Ridiculously Beautiful - Stanton

The village of Stanton is a ten-minute drive from Winchcombe and is an almost too perfect example of the idyllic and typical Cotswold style - with steeply pitched gables, mullioned windows and warm honey coloured limestone walls.  Pevsner calls it ‘architecturally, the most distinguished of the smaller villages in the North Cotswolds’.  Sir Nikolaus Pevsner was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England.

Stanton takes its name from 'stan' (stone) from which it is built, and the village contains a number of 16th and 17th century houses as well as a restored, medieval cross and the church of St. Michael and All Angels dates from c1100 although an earlier foundation (probably to the ninth century) would not be surprising.   

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Stanton appears as 'land of the Church of Winchcombe', with 3 hides (c. 360 acres), 14 villagers, 3 smallholders and 6 slaves. The annual rental value was £3.0.0 (three times that of Birmingham).

Paul and I enjoyed Sunday lunch at the Stanton village pub – The Mount.  It is aptly named as it is situated on the steep Shenbarrow Hill at the end of the village.  However, it is worth the trek as one is rewarded with a locally brewed Donnington pint or G&T whilst sitting in the garden and admiring the fabulous views across the Vale of Evesham towards the Malvern Hills and – on a clear day – the Welsh mountains beyond.

See the brief slideshow below of some of the cottages and the church in Stanton: