The hamlet of Pennsylvania, perched on the Cotswold escarpment near Cold Ashton, carries a name that has puzzled local historians for centuries. One persistent tradition links it to William Penn, the Quaker founder of the American colony of Pennsylvania in 1681. Penn had connections in the Bristol and Bath region, and Quaker communities flourished in the surrounding villages. Whether the hamlet was named in honour of Penn or simply as a quirky transatlantic gesture by a landowner, the name stuck. Today it offers walkers one of the finest high plateau stretches of the Cotswold Way, with the land falling sharply westward towards the Severn Vale far below.
“Penn had connections in the Bristol and Bath region, and Quaker communities flourished in the surrounding villages.”
