As a rule I make fun of those things
for which I feel a genuine affection. There is something about small-town guidebooks which
bring out the wickedness in me. My affection for guidebooks comes from the fact that these
paeans to local history and architecture are genuinely hard to write. They bring out the
worst in a writer. You find yourself losing all sense of proportion as you attempt to
persuade the jaded traveller (who has trekked wearily around the seven wonders of the
world) that the local horse trough is the finest 18th. century horse trough in three
counties.
The Moreton-in-Marsh guide opens with the unforgettable statement that "Moreton-in-Marsh is the most accessible of all the Cotswold towns" and goes on to tell the story of the Stratford and Moreton Tramway (defunct), the Cotswold Railway line at Moreton-in-Marsh, and describes the financial transactions of the Moreton-in-Marsh Hospital. Buy a copy.
Moreton-in-Marsh is a busy North Cotswold town on the Fosse Way. It has many attractive buildings and shops, but there are no rivers running down the main street. There are no cutesy little bridges. William Morris didn't have a house there. Oliver Cromwell didn't execute anyone in the churchyard. The Stratford to Moreton Tramway was a local wonder when it opened in 1826, but there is little sign of it now that the tram shed has been demolished to make way for a supermarket. I suppose that when ghostly tram wagons appear from time to time they provide a useful role model for the supermarket trolleys. We all need something to aspire to.
The town has an abnormal abundance of ghosts.
Perhaps this has something to do with Moreton being "the most accessible of Cotswold
towns", located on a crossroads between this world and the next. I thought the
(genuine) story of the Moreton headless cyclist was carrying the idea too far. Stories of
headless horsemen are common throughout the Cotswolds, and I suppose headless cyclists are
inevitable, but it is a pity to see old traditions being lost in the rush to modernise.
Call me an old fogey if you want.
The number of ghostly encounters in Moreton is so large that no concise summary is possible. If there is a ley-line running through this town then it must be the psychic equivalent of an autobahn. Hauntings of note include:
This is only a minor selection from the unusually long list of bizarre events in the Moreton area, and the reader is referred to Fokelore and Mysteries of the Cotswolds by Mark Turner for further details.
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market tolls posted on the wall of the Curfew Tower. Return to Contents
In most cases further details can be found under Things to See.
Moreton is close to Broadway, Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton. Refer to these pages for further information.
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Self-Contained Holiday Let, with private garden area, patio and barbeque. Moreton-in-Marsh. Contact: Jan & Gary Coley, Tel: 01608 650 014, E-mail: jan@coleyfamily.freeserve.co.uk
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Copyright © Digital Brilliance 1995