Chipping Norton

Extract from Discovering Wychwood by Charles Keighley

High on the Cotswolds, an unspoilt market town just to the north of Wychwood. There are remains of a motte and bailey castle near the church of St Mary. This was rebuilt in 1485 and has a fine lofty interior.

Towards the town centre from the church is a row of almshouses, 1640. The Guildhall in Middle Row is 16th century. East of the Market Place, many houses were refronted handsomely in the 18th century. There are a number of interesting 19th-century buildings, including the neo-classical Town Hall of 1842 in the Tuscan style, massive Bliss Tweed Mill just west of the town, 1872, and several unusual 'mixed Renaissance' buildings, for example the Co-op of 1890.

• The town has its own theatre
• Golf course.
• Market day Wednesday.
• Outside the town, especially to the south, woodland is scarce and many of the arable fields have low gappy hedgerows.
• Key wildlife habitats are limestone grassland and woodland in the steep tree-lined valley to the west of the town, and around the source of the River Glyme to the east.