Mickleton, Gloucestershire

Mickleton is the most northerly village in Gloucestershire and lies on the western fringe of the Cotswold hills, just north of Chipping Campden. Nearby attractions include Kiftsgate Court Gardens and the National Trust's Hidcote Manor Gardens.

History

The village name is thought to derive from the Saxon word 'Mycclantune', which translates as a very descriptive 'large village'.

The earliest written record of Mickleton comes from AD 960 when King Edgar granted the church and parish of Mickleton to a man named Brithoties. The holding later passed to the Earl of Devonshire. When the Earl founded the Abbey of Eynsham in AD 1005 he gave them the manor of Mickleton.

Timber-framed thatched cottages, High Street

The abbey held Mickleton until it was dissolved under Henry VIII, leasing it to a succession of families including the Porters, who held a long-term lease from 1494. The lease passed into Crown hands in 1591 and then to the Graves family. The best-known of the Graves was Richard Graves, a poet and linguist (b. 1715). Richard Graves' friend, William Shenstone, helped landscape the Mickleton Manor grounds.

The portico of Mickleton Manor was later taken down, piece by piece, and reassembled at Kiftsgate Court, home to a superb garden laid out on a steep hillside. The manor itself was transformed into a school but has now been remodelled into four separate residences.

Just outside Mickleton is Meon Hill, topped by an Iron Age hillfort. Tradition says that Meon Hill was the inspiration for 'Weathertop' in the JRR Tolkien classic, 'The Lord of the Rings'.

St Lawrence Church

Mickleton's attractive parish church dates to the 12th century, and the nave remains from this early medieval building. The aisles and western end of the nave were added in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The west tower, with its striking spire, was added in the 14th century, while the chancel is 15th century, as is the clerestory. The porch was added in the 17th century and the entire building was restored in 1868.

Historical highlights include a 1661 font, 17th-century pulpit, and altar rails of the same date. There are 8 bells, with the oldest cast in 1668.

Several 16th-century houses survive today in Mickleton, including a terrace of thatched cottages on the High Street.

The Butcher's Arms

Mickleton Conservation Area

The historic village centre of Mickleton, based on parts of High Street, Chapel Lane, Mill Lane, and St Lawrence Church, form a conservation area. Perhaps the most impressive of the historical buildings preserved here is Medford House, built in 1694 for Samuel Medford.

As of this writing, there are 38 listed buildings in Mickleton. One is the King's Arms inn, whose history goes back to at least 1592. The Butcher's Arms is a relative newcomer, dating to at least 1844, though the building was erected in the 17th century. Also in Mickleton is the Three Ways House Hotel, home to a pudding club, whose mission since 1985 has been to preserve the Great British Pudding.

Medford House, 1698

The village hall was built in 1911 to mark the coronation of King George VI, while the Methodist chapel dates to 1891.

Mickleton was awarded the Bledisloe Cup in 1983 as the Best Kept Small Village in Britain, and in 1996 was named Gloucestershire's Best Kept Village.

The Heart of England Way long distance path runs through the village.

Visiting

Mickleton is a lovely Cotswold village, full of picturesque buildings, and well deserves a visit, if for no other reason than to stroll through the beautiful conservation area at the heart of the village.

The village is located at the junction of the B4632 and the B4081, three miles north of Chipping Campden. We didn't notice any village car park, but it was easy to find parking along the road.