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. 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.
