Guiting Power

Guiting Power village green and cross

Summary

A lovely Cotswold village. The church boasts a quite superb Norman doorway.

The Village

Well, I make no bones about it, Guiting Power is one of my favourite Cotswold villages. You could argue that there is nothing terribly striking about the village, and you'd be right; yet the combination of the countryside setting, the small village green set round with warm-toned Cotswold stone cottages, and the wonderful little church is quite marvellous.

Come here on a lazy summer's day and you'll see what I mean; it is hard to imagine a more typically welcoming Cotswold village than Guiting Power.

The village lies beside a small stream, a tributary of the River Windrush. There was a Saxon settlement here, belonging to the Sherrif of Gloucestershire, but after the Norman invasion, the estate passed to the crown. Remains of a very early church have been found and excavated, but the current church dates from the early Norman period and has strong Knights Templar associations.

The Church

St Michael's and All Angels is a wonderful example of a Norman church. The south door of St Michael's is one of the best examples of Norman style I've seen in a parish church. Strangely, the door opens, not onto a covered porch, as you'd expect, but straight into the south transept of the church.

If you take the time to explore the church, you'll notice a very small child-sized coffin, tucked into a corner by the pulpit. This is of Saxon origin and was found under the floor of the chancel. It is believed to be one of the smallest Saxon sarcophagi in Britain.

Location
On a minor road off the B4068

The Farmers Arms pub

Entering the village

St Michael's Church