The village of Aldsworth is set on the plateau of the Cotswold Hills in north-east Gloucestershire.  At an altitude of 135 metres above sea-level, this rather exposed land is covered by shallow and brashy clay loam soils overlying Jurassic Limestone. With an average rainfall of 750mm and a growing season estimated at 250 days a year, the land is of moderate quality for agricultural purposes in national terms. The Saxons made use of good unenclosed sheep pastures in Aldsworth, from which time the land was cultivated in an open field system until 1793, when Sir James Dutton, who became Baron Sherborne, laid a private bill before Parliament to enclose land around the village. At that time, half the working population of Gloucestershire was engaged in agriculture.  For hundreds of years horse racing took place on the downs between Aldsworth and Burford.

Further information on the history of the village can be obtained from a book entitled :"ALDSWORTH 1000-2000, The History of a Cotswold Village", written by one of our own residents, Jessica Stawell.  The book is available through New Clarion Press at www.newclarionpress.co.uk.  It follows a thousand years of continuous and comprehensive history in and around the village.