There are many historic towns in the area with attractive buildings, interesting shops and good places to eat and drink. Students might like to visit some of the places listed on the way to and from the summer school, companions might find inspiration and those attending the open day from further afield might decide to take detours. The Wednesday afternoon is free from lessons and some of these places are options within
the visit programme for students and companions.
Grouped together within “
Shakespeare's County” are:
Warwick (10 miles) has a large and thriving
castle, several museums, the Lord Leycester Hospital (for retired soldiers) and
St Mary's Church where the Beauchamp Chapel holds the elaborate tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker.
Kenilworth Castle (15 miles) is mainly ruins but they have reconstructed an Elizabethan garden such as the Earl of Leicester would have made as part of his elaborate preparations for the visit of Queen Elizabeth.
Royal Leamington Spa (10 miles) is a Regency town.
The Pump Rooms now house the Museum, Art Gallery and Library If you are brave enough you can taste the water – it tastes pretty horrible so it must be good for you!
Rugby (19 miles) is a market town famous for its school and invention of the game. In Summer 2015 there are special
World Rugby Cup Tours. Near to Rugby is the village of
Dunchurch (with Gunpowder plot connections) and nearby
Toft Alpaca stud (which does visits).
Coventry (19 miles) is well known for Lady Godiva its
adjoining old and new Cathedrals and
vast Graham Sutherland tapestry (cleaned in 2015 ready for your
visit!). AGWSD members will be interested in its silk-weaving past.
The Weaver's House,
St Mary's Guildhall and
Herbert Museum are options for the Wednesday student visit programme.
And, of course,
Stratford-upon-Avon, (9 miles) Shakespeare's Birthplace. See
information on the properties owned by the Birthplace Trust. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre www.rsc.org.uk . There are boat trips on the river.
Birmingham (39
miles, regular trains from Leamington) is a large city with lots to
explore including several art galleries and museums, with a fantastic
collection of Pre-Raphelite works. Birmimgham has a Jewelry Quarter tied to its history in silversmithing and a
Chinatown and
Balti Triangle celebrating its multicultural nature.
Towards the Cotswolds
If you drive South through Kineton up the escarpment to
Edgehill, site of the first battle of the Civil War, past Upton House (N.T.) you move from Warwickshire into the Cotswolds. The next town is
Banbury (c 20miles from the college) famed for its Cross from the nursery rhyme, which is still there, and its Cakes, which are in recipe books but which may be hard to find in the town. .
There are many attractive
Cotswold towns and villages within a short drive.
Follow the Fosse Way south and you go through
Moreton in Marsh (6.5 miles) (and
Stow-on-the-Wold (5 miles further) and continue to
Cirencester (40 miles from Moreton Morrell) a Roman town which thrived in the Middle Ages. All on the Cotswolds Information site above .
Chipping Campden (17 miles) an old centre of the wool trade, was later the home of the Guild of Handicraft led by C.R. Ashbee. Their work is celebrated in the Court Barn Museum, and continues in the workshops of the Silk Mill.
There are several renowned gardens in the area :
Hidcote Manor (N .T.)
Kiftsgate Court, (next to each other, 14.5 miles)
Sezincote, (20 miles)
Bourton House, (19.5 miles) and
Batsford Arboretum (18 miles).
Woodstock and
Blenheim Palace with nearby Bladon where Churchill is buried, are about 35 miles with the dreaming spires of
Oxford a further 10 miles on the same road – we advise you to Park and Ride as parking in the city centre is extremely limited. You can also get a train from Leamington Spa Station to Oxford.
Or perhaps a trip to
Hook Norton (18 miles from the college) to see the Brewery.
