V.

Places of Interest

Focused chiefly on the scenic Cotswold area, with its old wool towns and villages, and interesting churches, the main tourist centres are Cheltenham, Cirencester, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tewkesbury, Thornbury, and Winchcombe. The Cotswold Way footpath stretches for 161 km (100 mi), from Chipping Campden to Bath, along the western flank of the hills. The historic city of Gloucester, with its cathedral, museums, and recently restored dockyard, is another major centre. Gloucester Cathedral, an 11th-century Norman structure with Gothic additions, houses the tomb of Edward II, who was murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle. Other places of interest include the abbeys of Tewkesbury and Prinknash, the fine castles of Thornbury and Sudeley, and the Clearwell Caves, which are ancient iron mines in the Forest of Dean. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge, founded by Sir Peter Scott, lies to the west of Stroud. Among a wealth of gardens and arboreta open to the public are Hidcote Manor Gardens, near Chipping Campden, the Painswick Rococo Garden, and Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury. At Dyrham Park there is a Baroque mansion, set within 109 hectares (268 acres) of ancient parkland that is grazed by fallow deer. Among the many attractive villages of the county are Bibury, considered by William Morris to be the most beautiful in England, Bourton-on-the-Water, and Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter.