Cotswold

The Cotswold district lies in Gloucestershire in South West England and covers a large swathe of the Cotswold Hills and adjacent lowland. The district contains sections of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is underlain by Jurassic limestone that gives many villages their honey-coloured stone. Cirencester is the administrative centre, with visible Roman remains such as the amphitheatre and the Corinium Museum's Romano-British collections. Near Kemble the spring known as Thames Head is often cited as the source of the River Thames.

Market towns in the district include Tetbury, Moreton-in-Marsh, Chipping Campden and Fairford, with regular markets and historic market houses linked to the medieval wool trade. RAF Fairford on the eastern side of the district is a long-standing airbase and hosts the Royal International Air Tattoo. Public footpaths and lanes link villages and commons, and local land use mixes pasture, arable fields and managed woodlands. District services and planning are provided by Cotswold District Council, based in Cirencester.