The Roman Court Hotel & La Villa Romana Italian Re
Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

The Roman Court Hotel is south of Stow-on-the-Wold, near Cheltenham and the Cotswolds. All rooms are en-suite and our hotel has a superb Italian restaurant 'La Villa Romana' incorporated.

Stow-on-the-Wold, an historic English market town in the county of Gloucestershire, sits on top of an 800 ft (244 m) hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429). Stow-on-the-Wold, an historic English market town in the county of Gloucestershire, sits on top of an 800 ft (244 m) hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429). Stow on the Wold is said to have originated as an Iron Age fort on this defensive postion on a hill. Indeed, there are many sites of similar forts in the area, and Stone Age and Bronze Age burial mounds are common throughout the area. The town began to grow as a result of trade along the Fosse Way (a Roman Road). Originally the small settlement was controlled by Abbots from the local Abbey, and when the first weekly market was set up in 1107 by Henry I, he decreed that the proceeds go to the Evesham Abbey. In 1330, Edward III set up an annual 7-day market to be held in August. This was replaced by Edward IV in 1476 with two 5-day fairs, two days before and two days after the feast of St Philip and St James in May, and similarly in October on the feast of St Edward the Confessor (the saint associated with the town). The aim of these annual fairs was to establish Stow as a place to trade, and to remedy the unpredictable passing trade. These fairs were located in the Square, which is still the town centre.