Chipping Sodbury lies at the foot of the southern Cotswold escarpment below Dodington Park in southern Gloucestershire 8 miles north-west of Bristol. As the Chipping in its name implies, it was once an important market centre in medieval times and stands at the crossroads on the main route between Bristol, Oxford and London.
Chipping Sodbury is very similar to Chipping Norton in that it has a long market square,
or Chepynge, as it was called in the medieval times and hence 'Chipping'. Known as Broad
Street, this is bordered with a wonderful assortment of houses from every period, but largely
17th-century Cotswold stone buildings or Georgian of mellow brick. Most of these are now
occupied by bright and cheerful shops which still retain a lively country atmosphere.
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To the east of Chipping Sodbury town, high on the Cotswold escarpment, is the village of Old Sodbury, with views from the churchyard over the Severn plain towards Bristol. Above the 15th-century manor house at the nearby village of Little Sodbury is a massive Iron Age hill-fort.
St
John the Baptist's Church at Old Sodbury
The Village of Little Sodbury has
substantial historical associations. The manor house, with its quite
outstanding 15th-century Great Hall, played host to Henry VIII and
Anne Boleyn; and William Tyndale, the first man to translate the
bible into English, was employed here as a tutor and chaplain in
1521 until his plans and ideas, compelled him to move abroad.
St. Adeline's church at Little Sodbury - the only one in England to be dedicated to this saint. There are two possible explanations, either because the Norman lord of the manor came from an area in Normandy where there was a convent founded by the Saint; or because she was the patron saint of Flemish weavers who worked in the area.
Near the Sodburys is the Somerset, or
Hawkesbury Monument, which commemorates Lord Edward Somerset,
one of the Badminton Beauforts, who served in the battle of
Waterloo with exceptional gallantry .
Church of St. John in Chipping Sodbury
The Somerset Monument near the Sodburys
Great Badminton
The village of Great Badminton (Badminton) is located 6 miles east of Chipping Sodbury and 11 miles south-west of the Cotswold town of Tetbury.
The name is particularly famous for the world class Badminton 3 Day Horse Trials held in
Spring. The village sits on one of the most famous estates in Britain; the large estate
of the Duke of Beaufort. The name 'Badminton' also evokes the image of the shuttlecock
high net court game. The game was invented at Badminton House in 1870, the court's standard
measurement being dictated by the dimensions of the house's large hall.
Sherston Village
Sherston is a very attractive village set in the north-west of Wiltshire. The large parish
includes the hamlets of Pinkney, or Sherston Parva, to the north east, and Willesley and
Knockdown on the northern boundary. The parish once extended further to the north and included
Silk Wood, now part of the Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire.
The village is about 5.5 miles from both Malmesbury and Tetbury.
Sherston is famous for its Boules and Carnival Weekend in July.
Westonbirt Arboretum
Westonbirt Arboretum is 11 miles northwest of Chipping Sodbury and is one of the finest collection of trees and shrubs in Europe.
St
John the Baptist's Church at Old Sodbury 
