Villages

Wiltshire has some notable villages including:

Aldbourne

Aldbourne is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 12th century church of St Michael’s stands at one end of the village green.

Ashton Keynes

Ashton Keynes borders Gloucestershire. The River Thames is on the southern boundary and the Thames Path goes through the village. Cotswold stone features in the majority of the buildings here. The name Ashton means ‘farm by the ash tree’.

Avebury

Avebury Avenue, West Kennet Long Barrow, Silbury Hill and Avebury Manor and Gardens can all be found here, plus the famous large stone circle of Avebury.

Biddestone

Biddestone has several Grade II Listed properties and a duck pond. The village starred in Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.

Box

Box is best known for its long Brunel railway tunnel and for its extensive stone quarries. A Roman villa with tesselated pavement has been discovered here.

Bradenstoke

Bradenstoke was an important place in medieval times and home to the Augustinian priory of Clack. Some of its ruins can still to be seen in the farmstead of Bradenstoke Abbey. The village is filled with timber framed buildings, Tudor style windows and thatch roofs.

Broad Chalke

The village of Broad Chalke is in the pretty Chalke Valley, near Salisbury. It’s home to the Chalke Valley History Festival but also known for watercress beds, fed from the spring water.

Castle Combe

The picturesque village of Castle Combe has often starred on the big screen. The village has two parts: the narrow valley of By Brook, and Upper Castle Combe. The village is near the town of Chippenham.

Dinton

Dinton is home to Philipps House and Dinton Park, an area owned by the National Trust. The Monarch’s Way footpath crosses nearby.

Grittleton

One of the most notable buildings here is Grittleton House which used to be an independent school.

Lacock

The National Trust have preserved this village. It’s home to lack abbey and the Fox Talbot Museum.

Sandy Lane

The pretty village formed part of the Bowood estate. As well as the homes, the church has a thatch roof.

Sherston

Sherston has honey-coloured cottages.

Stourton

Stourton is home to Stourhead House and Gardens – a National Trust property. Many of the village buildings also belong to the National Trust.

Ramsbury

The village can be traced from Saxon times. Nearby is the Ramsbury Brewery, Distillery and Smokehouse.

Tisbury

Tisbury is the largest village in the Nadder Valley and it’s part of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Wardour Castle (owned by English Heritage) is nearby.

Slaughterford

Slaughterford is part of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The pretty cottages are made of the honey-coloured Cotswold stone.

Teffont

The village was originally two: Teffont Evias and Teffont Magna, and both have pretty cottages. Nearby Chilmark Quarries provided most of the stone used in the building of Salisbury Cathedral.

Stratford-sub-castle

Stratford-sub-castle is beneath Old Sarum, the old castle of Salisbury. The linear village is home to a Grade I Listed church and pretty thatched cottages.

Steeple Ashton

The linear village of Steeple Ashton in West Wiltshire village is next to Keevil Airfield, a former Royal Air Force station used in WWII.

Wootton Rivers

The village, in the Vale of Pewsey, has listed buildings including the parish church of St Andrew. It’s also home to the Wootton Rivers Lock on the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Also worth noting is the hamlet of Iford

Iford, near Bradford on Avon is in the Frome valley, near to Bradford on Avon. It’s best known for the Peto Gardens at Iford Manor which contain Italianate water features, terraces and sculptures.