Happy New Year from the doorkeeper here! I’ve been wiping down the door, getting the cobwebs away and oiling those rusty hinges from the old blog’s doors! So you are entering a brand new Painted Door! (or Blog) I hope you like the new site, let me know! If you followed my old blog, and want to follow me still, you must re-follow this blog because it is entirely separate from the older blog. The names are very similar, but the sites are totally different. Once you look at them on a computer you will notice quite a difference. Now for today’s doorscursion!

Everyone who visits the UK wants to visit the Cotswolds! All those quaint cottages and tiny little hamlets are just made to be photographed. I kinda feel sorry for the folks that live there. Notice how I said kinda! I read an article about how the village folks feel about tourists coming to their village. Their biggest complaint were people tramping into their gardens, back porches, etc. to get a better photograph. They also hated seeing their cottages featured on everyone’s Christmas cards! Now, who wouldn’t want to live in this thatched cottage, I ask? I actually think it is now two residences separated by a big hedge! The wool trade was responsible for the prosperity of the Cotswolds, but it’s character is a result of an abundance of stone. 

Or you could have a door surrounded in hollyhocks……………

We can go to the Rose Cottages, Chipping House,  Old Poplars Farmhouse or Leysgarth!

Or we can visit the row of blue doors………..

The wool trade was responsible for the prosperity of the Cotswolds, but it’s character is a result of an abundance of stone. In a Cotswold house, almost everything is constructed from the stone, including the roof tiles. In the past almost every village had a quarry of some sort.  Stone blocks would be cut in the winter, which would then, in freezing conditions, split and open like oyster shells, to be pulled apart and set aside to be used as roof tiles. On the roof itself, a wooden framework is crafted and the tiles, via a hole pierced at their weakest point, hung on the battens. Just to let you know, I didn’t tramp or trespass to get these photos, but I did think Chipping Campden was one of the best places in the Cotswolds. I spent a week in a stone cottage (the Featured Cottage) and explored the village, churches and countryside. The stone is very noteworthy. The color of the stone (Oolitic Limestone) is determined by which quarry it came from. Those quarries farther to the north produced the honey colored yellow stone and quarries further south produced a silvery gray colored stone with a kiss of yellow.

The Eadburgha Church in Ebrington shows off both colors of the stone found in the Cotswolds.

The sidewalk to St James Church in Chipping Campden is lined with old tombstones! This huge medieval church seems daunting in such a small village. The rich wool traders wanted to show off their wealth and decided building this church would be the best way to do that! It is impossible not to notice the majestic and elegant tower of the church, that soars above the town from almost every viewpoint. Until the Reformation the church was known as St. Catherine’s, and is one of the finest ‘wool’ churches in all England. Each of the twelve lime trees leading from the main entrance represents one of the apostles. They date from 17th century.

The definition of a folly is; “the lack of good sense or something that lies in the eyes of the beholder.”  Follies have no purpose other than a foolish act.  Often they are a building constructed with a particular purpose such as a castle or tower, but this appearance is a sham or the intended purpose may be disguised! And in the middle of this meadow we find………..

And here is a Cotswold wall, no mortar required.

And another mossy wall with giant ferns in front of a Cotswold hidden door!

Well I hope you have enjoyed are stroll through the Cotswolds today!

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0!   Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors?