Bibury: the most beautiful village of England

Bibury is a charming village just a short drive from Cirencester. It’s easy to see why William Morris, an eclectic Victorian-era artist and craftsman from Britain, called it “the most beautiful village in England”. However, some have gone further, stating that it is one of the most picturesque villages in the world, with its wonderful stone buildings strung out along the banks of the River Coln.

When we talk about Bibury, the descriptions are among the most varied: according to some it seems to come from a fairy tale, for others from a painting, or from a postcard…ultimately so beautiful as to seem almost unreal, with its romantic rural atmosphere, due not only to the splendid stone houses that characterize it, but also to the placid river that crosses it, to the flowers that fill every corner of the tiny village with just forty houses.
Are these cottages, leaning against each other along the main road of the country, Arlington Row, which attract many tourists every year from all over the world, in particular from Japan. This is largely attributed to Emperor Hirohito having stayed in the village on his European tour. This street is one of England’s most iconic and photographed sites and it even appears on the inside cover of UK passports!

Originally built in the 14th century as a monastic wool store, were used by the village monks as sheepfolds. Later, in the seventeenth century, they became the homes of local weavers, who laid out to dry wool at Rack Isle. Today, this seasonally semi-flooded area is an important habitat for water-loving plants and birds including Mallards, Coots, and Moorhens. With Arlington Row as a backdrop, it makes one of the most picturesque scenes you will find in the Cotswolds.
The cottages are now lived in by National Trust tenants, with no public access to the cottages or gardens, although one of them can be rented out as a holiday cottage.

Built on the banks of the Coln River, Bibury is located in the south-west of England, in the Cotswold hills.
Other attractions include the Bibury Trout Farm, one of the oldest and most attractive trout farms in the country covering almost 15 acres, where you can learn about trout or event catch your own dinner, and the very beautiful village church, St Mary’s, with a Saxon gravestone set into the exterior, a superb Norman doorway and some fine medieval windows.
It has been used as a film and television location, most notably for the films Stardust and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Bibury Website: www.bibury.com

Images from Web.