Dictionary

Notswolds en · PROPN

Etymology

Blend of not + Cotswolds.

Meanings

1. (informal) A region of central England thought to resemble the Cotswolds but to be less expensive to live in.
   • With its honeyed hamlets, pretty market towns and rolling countryside, the Welland valley is in a part of the country sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but without the price tag). 2025 October 25, Fiona Kerr, “30 of the best UK pubs for an autumn escape with great food”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2025:
   • Yet I lived on the 'wrong side' of the Cotswolds divide – the Notswolds, as it's sometimes known, near Stratford-upon-Avon – and in large part thanks to Jilly, I felt it keenly. I longed to be one of the girls from the local clique of farming families who seemed to own half the county and attracted the Rupert Campbell-Black types. 2023 November 13, Georgina Fuller, “My teenage Jilly Cooper obsession made me hunt down a COTSWOLD CAD”, in Daily Mail, London, page 36:
   • Rutland (and some of the bordering ‘Notswolds’ counties of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire) have the same mellow, creamy limestone as the Cotswolds and boast beguiling market towns and villages that are every bit as attractive, but without the tourists or hefty prices. 2024 November 19, Nicola Venning, “Welcome to the Notswolds”, in Country Life, archived from the original on 14 May 2025:

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