Arlington Row
Arlington Row at Arlington in the parish of Bibury, Gloucestershire, England was built in the late 14th century as a wool store and converted into weavers houses in the late 17th century.
Arlington Row on Awkward Hill is a nationally notable architectural conservation area depicted on the inside cover of all United Kingdom passports.
Origins & History
The cottages were built in 1380 as a monastic wool store. With it is ancient buildings along the river, William Morris (1834-1896) once called Bibury, "the most beautiful village in England."
It later became a row of weaver huts in the late 17th century, with some additions in the early 18th.
The cloth produced there was hung out on racks to dry on The Rack Isle opposite, before being sent on to Arlington Mill for degreasing.
The Rack Isle
Right in the heart of the village is a swampy meadow known as Rack Isle. It is an important wildlife habitat that is home to many unusual plants and creatures.
The River Coln flows through Bibury, sandwiched between Main Street and the stretch of marshy prairie. The Rack Isle is so named because the wool was once hung to dry on coat racks after it had been washed on Arlington Row.
Architecture
The architecture of the Cotswolds is almost intrinsically linked to the popular conceptions of the English rural population. British writer Clive Ashley considers the people and places that contributed to this.
The limestone two-storey buildings have gables below cruck roofs covered with slate.
Today
The area was preserved by the Royal College of Arts in 1929 and restored by the National Trust in the 1970s. It has been used as a film and television location, most notably for the films Stardust and Bridget Jones's Diary.
The tenants live in the cabins, although vacations can be booked in one of them.
In 2017 the BBC reported that an "ugly" car parked by an elderly motorist had been vandalised, possibly by visitors who had repeatedly complained that it spoilt photographs.
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