Blockley

Mill Dene Gardens, Blockley

Summary

Blockley is a "jaw-drop pretty" Cotswold village with a striking church.

Cottages on St George's Terrace
beside the green

The Village

There ought to be a law that villages can't look as pretty as this! It's a lucky thing that I didn't cause an accident when I first came around a corner on the road from Moreton in Marsh and spied the tower of St Peter and St Paul peering above the greenery that encompasses Blockley.

If first impressions count for anything, Blockley is guaranteed a spot on my top 10 Cotswold villages list. Blockley has been called one of the Cotswold's best-kept secrets.

You won't find Blockley mentioned in many guides to the area, which is a bit of a mystery considering what a lovely village it is. Certainly, there are none of the drawbacks of more "tourist-oriented" Cotswold villages. You will see no "Ye Olde Shoppe" here, and the experience for those who take the time to make the short drive from nearby Moreton in Marsh is all the better for it.

St Peter & St Paul's Church

Blockley has roots in the wool industry, as do many Cotswold villages, but when the wool trade began to pale in the late medieval period Blockley turned to silk, and for many years it was a prosperous centre of the silk industry, supplying material for mills in the Midlands. At one time there were 8 mills in the area, but those days are long gone too.

The mills are now private dwellings, and the primary reason to visit Blockley is simply the attractive setting and welcoming Cotswold architecture, in which the village abounds. Most houses are built of warm Cotswold stone, and though many buildings survive from the medieval period, much of Blockley's historic architecture is 17th and 18th century.

The church

The parish church of St Peter and St Paul was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The architecture is a mix of Norman and Early English and the tower dates to 1180, with much 18th-century restoration work.

Beyond the undoubted natural attractions of the village setting and the historic architecture, the only other place in Blockley that qualifies as a visitor attraction is Mill Dene Garden, a delightful 2 1/2 acre garden built upon a number of shallow terraces. Blockley is approximately halfway between Chipping Campden and Moreton in Marsh, on the B4479.