to the Cotswolds, was a big help to me.
Chipping Norton – The Rollright Stones
The major reason I wanted to see this area was because I had read about the Rollright Stones. So, on a morning reminiscent of great literature and fairy myths (including a light fog), we dropped our £2 into the honesty box on the side of the road and followed the path. Stonehenge is the most famous ring of standing stones in England, but travelers fail to realize that these mythical, ancient sites are plentiful throughout the country.
Three sections: The King’s Men, The King’s Stone, The Whispering Knights
The King’s Men
- Originally about 105 stones, today approximately 70 remain still.
- Circa 2500 B.C.
- The lichen growing on the rocks is 400-800 years old!
There is a wooden witch sculpture inspired by the myth of the Witch and the King, which is the story of this place. A witch tempts a low-level “king” with promises of greatness. She ends up turning him and his men to stone.
The Witch and the King
Seven long strides thou shalt take and if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be.
Off went the King shouting,
“Stick, stock, stone as King of England I shall be known.”
On his seventh stride the ground rose up before him in a long mound. The witch laughed and cackled.
“As Long Compton thou canst not see, King of England thou shalt not be. Rise up stick and stand still stone, for King of England thou shalt be none. Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be and, I myself, an eldern tree.”
Who visits this place, reads that legend, and doesn’t get sucked in completely?
The King’s Stone
Circa 1,500 B.C.
The odd shape (some say it looks like a seal balancing a ball on its nose) is thanks to ancient travelers chipping off pieces as good luck charms to keep the Devil at bay.
It is located just off the crest of the low rise that supposedly prevented the king in the legend from seeing Long Compton.
The Whispering Knights
Pre-dating the large stone circle (The King’s Men) by over 1,000 years, visitors access this monument by walking down a long path. In our case, we went slip-sliding down the path through some of the Cotswolds’ famous mud.
This is a funerary monument. It is comprised of upright stones and a fallen capstone. Proof that it was a burial chamber was found, when, a piece of human bone washed out of the chamber was determined to date back to 1,700 B.C.
Chipping Campden
In the center of town is an engraved disk that signifies the beginning and the ending of The Cotswolds Way, which is a famous hiking trail. Hiking, or rambling, is a major pastime in the Cotswolds. There are public trails marked everywhere and with proper boots that could handle the mud, I would love to try it.
“Now the light falls across the open field leaving the deep lane shuttered with branches dark in the afternoon.”
T.S. Eliot
I fell in love with the church yard in Chipping Campden. There was something about the dying afternoon light and the impossibly green grass. . .
At one point, I said to my husband, “How do they get the grass that green? What do they do to it?”
Just when I thought fairy tales only existed in books and Bruges, I discovered that fantasy comes to life in The Cotswolds too. May I have a pet sheep now?
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