My favourite thing about the Cotswolds is without doubt the food. You could build a Cotswolds holiday around visiting the farmers markets. But beyond the culinary delights there are two must visit places that encapsulate the area for me.

Firstly, Chipping Campden’s Market Hall – a small, simple, open building on Chipping Campden High Street. It manages to sum up reams of Cotswold history in its old, worn stones – wool, commerce, food, noble patronage, Jacobean architecture, purposeful simplicity of design. It’s a real all-in-one and, unlike its grander counterparts, it’s completely free to visit.

Then there was the time I walked down the stony footpath towards the North Leigh Roman villa, and ended up – completely alone – beside the remnants of this ancient mansion, a few yards from the River Evenlode. Green wooded hills on both sides echoed with the bleats of sheep, a train passed on the Cotswold Line. It was utterly peaceful, at the heart of England, with 2,000 years of history before my eyes.

Photo courtesy of littlemisspurps on Flickr.