If you are planning to take a North Cotswolds Tour then you will want to ensure you pick the
best Cotswold Tour company, and we do hope you will choose us! Cotswolds Guided Tours is committed to providing high quality Cotswold tours at a fantastic price. We have also decided to create these blog posts for you, we do understand that not everyone can make it to the UK, so we hope we can take you on a Cotswolds Mystery journey of the local area, and you will enjoy the quirky history & local folklore of this wonderful region. Today our Cotswolds Mystery Tour is going to concentrate on the small village of Lower Swell, which is located 1 mile west of Stow on the Wold. In Lower Swell you will find the pleasant 17th Century pub, the Golden Ball. Lower Swell is a village located in the bottom of the valley with the little River Dikler, which runs through the grounds of Abbotswood. On the road up to Stow on the Wold, you will notice a collection of cottages on the left hand side. Spa Cottages, have a distinct oriental appearance & are believed to have been inspired by nearby Sezincote. One of the cottages bears an inscription stating that a spring was found here in 1807, and it was intended that this feature would be the basis of a Spa (hence the name) unfortunately it would appear that this idea never materialised.
Cotswolds Mystery of Lower Swell
About 100 yards along the driveway from the village to Abbotswood House is ‘Lady’s Well’ the age of the well is unclear. It would appear that this well is the source of two village folklore stories. The first is a ghostly figure is connected with this spot. The local story goes that the ‘Grey Lady’ walks across the fields at midnight from the local church to the well. The village also has the last relic of a Neolithic tomb, close to the village hall. This is known as the ‘Whittlestone’, it would appear from local legend that the Whittlestone can ‘hear’ the bell of St Edwards Church in Stow on the Wold strike midnight, the Whittlestone will go down to the ‘Lady’s Well’ to drink. It would appear from these legends that the Lady’s Well is very active at this specific time of night, from ghostly apparitions to huge boulders being drawn to this particular spot.