Pictures of Temple Guiting

About Temple Guiting

The peaceful village of Temple Guiting lies in the idyllic Windrush Valley, as do the pretty villages of Guiting Power and Kineton, all of which are blessed with a smattering of glowing cotswold stone cottages set along tree lined lanes interlaced with soft meadows brim full of grazing cattle and sheep.

Leigh Wood, lies just south of Temple Guiting. These beautiful woods are home to a rich variety of plants and wildlife, they are cool and shady with interesting trails to follow. Both the woods and the Tudor manor at Temple Guiting are owned by Christchurch College, Oxford. The manor was quite probably a summer residence for the Bishop's of Oxford.

All along here the Windrush dashes merrily on it's twisting journey through woods and fields and in summer it leaves gravelly fords bare and easy to cross. At Kineton, there is a medieval packhorse bridge, which in winter when the river is given to flood, makes the crossing easier and at one point, deep within the watery woodland a narrow foot-bridge is created by a slab of thick ancient stone.

Guiting Power, is just a short distance from Kineton and is 'pure cotswolds' from the honey coloured houses to the vast expanses of greens that surround them. To the back of the church there is a footpath that leads across open fields to a point where the land rises slightly revealing softly sloping fields abundant with wild flowers and rich grasses. From this vantage point there are extensive views down the Windrush Valley. There is a rare and peaceful quality to these little villages and the ancient woodland that surrounds them. When the sun-light is fading and shadows lengthening the land becomes strangely still and is seemingly shrouded in mystery. You should visit this beautiful area, tarry a while and stroll through the old hamlets and woods, they are indeed the stuff that picture post cards and precious paintings are made of.