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Like other wool towns in the Cotswolds, such as Stroud, Painswick and Woodchester, Fairford has a 'Rack Hill'.

The tower is probably Saxon, and was added to an existing nave. The east wall has diaper patterns in stonework, which continue across the window.

It held out for the king, and was thereafter slighted by Cromwell's men. The journalist-cum-explorer Henry Morton Stanley was born John Rowlands in a cottage beneath the castle.

Many of the buildings here have exotic French-style balconies and porches. Homes backing directly onto the beach have suffered in recent years from flooding.

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley MP, was born on 4 August 1792 at Field Place in Warnham, where he spent his childhood.

St Chad's Church in Farndon is one of the few that still carries out a rush-bearing ceremony each year: fresh rushes are brought into the church, and also laid on the paths and graves outside.

Although technically a town (it received a charter in 1280), Over never really developed, and in 1894 was recognised as 'the smallest municipality in the country'. Robert Nixon was born near here.

The Asshetons, who first became squires here in 1559, have been keen to keep Downham's appearance unspoiled, and in more recent times have had the electric cables buried underground.

Sudbury, on the River Stour, was once an important cloth town, and has always had a popular market. Market Hill is lined with elegant Georgian buildings, with St Peter's Church at the top.

The school was founded in 1726 as an endowed charity school for 'orphan gentlewomen borne of parents of the Church of England'.

His son Matthew, the poet, was born in Laleham in 1822, and spent the early years of his life here.

It still commands fine views to the north and south-east. The castle was described as 'ready to drop down with age' by the beginning of the 17th century.

It was built in 1826, and was a concert hall and ballroom. Indeed, some of Gustav Holst's music received its first performance at the Rotunda; the famous composer was born in Cheltenham.

Born in Cambridge in 1882, Sir John Berry 'Jack' Hobbs was undoubtedly the world's greatest cricket batsman of his time.

Next door (beyond the lamp bracket) is where two of Thomas Gainsborough's daughters were born in 1750 and 1751.

It is sad that most of the shipbuilding and heavy industry have now gone into decline. The first square-rigger to be built was launched here in 1760.

Factories were built for carding and spinning machines, and the town became a major centre for handloom weaving. Robert Owen, the social reformer, was born here and died here in 1858.

Cookham will forever be associated with the artist Stanley Spencer who was born in Cookham in 1891 and died in 1959.

Its claim to fame are the Siamese twins pictured on the village sign (not visible on the photograph); known as Eliza and Mary, they were born joined at the shoulder and hip and lived together like this

The River Hiz has its source just south of the village, and a watermill is recorded in the village in Domesday.

The home of George Bernard Shaw has remained unchanged since his death: his hat still hangs in the hall, whilst his typewriter stands on his study desk where he wrote 'Pygmalion', 'Back to Methuselah' and

Undoubtedly Bedford's most famous son - if only because of his imprisonment as a result of religious intolerance - John Bunyan was born into a tinker's family and lived something of the high life before

Harold G Turner Born in nearby Ardingly in 1885, Harold Turner became a well-known architect, particularly after his successful Gidea Park project in Essex in 1910.

Locally named the Pepperpot, it was erected in 1850 on Hoad Hill to commemorate Ulverston-born Sir John Barrow, a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society.