The Mill

Our friends who live on the Cotswold Water Park invited us to stay the night so late morning we set off to visit a couple of places before we arrived with them late afternoon.

We've been to Lower Slaughter before and it's always been quieter than the other tourist places in the Cotswolds but today it was very busy. There were tents and bunting up ready for the Bank Holiday Monday fete. One of the nicest places there is The Old Mill which is still working, and the attached shops houses a tea room where you can sit alongside the stream, watch the ducks and swans, whilst you enjoy refreshements - which we did. The weather was lovely despite pouring with rain as we left home!

Our friends decided to cook for us rather than go to the local pub, which was nice as by early evening it was raining. It was still hot, and as I went on their veranda, a swan was patiently waiting to be fed. They know where to go for regular meals!

For those interested, the village name is said to originate from the name of a Norman Knight, Philip de Sloitre, who was granted land in the area by William the Conqueror. The name proved too much of a “tongue twister” for the peasants who corrupted it to ‘slaughter’. Some say it derives from an Anglo-Saxon word, meaning ‘muddy or watery place’. The first written record is recorded in The Doomsday Book where the name is spelt “Sclostre”.