Shipston-on-Stour

Shipston-on-Stour is a small market town in the far south of Warwickshire, on the northern fringe of the Cotswolds AONB where the limestone uplands give way to the red-brick vernacular of the south Midlands. Despite technically lying just outside the Gloucestershire Cotswolds, Shipston has always been closely linked to the wider Cotswolds economy, serving as a market town for the surrounding villages and for the sheep trade that once moved through the area in great numbers — the name Shipston derives from 'Scepweisctun', meaning sheep-wash town.

The town retains a proper market town character, centred on its broad High Street and the Church of St Edmund. The Tuesday market continues a tradition stretching back centuries, and the town has a solid selection of independent businesses. The surrounding countryside is mixed agricultural land with the rolling quality typical of the Stour valley, and the distinctive outline of the Edge Hills is visible to the north on clear days.

Shipston sits within easy reach of Chipping Campden, Moreton-in-Marsh and the vale of Evesham, making it a useful and relatively quiet base for the northern Cotswolds. The small village of Brailes, four miles to the north, has a church known as the 'Cathedral of the Feldon' for its impressive size, and the Rollright Stones are a short drive away on the Oxfordshire border.