Cotswolds – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Seemingly a leafy town

When I say ‘landscape’ I’m thinking here of the way the rising hills and the meandering river valley reveal a town snuggled into a cosy couterpane of woodland as in the photo.

Cirencester’s church tower

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Image of the day – 194

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image whenever I can.

Seen at a distance from the east, Cirencester’s buildings are almost entirely hidden by trees. Only the tallest structures remain visible, mostly just the tower of the Parish Church. This telephoto shot shows it clearly; I’ve compensated for some summer haze by increasing the contrast a little.

Inside the town

It’s a very different matter when you’re in the town itself. Most of the larger buildings are in and around the Market Place. The church tower is at the western end of the Market Place and really all you can see are buildings. From the Abbey Grounds there are views over the rising land to the east across Tar Barrow Field towards the point where I took this photo (here’s the opposite view from near the tower towards the higher ground where I took today’s image). Northwards, the Cotswold Hills rise ever higher as you approach Gloucester and Cheltenham where the land falls suddenly and steeply about 300 m to the floor of the Severn Valley. In the West the hills increase towards Stroud and Tetbury as they also do to the south on the roads heading for Swindon and Marlborough.

Central Cirencester therefore lies in a hollow, part of the Churn Valley, and because the Churn meanders along its course there appear to be hills in every direction. Without the wandering of this valley, Cirencester would have hills mostly on the east and west. If it wasn’t for the church tower, Cirencester would be invisible from every direction, hidden by woodland and fields with scattered hedgerow trees, until you reach the built environment.

The old centre dates mostly to the 18th and 19th centuries with many wool merchant’s houses built of cut Cotswold stone blocks, often built in Georgian ashlar style and now converted to shops and offices. There are a few, scattered, timber-built properties remaining in some of the older streets in the town, almost entirely within 1½ km of the town centre. There are other wooden buildings now hidden, re-fronted in Georgian times with stone. Further out are Victorian and Edwardian streets, then houses from the 1920s and 30s, followed by post war housing estates from the 40s, 50s and right up to the present day. The town is still expanding.

Landscape affects the feel of a place

It’s important to notice this because the principle applies far more widely than you might, at first, think. When I say ‘landscape’ I’m thinking here of the way the rising hills and the meandering river valley reveal a town snuggled into a cosy couterpane of woodland as in the photo above. The entire feel of the town depends to a great extent on the underlying landscape features and the ten thousand years of water erosion since the end of the last ice-age. Had these events not taken place, Cirencester and its Roman predecessor, Corinium, would have been very different from the places they actually are and were.

Just consider how this applies to other aspects of life. Here’s a short list to consider. It really is a fundamental process.

Education – Shapes a person’s entire life.
Character – This affects how other people will understand you and treat you in life.
Genetics – Will affect everything from skin colour to health issues.
Wealth – Can open doors, create or close opportunities.
Faith – May provide strength to persevere, can bring peace and calm in difficulties.
Vision – Nobody can do what they cannot imagine!

Have a think about your own life. What things have been fundamental in shaping who you are and what you have achieved (or may achieve)? What has been really special so far in life? What is the ‘landscape’ underlying your life and how has it affected you and the way others perceive you?

You might also like:

Cirencester Hospital

A grand old house in Cirencester

Cirencester Abbey

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Churn flooding

Some buildings, like the lovely, old Cotswold stone house in the photo, were often built quite close to the area of flooding, choosing ground just high enough to stay dry.

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Image 105 – What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every day or so.

This view of the Churn flowing through the village of Baunton, a little north-east of Cirencester, shows it spilling over its banks and spreading across a field; this is normal, winter-time behaviour for the Churn for much of its length. Rising near the top of the Cotswolds at Seven Springs south of Cheltenham, it has cut a winding valley running towards Cirencester, the southern half of which is liable to flood.

Some buildings, like the lovely, old, Cotswold stone house in the photo, were often built quite close to the area of flooding, choosing ground just high enough to stay dry. Many other buildings in villages like Baunton were built a little higher still.

Historically, the regularly flooded land would serve as summer grazing and provide a hay crop in late summer. In this way, cattle could be kept on the land with a stock of hay as supplementary feed when winter grazing on the hillsides was prevented by snowfall. Higher (and drier) land could provide other crops like barley and wheat.

South of Cirencester, the Churn joins the Thames at Cricklade, and the combined flood plain is quite extensive. North Meadow on the edge of Cricklade is bordered by the converging rivers and is famous for its huge colony of snakeshead fritillaries By the time the Thames reaches Lechlade, it is navigable all the way to London and out into the North Sea.

When: 23rd December 2023
Where: Baunton, Gloucestershire

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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