Naunton Village
Approaching along the B4068 from Stow-on-the-Wold, Naunton lies hidden in a fold of the hills scooped by the River Windrush on its way to Bourton on the Water. The lane into Naunton turns off the main road just where it crosses the Windrush at Harford Bridge. Just down-stream from the bridge, beyond the farmstead of Lower Harford, the bones of an abandoned medieval village can be traced in the fields.
The lane into Naunton skirts the water meadows through which the Windrush
lazily meanders. At the entrance to the village, the mill house stands
prominently on your left.
A little further on lies Cromwell House built around 1600. Cromwell himself may not have lived here, but this was the home of the Parliamentarian Richard Aylworth, who served with him in defeating the Royalists near Stow-on-the-Wold in 1644.
A few yards further is the Black Horse, offering good food and hospitality
to refresh the traveller. An alternative to following the road offers
itself opposite the Black Horse, where a footpath follows the far bank
of the Windrush upstream.
Whether following the road or the footpath (slippery when wet), you will pass typical Cotswold cottages with local stone slate roofs.
In the nineteenth century Naunton prospered from the supply of stone roofing slates to Oxford, declining from 1850 onwards when railways brought cheaper Welsh slate.
Whether following road or footpath, 100 yards or so will bring you to
Naunton's famous and historic Dovecote, recently restored by the dedicated
efforts of villagers. This magnificent dovecote was built around 1600,
when doves were valued as meat, and has 1176 nest holes.
The small building on the river bank just above the Dovecote was a one-time pump house, which supplied the first electricity in Naunton to the Manor from a water-driven generator.
Continuing along the road, a short steep bank is climbed past the old village school.
At several
places the old water pumps still stand beside the road.
The next prominent building is the Chapel, standing proudly over the valley. In its courtyard is one of the village's two war memorials. At the end of First World War proposals for a single memorial on the village green were rejected, resulting in Chapel and Church installing memorials of their own. Thirteen of the 65 Nauntonians who went to the Great War were killed - their names recalled on both memorials.
Beyond the Chapel the road bends sharply round the aptly-named tiny Pixie
Cottage.
In the "quadrangle" to the side of Pixie Cottage is a unique sign promoting "Turog bread", produced for many years in the bakery building to which it is attached.
The cottage just beside the bridge is linked to a different industry, being the village's old cider mill.
On the left beyond the bridge is Naunton's magnificent old vicarage.
From 1860 to 1897, the Reverend Edward Litton lived here. He was sometimes visited by his friend from Oxford, Charles Dodgson - better known as Lewis Carroll. It is said that it was Litton's daughter Alice who inspired the heroine of 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Reverend
Litton was responsible for building the house facing the green which is
named after him.
After a rest on the bench on the village green, watching the rooks in the rookery overhead, the Parish Church may be visited. It has two unique sundials on the tower, one-dated 1748.
Inside, next to the war memorial is a wooden cross brought back from the trenches of Flanders, simply marked with the name of Gunner J. Bartlett "interred in France".
Back at the village green, the dead-end lane of Dale Street may be followed
past traditional low cottages with mullioned windows.
At the end of Dale Street a track continues alongside the water-meadow - or "Mill Hays" -of the Windrush back to the Dovecote, enabling a very pleasant circuit to be completed around the western end of the village.
