Cheltenham and Gloucester

A busy day in the Cotswolds today. We jumped around from Norman architecture, to music, to Roman remains.

The day began with a look at yet another Cathedral. This time the lovely Gloucester Cathedral. We toured this with some family friends who live in Gloucester and who know the Cathedral really well, and they were able to point out many features that we might otherwise have missed; particularly the different styles of architecture that are reflected over the period of its construction. This was also the first Cathedral that I have seen which has fully enclosed cloisters, with stained glass around the outside walls. It also has a particularly large Lady Chapel behind the East window; this is as large as a small church.

From Gloucester, we drove back to Cheltenham, to visit Gustav Holst's birthplace and the Holst Museum which has been created there. This is the house in which Holst was born and lived. It has been refurnished in the Victorian style as it would have been in Holst's time. The museum also holds the piano on which part of "The Planets" was composed.

The final visit for today was to Chedworth Roman Villa, one of the largest Roman villas in England. It took us a while to find it - not an easy place to get to, but we persevered and I am really glad that we did! Some fine examples of Roman mosaic floors have been uncovered here.