The Slaughters

The Slaughters (Lower and Upper) might well win the top spot if forced to choose the nicest Cotswolds villages. Both villages feature traditional Cotswold limestone homes, and the little River Eye stream, a tributary of the River Windrush, connects them. The Eye flows and tinkles beneath a number of stone bridges.

While the name might conjure images of a bloody historic battle, Slaughter actually derives from the Old English word for a miry, muddy place - a “slough” or “slothre” - which describes the land on which the villages lie. Lower Slaughter’s Old Mill is a must-visit beacon of loveliness, with a long history to boot - the 1086 Doomsday Book records a mill on this very site. Today it houses a museum, craft shop, and tearooms, plus a parlor famed far and wide for its home-made ice cream.

Follow the route that follows the Eye upstream to get to Upper Slaughter. As you get closer to the settlement, keep an eye out for the Elizabethan manor on your right. The Lords of the Manor Hotel, a 17th-century former rectory set on 8 acres of gardens and parks with a river running through its lovely grounds, is well worth staying in if you want to live large and aristocratically. You'll discover strolling lanes shaded by trees and charming stone cottages decked with flowers as you explore. You'll get the impression that you've left this world and are now in the land of Mr. and Mrs. Prince Charming, living happily ever after, if you stroll leisurely around the town.

Location: on the shallow River Eye, a few miles north of Bourton-on-the-Water