The beautiful Cotswolds town frozen in time and not as busy as its more famous neighbours

The stream Avon gracefully meanders astir Malmesbury (Image: Getty)

A beauteous Cotswolds town frozen successful clip is location to the oldest borough successful England.

With a colonisation of conscionable implicit 7,000 Malmesbury is acold little busier than its famous Cotswolds neighbours.

The municipality offers a consciousness of tranquillity and is simply a large basal for exploring the wider Cotswolds. It is conscionable a abbreviated thrust from Westonbirt Arboretum, the Cotswold Water Park and Chavenage House.

With a affluent history, Malmesbury in Wiltshire was primitively built astir an abbey and constructed successful 675 AD. For a time, it was reportedly 1 of the astir important towns successful England. 

Dating backmost to the sixth century, it was awarded borough presumption via a charter by Alfred The Great successful astir 880. 

Malmesbury is the oldest borough successful England. (Image: Getty)

In the 10th century, Athelstan, the archetypal king of (all) England and grandson of Alfred the Great, made Malmesbury his capital after defeating an service of bluish English and Scots.

The town’s world-famous Malmesbury Abbey is simply a 12th-century Benedictine monastery inactive successful usage today. Dominating the marketplace town, the abbey was 1 of the fewer English spiritual houses with a continuous past from the 7th period done the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

During the English Civil War betwixt the Royalists and Parliamentarians, Malmesbury became a cardinal battleground, and the southbound look of its abbey inactive bears scars from a conflict that tore done the town. 

Today, the marketplace municipality is location to a watercourse of autarkic shops and cafes, and the Avon stream gracefully meanders astir Malmesbury.  

Malmesbury Abbey is simply a 12th-century Benedictine monastery (Image: Getty)

Malmesbury is location to a watercourse of autarkic shops (Image: Getty)

Every August, the municipality holds an yearly carnival, which helps to rise wealth for the assemblage done events and stalls including the world’s largest pillow fight.

Earlier this month, Malmesbury officially twinned with a German one, some linked by a saint who lived 1,300 years ago.

The Mayor of Malmesbury, successful Wiltshire, signed the ceremonial statement with Bad Hersfeld connected a sojourn to Germany connected October 15.

The towns are connected done Saint Lull, a monk from Wessex who was educated astatine Malmesbury Abbey earlier going to Germany and becoming an Archbishop.