Stow-on-the-Wold

We took a train from London to Moreton-in-Marsh and then took a bus to Stow-on-the-Wold. We stayed about an 8 minute walk outside of the small village in the most picturesque cottage. The gardens were awesome (I thought of Grandma Roe and Grandpa Laube. You both would have loved it!). They have these decorative "toadstool" stones in gardens and out front that were originally medieval staddle stones. Buildings were set on them so they could keep the rodents out.

In town, we (meaning me mostly!) had fun with the town stocks. Stow was a pre-Roman town where trade routes crossed because it's the high point in the region ot 800 feet. The Cotswolds were wool towns, so we also saw lots of sheep in surrounding fields. They also had town cross in the market area that had stood for 500 years. It was a reminder for all Christian merchants to "trade fairly under the sight of God."

The church in town had two especially interesting points. Notice the variety of kneelers that they had in church. They have a "Kneeler Group" that meet on Tuesday mornings to needlepoint, sip coffee, and chat. Our favorite part of the church was on the back side where there was an old wooden door with two drooping yew trees on each side. Some think that J.R.R. Tolkein might have been inspired by this for the entrance to the mines of Moria. He used to hike the Cotswolds and sketch trees that would catch his eye.