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A Short History of Northleach town and Cotteswold House
When the town of Northleach was planned in about 1180 AD, the plot of land on which Cotteswold House was built was one of about 100 “Burgage” plots laid out. Eac h plot was 11 yards( 33 feet) wide by 110 yards (330 feet) long, and this was taken as the amount of land required to keep the animals - cows, sheep, pigs - and grow sufficient food to feed a family.
There has been a house on the site ever since and, of course, the house has been built, rebuilt, modified and extended on a regular basis ever since. As a consequence, the house has evolved, rather than been planned, and you will find rooms on all different levels, with strange shapes for little or no apparent reason
The earliest part we have found dates from about 1420, but the majority of the building dates from the
16th Century. The oak panel in the dining hall and the archway into the snug both date from Tudor times, and there is a fine carved fireplace in the Tudor Suite bedroom, built by Thomas Parker, a wool merchant who inherited the house from his uncle, the Bishop of Gloucester in 1570
There are records of Queen Elizabeth the First having dined with Thomas Parker, perhaps in the Dining Hall. It is known that the Queen disliked large rooms. Hand guns had recently been invented, so large and crowded rooms were thought of as dangerous places by all wealthy people.
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