Naunton

Naunton is a quiet village in the upper Windrush valley, stretched along the floor of a narrow valley between steep limestone hillsides on the high wolds between Bourton-on-the-Water and Winchcombe. Its linear plan — a single lane of farms and cottages following the infant Windrush — gives it a distinctive character quite different from the nucleated villages of the broader Cotswolds, and its seclusion makes it one of the more peaceful places in the region to take an afternoon walk.

The village's most distinctive feature is its fine sixteenth-century dovecote, one of the best-preserved in Gloucestershire, standing in a farmyard near the village centre. Medieval dovecotes were important estate buildings, providing a reliable source of meat and eggs for the manor, and the quality of the Naunton example reflects the prosperity of the medieval estate here. The Church of St Andrew has Norman origins and contains interesting medieval stonework including some good carved capitals.

Naunton is excellent walking country, with footpaths running up onto the surrounding wolds in every direction. The Windrush valley walk connects the village easily to Bourton-on-the-Water to the east, while the high ground above gives wide views across the central Cotswolds. The Black Horse pub in the village is one of those straightforward country pubs that relies on its genuineness rather than any particular reinvention.