Bourton-on-the-Water

Coordinates: 51°53′11″N 1°45′32″W / 51.88641°N 1.75877°W / 51.88641; -1.75877

Bourton-on-the-Water
Bourton-on-the-Water  Bourton-on-the-Water shown within Gloucestershire
OS grid reference	SP167209
District	Cotswold
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER
Postcode district	GL54
Dialling code	01451
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
Website	http://www.bourtoninfo.com/
List of places: UK • England • Gloucestershire

The village

Bourton-on-the-Water is a village in Gloucestershire, England in the Cotswolds area. It is known as the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' because of the bridge-spanned stream that runs through the village .

Bourton has a number of tourist attractions:

• The River Windrush is spanned by several attractive small road and footbridges. During the summer, a game of football is played between two of the bridges and is medieval football rather than anything comparable to association football, with goalposts set up in the river itself. Two teams play with a standard football, and a referee attempts to keep order. Crowds line the sidelines of the pitch (the banks), and the aim is to score as many goals as possible (while getting everyone else as wet as possible).
• The model village is a 1:9 replica of the village and includes a model of the model village itself (a model within a model). It was built by local craftsmen in the 1930s, and opened in 1937.
• The Model Railway.
• The Cotswold Motoring Museum (home of Brum).
• Birdland, an ornithological theme park, which is a collection of birds, from penguins through parrots to passerine (perching) birds and a large pond full of salmon which can be fed by the public. There are bird-of-prey displays and a penguin feeding demonstration.
• The Dragonfly Maze
• On the fourth Sunday of each month, there is a farmers' market.

A pedestrian bridge across the River Windrush at Bourton-on-the-Water.

Long-distance footpaths and local walks start, finish or pass through Bourton-on-the-Water. One such route that begins its 100-mile route north is the Heart of England Way.

The Fosse Way Roman road also runs close by.

Bourton is also home to Bourton on the Water Primary School and the Cotswold School, a co-educational comprehensive school.

The old railway

Gallery

Part of the one-tenth scale model of the village	A view of Bourton-on-the-Water
		Miniature Village, Bourton-on-the-Water	Miniature Village, Bourton-on-the-Water
Miniature Village, Bourton-on-the-Water	Footbridge over the River Windrush	Footbridge over the River Windrush	River Windrush, Bourton-on-the-Water
River Windrush, Bourton-on-the-Water

External links

• Bourton-on-the-Water official website
• photos of Bourton-on-the-Water and surrounding area on geograph