Painswick is quite often referred to as the Queen of the Cotswolds due to its fine buildings of pale grey limestone. These are a reflection of the town's former prosperity during 300 years of activity in the cloth industry.
St. Mary's church is largely of the 15th and 16th centuries but the spire was not added until 1632. The churchyard is famed for its 99 yew trees which were planted around 1792. It is said that every time a hundredth tree is planted it dies.
Painswick is a town that contains many notable houses built in the prosperous seventeenth century and has lots of little streets to explore and quaint shops to discover.
On the outskirts of the town the well known Rococo Gardens can be found in a hidden 6 acre valley. The gardens are the last sole survivor from the brief early 18th century period of English Rococo Garden design.
The garden combines formality with informality in a flamboyant style making use of charming garden structures strategically place for effect.
An Interesting Occurrence
Each year on the
Sunday after the feast of the nativity the children of
Painswick encircle the church of St. Mary ,join hands
and perform a dance not unlike the Hokey-Kokie. During
the dance a clypping song is sung, this is believed to
express the parishioners love of the church.
In ancient
times this was a very riotous time with many visitors
flooding into the town to view the ceremony, there
was a great deal of drunkenness and lewd behaviour,
there was also a huge demand for food , local hostelries
were very much under pressure and being desperate for
meat they made "Puppy Dog" pies,
this custom is re-enacted
in modern times but with a difference , China Dogs are
baked into pies and cakes and sold on the day. Do not say
'BOW WOW' or bark in Painswick.
Britain's oldest Bowling Green (over 400 years old), still in use to day, is located at the Falcon Inn in Painswick.
The flat green in Painswick, was built in the 16th century at the back of the then newly built Falcon Inn. It was originally used for gentlemen to wind down after a day of hunting in the nearby Cotswold countryside.
The lord of the manor who built it also had a cock fighting pit erected by its side.
The Falcon Club, which now uses the green, dates back to the early 20th century.
Members have included Tony Allcock, the 14 times world champion turned chief executive of the English Bowling Association.
The sport can be traced back to the 13th century when it was known as the "casting of stones" but reached the height of its popularity in Elizabethan times.
Sir Francis Drake famously refused to launch his attack on the Spanish Armada until he had finished a game of bowls in Plymouth.
He was said to have remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards.
Such was the game's popularity that laws were brought in to forbid the peasantry from playing, for fear that it would detract from other sports, such as archery, thought important for battle.
Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, with the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow fell into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued.
Bowling greens also became synonymous with vice, with many situated next to brothels. Only those with land worth more than £100 could obtain licences to build their own greens.
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Another Interesting Fact
In 1944 the artist Charles Gere (and friend of William Morris) and his half-sister, Margaret, settled in Painswick and formed an offshoot of the Birmingham School of Artist-Craftsmen, many of whom are portrayed in his picture The Tennis Party.
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Painswick - Queen of the Cotswolds
This page last modified
Saturday, 14-Jan-2012 14:43:18 GMT
