Today was another transit day, taking us from Bath to Chipping Campden. The plan was to stop along the drive to visit Glouster Cathedral and Sudeley Castle.
A bit of trivia: Why are there several village names in the Cotswolds prefixed by "Chipping?" The word likely refers to a market area and these particular villages functioned as larger central markets, sometimes for wool and other local products.
It took about an hour to arrive at Glouster Cathedral. We
joined a guided tour and learned a lot about the original Norman architecture
and how the cathedral was remodeled several times. We spent some time looking
at the stained glass windows - the guide pointed out the hierarchy of some
panes and figures and scenes depicted by panes. Similar to Wells Cathedral, we
could see where some windows had been repaired in a kaleidoscope fashion. We
also saw the King Richard III burial memorial.
After our visit, we stopped by the cathedral cafe for a lunch
of soup, bread and an almond dessert cake. We purchased some cookies and water
at a local Sainsbury grocery store and resumed our now 30 minute drive to Sudeley
Castle and Gardens.
Sudeley Castle was built in the 15 century and has prior
castle evidence on the grounds from the 12th century. Similar to Bowood,
Sudeley is privately owned but some portions of the castle and grounds are open
to the public for a fee (11 pounds per person). The castle has a rich history
as Katherine Parre, the last wife of Henry VIII, lived at the castle for a short time and was buried in the castle's St. Mary's Chapel. She is the only queen to be buried on private grounds. We enjoyed seeing the gardens, chapel and pheasant enclosures.
The final portion of our drive took about 30 minutes to
reach Chipping Campden. There we met Sally and Paul, the owners of The Chance Bed and Breakfast, and received keys to our home for
four nights. We are staying in an upstairs room, separate from the main house,
with a king-size bed and ensuite facilities. While this unit was physically
separate from the main house, entry was through the main house.
For dinner, we walked into the city center, about ten
minutes away, and found an Indian restaurant, Maharaja. The dinner,
accompanied by a Carlsberg beer, was a delicious departure from our past
meals. We walked back and were in our
room around 8am. Sally surprised us with cupcakes to take back to our room as we
passed through the main house for the evening. Quite a treat to end our long day.
GLOUSTER CATHEDRAL
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| Inspiration for A Harry Potter Movie?, © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
SUDELEY CASTLE AND GROUNDS
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| © 2015, R. Ono |
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| The Secret Garden, © 2015, R. Ono |
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| Katherine Parre Memorial, © 2015, R. Ono |
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