Cotswold Mystery – Cotswolds Guided Tours
During your time spent in the Cotswolds, whether as a day trip from one of the big cities like London or Oxford, your Cotswolds journey may bring you to the market town of Chipping Norton. This market town is classed as one of the gateways to the Cotswolds. On our north Cotswolds Tour our Cotswolds journey takes us through this market town, as we head to the beautiful thatched village of Great Tew. Chipping Norton is a lively little market town 14 miles from Banbury. The Chepygne, or long market square located in its centre is dominated by a handsome 19th Century Town Hall. On the outskirts of the town is Bliss Mill, now a selection of luxury apartments, Bliss Mill designed by George Woodhouse in 1872, it ran as a successful tweed mill until its closure in 1980. There is a row of quaint almhouses on Church Street, built in 1640 leading down to the Parish Church
Cotswolds Mystery of Chipping Norton
There is a selection of quirky ghosts that seem to be connected to Chipping Norton. The first is known as the ‘Chipping Norton Shooter’ who is seen crouching & hiding ready to jump out can shoot at unsuspecting visitors. This catches people so much by surprise (as you can imagine) that they are seen how to dive out of the way. Only to find that this bizarre cotswolds mystery phantom disappears in front of their eyes. It seems rather unusual local Cotswolds legend nothing is known about the identity of the phantom and there are no reports of any shootings taking place within Chipping Norton. So it would seem the secrets of this phantom will remain a Cotswolds mystery. Another local legend is to do with an elderly lady known as ‘Gran’ who lived in a cave at a quarry on the outskirts of Chipping Norton. It was said that she kept a hoard of gold sovereigns. No one knows what became of the old lady but they have been several sightings of a ghostly figure in the vicinity of the old quarry, one couple who were admiring the view, near the road junction where the quarry was located were surprised to see a ghostly white figure emerge from the bushes and float across the road before disappearing in the direction of the quarry. The couple did not stick around to find out more about what they had seen & the hoard of gold sovereigns have never been found. Chipping Norton also has accounts of a phantom cyclist, a ghost that likes pulling the toilet chain in a secret cottage, along with a phantom who likes making items disappear. It would seem that many of our Cotswolds market towns have their mysteries & Chipping Norton is no exception.