Absolute Touring

Swans on River Coln and Arlington Row

• 'The most beautiful village in England', so said William Morris, 19th-century artist and poet
• The clear waters of the River Coln run through the village; trout can often be seen – escapees perhaps from the nearby Trout Farm?!
• Arlington Row, a terrace of gabled and Cotswolds-slated cottages now in the care of the National Trust, was originally a 14th-century sheephouse: in the 17th-century the houses were converted to house weavers for the nearby Arlington Mill
• The road bridge across the river dates from 1770
• The Mill is now a Folk Museum – some of the mill’s machinery is still in operation
• Rack Isle, just across the river is so-named because cloth was laid out there to dry – now a wildfowl sanctuary
• St. Mary's church has a narrow opening in the wall, which was used to count the sheep which would be blessed once in the churchyard.
• The Swan Hotel occupies a wonderful position by the bridge, its flower beds mingling with the pools of the Trout Farm
• Bibury Court Hotel dates from Tudor times, the main part built in 1633; while the Catherine Wheel Inn, the local pub, is a 15th century building

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Approx 45 minutes west of Oxford