Bourton–on-the-Water

Bourton–on-the-Water

This is the quintessential Cotswold village, with the history dating from the Celts. Bourton is referring to the nearby hill fort.  The ‘water’ in the village’s name is the River Windrush, which flows gently through the villages, heart its narrow channel lined with low, graceful stone bridges.

Evidence of human habitation dates back to the Stone Age and Bronze Age, Iron Age currency bars excavated in the 2oth century can be seen in the British Museum.

During Anglo-Saxon times, Bourton-on-the-Water developed into a strategic outpost along the ancient Roman Road that cut across England from the North Sea to St. George’s Channel.

The Roman settlement was first discovered in 1875 when gravel-digging took place in a field about 90 m from Bourton Bridge.

The origins of the Roman settlement belong in the large, bivallate Iron-Age fortification at nearby Salmonsbury.

During the Middles Ages, Bourton–on-the-Water prosperity came from wool, which was shipped all over Europe.

When the wool trade ended, Bourton became a forgotten backwater which helped preserve its wealth of medieval buildings.

Tourists began arriving in numbers in 1881, when the town became accessible by rail.
Bourton–on-the-Water

Bourton–on-the-Water