3 Best Sights in Broadway, Bath and the Cotswolds

Three miles south of Broadway and 13 miles northeast of Cheltenham, Snowshill is one of the most unspoiled of all Cotswold villages. Snuggled beneath Oat Hill, with little room for expansion, the hamlet is centered on an old burial ground, the 19th-century St. Barnabas Church, and Snowshill Manor, a splendid 17th-century house that brims with the collections of Charles Paget Wade, gathered between 1919 and 1956. Over the door of the house is Wade's family motto, Nequid pereat ("Let nothing perish"). The rooms are bursting with Tibetan scrolls, spinners' tools, ship models, Persian lamps, and bric-a-brac; the Green Room displays 26 suits of Japanese samurai armor. Outside, an imaginative terraced garden provides an exquisite frame for the house. Admission is by timed ticket for a two-hour slot, but you cannot prebook; afternoons are less busy.

Among the attractions of this 200-acre park on the outskirts of town is its 65-foot crenellated tower, an 18th-century "folly" built by the sixth Earl of Coventry and later used by William Morris as a retreat. The panoramic view from the top takes in three counties and looks over peaceful countryside and wandering deer. There are plenty of nature trails and good spots for picnics, as well as a café. Wall panels on the three floors inside describe the tower's connection with the local Arts and Crafts movement and World War II. Note that the spiral staircase is narrow and steep. A nuclear bunker is open, too (extra fee). There's a café and shop.

A perfect Cotswold manor of glowing limestone, Stanway House dates from the late 16th and early 17th century. Its triple-gabled gatehouse is a Cotswold landmark, and towering windows dominate the house's Great Hall. They illuminate a 22-foot-long shuffleboard table from 1620 and an 18th-century bouncing exercise machine. The other well-worn rooms are adorned with family portraits, tattered tapestries, vintage armchairs, and, at times, Lord or Lady Neidpath themselves, the current owners. The partly restored baroque water garden has a modern, single-jet fountain that shoots up 300 feet. The tallest in Britain, it shoots at 2:45 pm and 4 pm. Note that the house is only open in June through August, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and admission is cash-only. To get to Stanway, about 5 miles south of Broadway, take B4632 south from town, turning left at B4077.