Wiltshire

Towns & Villages

AMESBURY

Only a short drive from the megalith of Stonehenge, this old Wiltshire town lies on the sprawling Salisbury Plain.

Close by is the Iron Age earthwork Vespasian’s Camp.

In 2002 archaeologists unearthed an Early Bronze Age man on the site of a new housing estate.

Dubbed the ‘Amesbury archer’, he was found together with arrowheads and flint tools.

Amesbury Abbey was the one-time residence of the dukes of Queensberry and, according to an account by Thomas Mallory, was the final refuge of Guinevere following the death of her husband, King Arthur.

The Bell Inn, Amesbury -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

BRADFORD-ON-AVON

River Avon - Photo: Martin Clark CCL

An important centre of the wool trade in the Middle Ages, this splendid town lies in a steep-sided hollow on the banks of the River Avon which is spanned by a magnificent 13th century, arched bridge. On the bridge is a domed building once used as a chapel for religious pilgrims.

Fifteenth century Westwood Manor is noted for its plasterwork, historic windows and topiary garden and a nearby 14th century tithe barn is one of the finest in Britain, measuring more than 160 feet.

Westwood Manor - Photo: Rog Frost CCL

St. Laurence's Church - Photo: Derek Hawkins CCL

Bradford’s most remarkable building, however, is the tiny church of St Lawrence.




Dating to the seventh century it was badly damaged by the Vikings but rescued by a local clergyman in the 19th century.




Nearby Iford Manor has Italianate pools, statues, terraces and panoramic views.

BROAD CHALKE

A delightful village in the valley of the River Ebble, Broad Chalke is only a few miles south from the centre of Salisbury and boasts a beautiful 13th century church.





Once home to former Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden, it is set within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Broad Chalke Chapel -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

BURCOMBE

The Ship Inn - Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

Picturesque and ancient, the village of Burcombe lies on the banks of the River Nadder.








It has many old buildings including a 17th century pub, The Ship Inn.

CALNE

A popular market town at the foot of beautiful Marlborough Downs, Calne once attracted the likes of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.




He spent two years here in pursuit of inspiration.
It also provided a retreat for Joseph Priestley, the man who discovered oxygen.

Calne - Photo: Roger Cornfoot CCL

Bowood House - Photo: Linda Bailey CCL

He was a librarian to the Earl of Shelburne in the late 18th century.



His memorial can be seen close to St. Mary's Church.



Local attractions include the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum, which contains a rare collection of vintage and classic cars, motor cycles and commercial vehicles, and the nearby mansion of Bowood, famous for its works of art.



Partly designed by Robert Adam, it also has a vast park landscaped by Capability Brown, a lake, grotto, terraced gardens and children’s adventure playground.

CASTLE COOMBE

One of Wiltshire's most-photographed villages, Castle Coombe has an ancient history and was once a prosperous weaving centre.





It nestles in a picture-postcard valley while many of its homes are fashioned from mellow Cotswold stone.





The local church has a 15th century tower and a medieval font while the Brook meanders beneath a three-arched bridge.

St. Andrew's Church -
Photo: Pat Brophy CCL

CHIPPENHAM

The Woodhouse - Photo: Phil Williams CCL

This delightful, old Saxon market town near Swindon was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is said to have been bequeathed by Alfred the Great to his daughter Elfrida.


Its most evocative houses are timber framed and date back to the 16th century.


Nearby Dyrham Park is a 270-acre deer park and 17th century mansion containing furniture, Dutch delftware and paintings.

In modern times Chippenham was the scene of a car crash in 1960 that killed the singer Eddie Cochran.






A stone marks the fateful site and each year the towns stages a special rock ‘n’ roll weekend in his memory.

Chippenham - Photo: Roger Cornfoot CCL

Sheldon Manor - Photo: Roger Cornfoot CCL

Sheldon is Wiltshire’s oldest inhabited manor house and is surrounded by a beautiful garden.





Some of Britain’s greatest ‘wonders, including the prehistoric site known as Avebury, the largest man-made earth mound in Europe, Silbury Hill, and West Kennet Long Barrow, the only open burial chamber in Europe, can all be found nearby.

CHOLDERTON

Recorded in Domesday Book under a variety of names including Cheldreton, Cheldrington and Choldrington, Cholderton is small village about 10 miles north of Salisbury with a population of approximately 300.

Cholderton Church built on the site of the original church (dated approx. 1175) between 1841 and 1850, started by the Reverend Thomas Mozeley, who arrived in Cholderton as Rector in 1836.

Cholderton House was built in 1690 from flint with red brick dressings, with later additions and alterations made during the 19th and 20th centuries.

At the heart of the village you will find the public house -The Crown.

The Crown - Photo: Mike Searle CCL

COOMBE BISSETT

View towards the River Ebble -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

A picturesque village in the valley of the River Ebble, only a few miles from Salisbury, Coombe Bissett is colloquially called Crumbly Biscuit.



Nearby is a nature reserve centred on a hidden chalk downland valley.



A number of rare butterflies live here including the Adonis blue, chalkhill blue and dingy skipper.

CORSHAM

It may be a small, modest town just a few miles from Bath but Corsham has two spectacular claims to fame.


The first is 14th century Hazelbury Manor and its magnificent landscaped gardens.


The second is the Elizabethan Corsham Court containing an eclectic collection of famous paintings.


While its main rooms were furnished by Robert Adam and Chippendale, its splendid grounds were laid out by Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton.


One of its finest treasures is an 18th century bathhouse.

Hazelbury Manor- Photo: Rog Frost CCL

CRICKLADE

Snake's head fritillary North Meadow -
Photo: Brian Robert Marshall CCL

Lying on the banks of the River Thames, Cricklade was founded by Saxons in the ninth century at the spot where the river was crossed by the Roman Ermin Street.








It lies northwest of Swindon and boasts a 16th century parish church with a cathedral-style turreted tower.








The unique 150-acre nature reserve of North Meadow contains around eighty per cent of Britain’s snake head fritillary flowers.

DEVIZES

Home to more than 500 listed buildings, ancient Devizes is situated in what is known as ‘the heart of Wiltshire’ and is the largest town in this region.

The Wiltshire Heritage Museum, which contains many of the Bronze Age finds from barrows around Stonehenge, is not to be missed.

The story of sites such as Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill are also told here.

The town’s castle built in the 19th century is a private residence.

At nearby Bishops Cannings, is a 12th century church.

At one time Devizes was an inland port on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Today the canal is a playground for boaters.

It boasts no less than 29 locks that raise the water level by 70 metres or 230 feet.

Devizes town centre -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

HANGING LANDFORD

Hanging Langford - Photo: Andrew Smith CCL

This Wiltshire village slumbers at the bottom of a steep hill and lies on the banks of the River Wylye, one of Britain’s premier chalkstreams.






Only six miles from Stonehenge, it is the ideal place from which to explore this prehistoric site.

HINDON

Dating back to the Middle Ages, this sleepy village just 16 miles from the centre of Salisbury lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.


The remains of spectacular Fonthill Abbey – a gatehouse and part of the north wing – can still be seen.


The Gothic-style building was erected in the 19th century by William Beckford on the site of an earlier Palladian house.

Lawn Lodge - Photo: Andy Gryce CCL

LACOCK

Laycock Abbey - Photo: Dave Windsor CCL

At the heart of this stunning village, full of buildings dating to the 18th century, stands 13th century Lacock Abbey.

A former convent that played a pivotal role in the history of photography after it became a home-cum laboratory in the 19th century for William Henry Fox Talbot, the man who invented the modern film process.

The splendid building has a museum devoted to his work and displays his first-ever ‘photograph’.

It is one of many precious local properties owned by the National Trust.

LUDGERSHALL

Only the sorry ruins of a 12th century Norman castle still remain in this picturesque village which still boasts a part-Norman church and a medieval village cross now in the care of English Heritage.







Biddesden House is a mansion dating to the late 18th century.

Ludgershall Castle -
Photo: Janine Forbes CCL

MALMESBURY

Malmesbury Abbey - Photo: Pat Brophy CCL

This picturesque hilltop market town near Swindon is virtually surrounded by water and bridges.





One of the oldest boroughs in England with a charter dating to the 9th century, it is dominated by the gaunt ruins of Malmesbury Abbey containing the tombs of King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, and its 8th century founder, the Saxon abbot St. Aldhelm.

A surviving part of the abbey, now the parish church, possesses a medieval manuscript bible.





‘Hobbes Cottage’ is said to have been the birthplace of the 16th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679).





The town centre has a 40ft high Tudor market cross.

Malmesbury Cross -
Photo: Colin Smith CCL

MARLBOROUGH

High Street, Marlborough -
Photo: Brian Robert Marshall CCL

With one of the widest high streets in England and a church dating to the 15th century, this delightful market town lies on the banks of the River Kennet close to the North Wessex Downs and the ancient Savernake Forest.

Its public school, Marlborough College, has produced a wealth of talented individuals including William Morris and Sir John Betjeman.




Maerl's Barrow in the college grounds is one of several reputed burial places of King Arthur's wizard, Merlin.




The restored Merchant's House dates to the mid-17th century while the Alexander Keiller Museum is now an important centre for the archaeology of Avebury.




It also houses a collection of prehistoric relics.

St. Peters Church -
Photo: Colin Bates CCL

Marlborough College-
Photo: Brian Robert Marshall CCL

The prehistoric sites of Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and Avebury lie just a few miles away.



Avebury Manor and Gardens, built on the site of a former abbey, date to the 16th century.



The gardens were redesigned in the last century.

MELKSHAM

Once an important weaving town on the banks of the River Avon, Melksham’s finest feature is the National Trust’s splendid Great Chalfield Manor.

Dating to the late 15th century, it boasts a gatehouse, moat, great hall and magnificent oriel windows.

It was restored and its gardens replanted in the last century by Major R. Fuller.

Great Chalfield Manor -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

MERE

Downland, Mere  - Photo: Andrew Smith CCL

Situated in the southern part of Salisbury Plain on the border with both Dorset and Somerset, this attractive small town has an ancient history and lies on the edge of Selwood Forest close to a number of prehistoric sites.


Its church, St Michael the Archangel, dates to the 15th century.


Artefacts from the Bronze Age and Roman Britain have been found in the area.

PEWSEY

Overlooked by one of Wiltshire’s many hillside white horses, this is the largest village in Wiltshire and lies in the unspoiled Vale of Pewsey on the banks of the River Avon.



It once belonged to Alfred the Great whose splendid statue reminds visitors of its former importance. Surrounded by chalk downland, it boasts a number of thatched buildings.



A local heritage centre housed in a 19th century foundry contains a collection of historic machine tools.

Pewsey old fire station -
Photo: Kevin Hale CCL

SALISBURY

Salisbury Cathedral - Photo: Peter Jordan CCL

This magnificent city grew up around the Roman hill fort of Old Sarum and boasts one of the finest medieval cathedrals in Britain - it has the highest spire at 404ft, one of only four copies of the 13th century Magna Carta and Europe's oldest working clock dating to 1386 AD.







The building was immortalised by John Constable in his famous 19th century painting ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’.

The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and within it is Mompesson House and its delightful gardens.


Owned by the National Trust, it featured in the movie ‘Sense and Sensibility’. Larmer Tree Gardens backs onto the Close.

Old Sarum - Photo: Chris Downer CCL

Old Wardour Castle - Photo: Toby CCL

Among many of the city’s highlights is the ruin of hexagonal Old Wardour Castle.

It nestles in a serene, lakeside location surrounded by acres of woodland. In 1643 it was the scene of a bloody siege by Cromwell’s army.

Wiltshire’s greatest prehistoric treasures such as Stonehenge are all within easy reach on the 300-square miles of chalk-based Salisbury Plain.
 

SHERSTON

A splendid Norman church with an 18th century tower makes an imposing centrepiece for this attractive village near Malmesbury.










The writer Siegfried Sassoon made the place famous by naming one of his leading characters George Sherston but many years earlier, in 1016, it had become infamous as the scene of a battle in which the Saxons defeated an army of Danes.

Holy Cross church -
Photo: Graham Horn CCL

STAPLEFORD

Stapleford- Photo: Rog Frost CCL

A charming village with thatched cottages and a Norman church, Stapleford lies within the beautiful valley of the River Wylye Valley.

STOURTON

This is a magnificent showpiece village of more than 300 cottages owned by the National Trust.


It lies on the estate surrounding the Palladian mansion of Stourhead, famous for its works of art and superb landscaped garden.


The latter was created in a classical style with grottos, temples, stone bridges and sublime trees.


One of the follies is King Alfred’s Tower, which soars 150 feet and affords spectacular views.


A beautiful garden has also been created at Stourton Rectory.

Stourhead Gardens -
Photo: Ian Knox CCL

Whitesheet Hill - Photo: Andrew Smith CCL

The historian Edward Gibbon was said to be have been so inspired by Stourhead’s library he wrote his massive tome ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’.







The estate contains the Iron Age hill forts of Whitesheet Hill and Park Hill Camp.

SWINDON

Prosperity chugged into Swindon in the 1830s with the arrival of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway.

In 1839 the former country-bumpkin town became the company’s main locomotive centre on the London-Bristol line.

Swindon is now an important place of pilgrimage for lovers of old-fashioned steam trains, epitomised by a museum called ‘STEAM’.

Renovated rail buildings are also home to Europe's largest covered designer shopping outlet.

Nearby, The Ridgeway is Europe's oldest road.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel -
Photo: Martyn Pattison CCL

TROWBRIDGE

The Pumpkin Tower - Photo: Phil Williams CCL

Located just a few miles from Bath, Trowbridge is the administrative centre of Wiltshire.




In the Middle Ages its prosperity was based on the textile industry after Flemish immigrants brought their weaving skills to Wiltshire.




The town has many fine Georgian houses and a number of 19th century mills.




Trowbridge Museum has displays on the town’s important industrial heritage.

WARMINSTER

This old hilltop Saxon town on Salisbury Plain was once the corn basket of Wiltshire.

It has many fine Georgian buildings as well as a 14th century church and 13th century chapel.

In the latter part of the last century it became famous for UFO sightings – a possible consequence of being 400 feet above sea level.

Warminster - Photo: David Hawgood CCL

Longleat House - Photo: Wayne Jobe CCL

Two miles from the town is 800ft Cley Hill on the prehistoric Ridge Way.



Nearby is Longleat House and its famous safari park.



The house is one of Britain’s most spectacular Elizabethan mansions, boasting a superb collection of furniture and paintings.

The Dewey Museum has displays on local history and geology while Dents Glove Museum is a reminder that Warminster was once an important cloth and glove-making centre.

Cley Hill - Photo: Phil Williams CCL

WESTBURY

Westbury White Horse - Photo: Paul Allison CCL

Situated on the western edge of Salisbury Plain, Westbury is overlooked by Britain’s oldest white horse figure etched into a nearby hillside.


Beyond it is the huge Iron Age hill fort known as Bratton Castle.


The town once had an important woollen industry and old mills and weavers’ cottages can still be seen.


Near Bratton Castle is the Ethandun Memorial, a sarson stone marking a battle in 878AD between King Alfred and the Danish invader Guthrum. Alfred was the eventual victor.

WILTON

Once the capital of Saxon-controlled Wessex, the town of Wilton lies on the banks of the rivers Wylye and Nadder.

It is one of England’s oldest boroughs.

Wilton House stands on the site of a ninth century abbey founded by Alfred the Great.

Home of the earls of Pembroke, it was revamped in the 17th century by Inigo Jones and was used in the Second World War to help plan the D-Day invasion.

River Nadder - Photo: Neil Gibbs CCL

Wilton House - Photo: Ron Strutt CCL

The poet Edmund Spenser and dramatists Ben Johnson and Christopher Marlowe all visited the house and it was here that Sir Philip Sidney wrote part of his Arcadia in the 16th century.


It features a remarkable Double Cube Room and houses a number of paintings by both Rembrandt and Van Dyck.

The name Wilton is synonymous with the manufacture of a specific kind of carpet, which has been made here since the mid 17th century.





The modern Wilton factory offers guided tours and has an exhibition devoted to local carpet making.





The unusual church of St Mary and St Nicholas was built in 1842 by T. H. Wyatt in an Italian style as the result of a dream.

Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas -
Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

WOODFORD

Heale House - Photo: Patricia Steel CCL

A picturesque village of flint and stone houses in the valley of the River Avon, Woodford has a towered 19th century church and two historic houses.

Heale House is a restored 17th century mansion that became a hiding place for King Charles II.

Lake House is the Elizabethan home of Gordon Sumner, better known as the rock singer Sting. It is the focal point of a ravishing, 60-acre estate.

WOOTTON BASSETT

This splendid old market town has a number of evocative buildings dating to the 18th century.

Its half-timbered town hall contains the town’s original stocks and a ducking stool.

The Palladian stately home Lydiard Park, ancestral home of the Viscounts Bolingbroke, dates from the 1740s and has a magnificent interior.

Its parkland, coach house and monument-filled church have been restored with the help of a lottery grant.

Town Hall - Photo: Chris Downer CCL