The arts from your Cotswolds luxury hotels base

Cotswolds luxury hotels are a great base for exploring local arts events.

The local list of events is extensive - a kind of Cotswolds ‘Season’. There are some real surprises too.

For example, the North Cotswolds has its very own opera house. Longborough Festival Opera is, in fact one of the UK's finest country opera houses - an intimate 500 seat theatre set amidst the glorious rolling hills of the Cotswolds. Each performance at Longborough is a new production, created especially for the venue - the Producers work with talented designers, directors, conductors and the best up-and-coming artists to bring you something you won't have seen anywhere else.
A visit to Longborough ensures an intimate and unique experience which truly captures the drama and emotion happening on stage. It was once reviewed as ‘like Glyndbourne before the war’. A visit fits nicely with a stay at one of the Cotswolds luxury hotels, in keeping somehow.
The season runs to the start of August with a chance left to see Mozart’s The Magic Flute or Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

Dining is an important part of the experience at Longborough Festival Opera. 90 minute dining interval allows time to relax and enjoy the picturesque grounds: you can reserve a space in the on site restaurant or bring a picnic.

Highly recommended - especially as part of a longer stay at one of the cotswolds luxury hotels in the Cotswolds Finest partnership.

Theatre and Cotswolds Luxury Hotels

Theatre isn’t, perhaps, the first thought when planning a Cotswolds luxury hotels break. But perhaps it should be.

Apart from the fact that Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre is within easy range of much of the Cotswolds, you’ll find a heady mix of local theatres and out-door events on offer. For those in the know, there’s a regular program of musical theatre, comedy and touring productions - including one or two places known locally as secret try out venues for the odd big name.

Chipping Norton Theatre is a theatre, an arthouse cinema, a gallery and a concert hall. Praised by The Guardian for “A programme of distinctive artistic adventure”, the theatre is small but punches well above its weight. Seats 213 people.

Further south, the Sundial Theatre in Cirencester is a 275 seat venue always worth checking out. The likes of Michael McIntyre and Jack Dee have appeared in warm up gigs here.

Giffords Circus tours village green type settings through the summer - a very stylish night out and not to be missed if they’re performing near you during your stay at one of the Cotswolds luxury hotels.

Look out too for Shakespeare performances from Rain or Shine Theatre Company at venues such as Painswick Rococo Garden.

The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham is the house theatre for the area - a delightful Frank Matcham designed venue. Farthest south in the area, Bath’s Theatre Royal, built in 1805 is, famously, haunted and one of the oldest theatres in the country.

Cotswolds luxury hotels are your key to unlock the best of local culture, whether local opera, theatre or cultural events.

Hotels and Inns in the Cotswolds

2017 has been declared the year of literary heroes by VisitEngland in a drive to celebrate the importance of authors and poets in the country. We took a look at our own hotels and inns in the Cotswolds to dig our some literary connections - and found a few surprises along the way!



Thinking of purely Cotswold characters, Laurie Lee comes to mind first. His novel Cider With Rosie (published as Edge of Day in the US) described childhood in the small (real) village of Slad, a world of cottages, the village pub (The Wool Pack is still there) and church. Cider with Rosie is a lyrical effort and his sequel As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is if anything, even more poignant.

These days hotels and inns in the Cotswolds occupy some of those Stroud valleys and other Cotswold locations. The Painswick Hotel is nearby and also not far from Cranham, where local WWI poet Ivor Gurney walked, traumatised by his experiences in the Great War.

The area around Batsford, Sezincote and Broadway had its literary moment in the sun at about the same time. Nancy Mitford live at Batsford House during the Great War and based part of Love in a Cold Climate on her experiences there (It was called Alconleigh in the novels). She later lived at Swinbrook, where she is buried. After the war, J.M. Barrie spent time at Stanway House and returned the favour by buying a new cricket pavilion for the village.

Hotels and inns in the Cotswolds are well used to answering questions about local authors. One of the most common questions is about Shakespeare, who did describe Gloucestershire in Richard II and may have lived at Dursley.

I am a stranger here in Gloucestershire;
These high wild hills and rough uneven ways
Draw out our miles, and make them wearisome.
But I bethink me, what a weary way
From Ravenspurg to Cotswold will be found

Hotels and inns in the cotswolds and literature

If Shakespeare did live in Dursley , it’s pleasing that J.K. Rowling also contributed to that town’s fame by naming the family in her stories after the place too. J.K. was at school near the Forest of Dean and a couple of references popped up in her stories. The filmed stories used Gloucester Cathedral as a location.

Hotels and inns in the Cotswolds are often used for creative writing courses - often sessions include walking in the area - something that has inspired several literary greats in the past. J R R Tolkien took epic walks from Oxford and into the Cotswolds and is thought to have and the act of walking in the area has given participants and used the area around Chipping Campden as inspiration for ‘Weathertop’ and (as a lover of a good pub) is thought to have modelled The Bell Inn in Moreton in Marsh as ‘The Prancing Pony’ in Lords of the Rings.

Hotels and inns in the Cotswolds are within easy reach of Bath, which Dickens took a bit of a dislike to (Pickwick Papers) but which was celebrated, slightly mocked and immortalised by Jane Austen. She lived in the town from the time of her father’s retirement until his death - about 5 years, so she knew the place well.

Lewis Carroll The author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass spent significant time around Stow-on-the-Wold, where his friend Reverend Edward Litton was the rector of a church.

Graham Greene’s career, after poor sales of his first novel, brought him to Chipping Campden to concentrate full-time on his writing. Living in a cottage called Little Orchard, he completed Stamboul Train which was his first commercial success.

Hotels and inns in the Cotswolds offer many opportunities for touring and exploring - following a literary theme is a good way to discover some of the lesser-known parts of the area.

Visiting historic houses from hotels in Cotswolds

Visiting an ancient castle or historic house is a popular pastime in Britain - people love to hear stories of kings and queens and historic characters. Many of our guests use their hotels in Cotswolds to explore the long list of stately homes, castles and historic buildings in the area.

From hotels in Cotswolds, one of the most visited castles is Sudeley. It’s a Tudor Castle, meaning that it dates from the 15th Century. It’s an impressive building with beautiful gardens, but the thing that captures the imagination is that it was once owned by King Henry the Eighth.

Henry (1509-1547). Henry was desperate to have a male heir and married six times seeking a son. His various wives came from England and Europe and he disposed of them in different ways; “Divorced, Married, Died, Divorced, Married, Survived” is something that children still learn at school. Katherine Parr was King Henry’s last wife, the one who survived him and she is entombed in the chapel. At the castle, you can also see some of Katherine’s love letters.

One of our favourite places is Chavanage House. It is said to have a ghost (we love a good ghost story - hotels in Cotswolds often report sightings too!). When Britain had a civil war, in the 17th Century, Colonel Stevens, the owner of Chavanage 17th century, reluctantly agree that the King Charles (who was a prisoner) should be executed. His daughter, in a fit of anger at the decision, laid a curse upon her father. Eventually Colonel Stevens died and all were assembled for his funeral, a carriage drew up at the door of the manor house driven by a headless man.

The Colonel was seen to rise from his coffin and enter the hearse driven by the headless personage, who as he drove away assumed the shape of the dead King, Charles I - this being a reminder of the Colonel's disloyalty to the King. The headless ghost and carriage is said to reappear whenever the end of the family line dies.

The Cotswolds has a unique offer for film location managers: hotel, Cotswolds, scenery, built heritage and natural beauty all combine to make it an attractive location. Here are some famous locations and their real life names - which may help to explain why certain places look familiar to you when you visit for the first time. In fact, the Cotswolds in general also pop up in BBC Countryfile, because Adam Henson’s Cotswolds Farm Park is near Naunton.
Owlpen Manor, a Tudor manor house and garden, near Dursley, was location for The Other Boleyn Girl, based on Philippa Gregory's acclaimed best-selling novel. Chavenage House was used for Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson’s memoir. And also the recent BBC revival of the Poldark stories, where it appeared as the Poldark family home. The hotel Cotswolds combo seems to have worked its magic on location managers again.

Outdoor scenes in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s movie Cemetery Junction were filmed in the Stroud Valleys. From your hotel Cotswolds is not the only option - the cloisters attached to Gloucester Cathedral have been used in many of the Harry Potter films - appearing as ‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary’ - pupils from the adjacent King’s School appeared as extras, Harry’s classmates. The Cathedral has also popped up in episodes of Sherlock and Dr Who.

Arlington Row in Bibury, near Cirencester, provided a street-scene backdrop in the fantasy adventure film Stardust, which starred Sienna Miller. The country Christmas scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary was shot in Snowshill and the crew returned to the area for the sequel Bridget Jones's Baby. The Christening scenes were filmed in Swinbrook church.

Ghost stories from hotels in Cotswolds

One of our favourite places to visit from hotels in cotswolds is Chavanage House. It is said to have a ghost.

When Britain had a civil war, in the 17th Century, Colonel Stevens, the owner of Chavanage 17th century, reluctantly agree that the King Charles (who was a prisoner) should be executed. His daughter, in a fit of anger at the decision, laid a curse upon her father.

Eventually Colonel Stevens died and all were assembled for his funeral, a carriage drew up at the door of the manor house driven by a headless man. The Colonel was seen to rise from his coffin and enter the hearse driven by the headless personage, who as he drove away assumed the shape of the dead King, Charles I - this being a reminder of the Colonel's disloyalty to the King. The headless ghost and carriage is said to reappear whenever the owner of the house dies.

Ghost hunters also love a visit to Woodchester Mansion a unique Victorian Gothic house hidden in a beautiful Cotswold valley. It is an unfinished masterpiece. Building started about 1857, but mysterious stopped in the mid-1860s. Floors and ceilings are missing, walls not plastered and windows unglazed. All the secrets of the construction of the Mansion are visible - something vou will never see in another Country House.

On the Eastern side of the Cotswolds, Blenheim Palace is an extraordinary place. It’s a World Heritage Site and the only non Royal, non episcopal palace in Britain. Blenheim Palace was built to mark a series of spectacular military victories against the French. The scale is enormous.

Kelmscott Manor was the scene of a tragic love affair. It’s the perfect Cotswold manor house. In Victorian times (19th Century) Kelmscott Manor was leased by William Morris and his friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Both were artists, Morris a hugely influential designer of wallpaper and furnishings (still popular today) with connections to Liberty shop in London. Morris brought his family to The Manor, which was then a setting for a love affair between Jane, Morris’s wife, and Rossetti. Morris accommodated the arrangement in the interests of his wife and friend. These days you can visit the house, see the designs and crafts and learn the whole story. There’s a fine garden too - a terrific day out from hotels in cotswolds.

The ‘visiting a country house’ from hotels in Cotswolds experience is never complete without afternoon tea in the cafe and maybe a visit to a garden shop. Most are open between April and October.