Attractions and Places To See around Coln St. Aldwyns - Top 20

Can get busy with traffic but lots of side roads and walking pathetic to explore

It's beautiful in a overrun-with-tourists kinda way, but the Deli here is excellent for coffee, food and expensive Italian ingredients that you don't need on a bike ride, but want.

Beautiful, peaceful church with a long and fascinating history, first established in 899 and now a Grade I-listed Anglo-Saxon church built in the 11th century and added to over the centuries.

"Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 kilometres) northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable architectural conservation area depicted on the inside cover of some British passports. It is a major destination for tourists visiting the traditional rural villages, tea houses and many historic buildings of the Cotswold District; it is one of six places in the country featured in Mini-Europe, Brussels. In the Domesday Book (1086), a record of survey done under William the Conqueror, the place is named Becheberie, and it is recorded that the lands and church in Bibury were held by St. Mary's Priory at Worcester, from whom it passed in 1130 to the Abbey of Osney, near Oxford: the Abbey continued to hold it until its dissolution in 1540." Source: Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibury

"The Cotswolds is home to some fine churches, and Bibury is no exception. The first church in Bibury was established in 899 and the Grade I listed Anglo-Saxon church which stands today was built in the middle to late 11th century with further work in subsequent centuries. Bibury is best known for Arlington Row and the Bibury Trout Farm, but make sure you wander down the river, past the almshouses, and make your way to the oldest part where you will find the Church. This lovely church, away from the honeypot of Arlington Row, can feel like an oasis of calm where you can take in Norman doorway arches, a 13th century font, Saxon chancel columns, capitals and gravestones, 17th-century table tombs a 15th-century roof and 18th-century wall monuments." Source: Explore Bibury

Saint JOHN BAPTIST, to whom this church is dedicated, is a person on the threshold of the Old and New Testaments (just like the Holy Family with Mary and Joseph). His parents are Zacharias and Elizabeth. After the announcement of the Incarnation of God through them, the Mother of God visits her relative Elizabeth, who will give birth to a son in old age, namely John the Baptist. He is half a year older than Jesus and is considered his forerunner/pioneer. He lives in the desert, preaches repentance from sins to the Jewish population and baptizes them in the Jordan. Jesus also comes there to be baptized, and is filled with the Holy Spirit who descends upon him from heaven. The memorial day of Saint John Baptist in the calendar of saints is June 24th, exactly half a year before 'Christmas Eve'.

As a memorial to the many dead, such memorials - usually called "war memorials" in English - are still very important today. "Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said..." says the so-called "Hymn of Simeon" (Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, Verse 29). However, the people commemorated here did not depart in peace, but became victims of war and tyranny. This is why the term "dead soldiers' memorial" is now sometimes used in German instead of the previously most common "war memorial". However, such a war memorial, which one encounters so often on the road, regardless of nationality, language and name, is always a testimony - still significant and current today - to the horror of war and tyranny. They all have two essential functions, and this for each generation anew: -1- Commemorate and remember the victims -2- Remind people to keep the peace

Bibury is often titled the most beautiful village in the whole of the UK, and for good reason, Its idyllic beauty and quintessential British charm make it really stand out from the crowd. Perhaps the most iconic feature of this delightful little village is Arlington Row, a row of 17th century cottages which overlook the tranquil River Coln.