Moreton-in-Marsh

Situated at the crossing of the Roman Fosse Way (now the A429) and the old  London to Worcester highway (A44), Moreton-in-Marsh came to early prominence as  a coaching stop. Its broad High Street is lined with elegant 17th and 18th  Century buildings, among them the White Hart Royal, a former manor house in  which King Charles I sheltered during the Civil War.

Opposite the Redesdale Hall, a neo-Tudor building dating from 1887, the old  Curfew Tower still boasts its original clock and bell, dated 1633. The 'Four  Shires Stone' on the eastern outskirts of the town denotes the original meeting  place of the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and  Worcestershire. There has been such a monument here since Saxon times, but  recent rationalisation of county boundaries has robbed the site of its  Worcestershire connection.

Although not one of the principal Markets during the heyday of the Cotswold  wool trade, Moreton-in-Marsh now claims the largest open-air street market in  the Cotswolds. Every Tuesday, thousands of visitors arrive by coach, car and  train to browse around the 200+ stalls. Moreton-in-Marsh is now a tourist centre  with several gift and craft shops, although not as commercial as nearby Bourton  or Stow. Each year it holds a successful Agricultural Show on the first Saturday  of September.