Stanton

Stanton is perhaps the most perfectly preserved village in the Cotswolds — a place where almost every building is of Cotswold stone and every proportion feels exactly right. The main street rises gently from the valley floor towards the escarpment above, lined on both sides by seventeenth-century farmhouses and cottages of exceptional quality. On a sunny afternoon the whole village glows with the warmth of honey-coloured limestone in a way that feels almost too good to be real.

The village owes its remarkable state of preservation largely to the architect Sir Philip Stott, who purchased most of Stanton in 1906 and spent forty years restoring its buildings with great care and sensitivity. Unlike many estate villages, his work enhanced rather than sanitised the genuine character of the architecture, and the result feels far more authentic than many places that have received less sympathetic attention. The Church of St Michael and All Angels at the top of the street has traces going back to Norman times.

The Mount Inn near the top of the village has a terrace with views across the vale that rank among the best pub views in the Cotswolds. Stanton sits on the Cotswold Way footpath, and the walk up onto the escarpment and across the high wolds is one of the most rewarding in the northern Cotswolds. Stanway, a mile to the south, and Snowshill, two miles to the north, make natural companions to a visit here.