{"id":550,"date":"2002-11-27T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2002-11-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/2002\/11\/27\/cotswoldwool-churches\/"},"modified":"2018-01-02T07:33:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T07:33:02","slug":"cotswoldwool-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/cotswoldwool-churches.html","title":{"rendered":"Cotswold\nWool Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During the medieval period the Cotswold area underwent a startling<br \/>\ntransition from small scale agriculture to large scale wool production. This<br \/>\nshift, most noticeable by the 15th century, enabled wool merchants to realize<br \/>\ntremendous profits with the aid of the &#8220;Golden Fleece&#8221; produced by<br \/>\nCotswold sheep.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;gold&#8221; in this case refers not to the colour of the fleece<br \/>\nitself but the tremendous economic value it possessed. The prosperous wool<br \/>\nmerchants put back some of the money they earned into their local communities,<br \/>\noften by building manors for themselves, but just as frequently by endowing<br \/>\ntheir parish churches.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;wool churches&#8221; of the Cotswolds are among the most elaborate<br \/>\nand architecturally attractive in the entire country due to the largesse of<br \/>\nsuccessful wool merchants. Many of these magnificent buildings are like<br \/>\nmini-cathedrals, complete with fanciful carvings, elaborate ornamentation and<br \/>\nfunereal monuments inside the church. Taken as a whole, the parish churches of<br \/>\nthe Cotswold area constitute a superb collection of architecturally important<br \/>\nhistoric buildings. And to those who enjoy medieval architecture, the Cotswold<br \/>\nchurches offer an unparalleled experience.<\/p>\n<p>It is perhaps dangerous to single out just a few Cotswold wool churches for<br \/>\nspecial mention, as so many deserve a leisurely visit, but mention should be<br \/>\nmade of a few personal favourites. The church of St. Peter and St. Paul at<br \/>\nNorthleach is one of the finest wool churches in England, with the lavishly<br \/>\ncarved south porch worthy of special note.<\/p>\n<p>As with most wool churches the magnificence of Northleach can be traced to<br \/>\nthe endowments of a few wealthy patrons. In this case the donors were Thomas<br \/>\nFortey (d. 1447 ) and his son John (d. 1458). With its decorated parapets and<br \/>\nsoaring pinnacles Northleach is reminiscent of a fairy tale castle as much as a<br \/>\nparish church.<\/p>\n<p>Another personal favourite would have to be St. Peter at Winchcombe. Not as<br \/>\nfanciful or striking as Northleach, Winchcombe is of slightly later date and<br \/>\nhas suffered at the hands of Victorian restorers. Yet despite this, the church<br \/>\nhas a peculiar charm, due in part to the survival of a profusion of gargoyles<br \/>\npopulating the parapets. These gargoyles, both in human and animal form,<br \/>\nprovide a wonderfully whimsical touch amid the architectural beauty wrought by<br \/>\ngenerations of craftsmen.<\/p>\n<p>I would also be remiss if I didn&#039;t mention St. Mary&#039;s at Fairford.<br \/>\nThe first glimpse of the church rising above low pasture land to the west is<br \/>\nlikely to make unsuspecting visitors stop in their tracks and stare (as I did).<br \/>\nThe ornamentation of the tower is reminiscent of lace, so extravagant is the<br \/>\nstonework.<\/p>\n<p>The magnificence of the carving may seem out of place in this quiet market<br \/>\ntown, but it gives a fascinating glimpse at what life must have been like when<br \/>\nthe &#8220;Golden Fleece&#8221; brought prosperity to this region. Fairford is<br \/>\nunique in that it possesses the most complete set of pre-Reformation stained<br \/>\nglass in the country. As a final, whimsical, touch, look for the carven effigy<br \/>\nof a pet cat just outside the main entry.<\/p>\n<p>For more on the Cotswold region and its magnificent wool churches visit:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170611111633\/http:\/\/the-cotswolds.org\/\">http:\/\/www.the-cotswolds.org\/top\/english\/intro.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: Britainexpress.com<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/santa_line2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"60%\" height=\"36\" border=\"0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/santa_line.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"221\" height=\"36\" border=\"0\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the medieval period the Cotswold area underwent a startling transition from small scale agriculture to large scale wool production. This shift, most noticeable by the 15th century, enabled wool&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-main-article","tag-november-2002"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cotswold Wool Churches - eNewsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cotswold Wool Churches - eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the medieval period the Cotswold area underwent a startling transition from small scale agriculture to large scale wool production. This shift, most noticeable by the 15th century, enabled wool...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eNewsletter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2002-11-27T23:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-02T07:33:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2010\/12\/santa_line2.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Beetle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Beetle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d88d8d26b7a5eee19d4a82efb44decf5\"},\"headline\":\"Cotswold Wool Churches\",\"datePublished\":\"2002-11-27T23:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-02T07:33:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\"},\"wordCount\":531,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/santa_line2.gif\",\"keywords\":[\"November 2002\"],\"articleSection\":[\"archive\",\"Main article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/globetrotters.co.uk\\\/newsletter\\\/cotswoldwool-churches.html\",\"name\":\"Cotswold Wool Churches - 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