Lacock – National Trust’s Most Beautiful Village?

Lacock is (in my humble opinion) one of England’s prettiest villages. The centre of the village has retained all its historic charm, largely thanks to the National Trust who has been tasked with taking care of it.

However, before I get you too excited, I will just start with one thing, this village is by no means a big secret. Lacock is very popular with day trippers, particularly from June-September so can get very busy. If you want the whole place (almost) to yourself, you are best visiting when the weather is rubbish or throughout winter and early spring. In fact, I think the rain gives a lot of these places some added romance!

Our first stop in this chocolate box village was Lacock Abbey, an old monastery turned country house which is now also owned and run by the National Trust. Surrounded by woodland and gardens, the abbey has been used multiple times for filming, including standing in as Hogwarts for not one, but two Harry Potter movies.

Despite the busy nature of the village itself, we actually found the abbey to be fairly quiet and pleasant to walk around. There is a car park provided and if you are a National Trust member you can park and enter the abbey free of charge. If you are not a member, adult prices are £13.40 and child prices are £6.70. The abbey is usually open from around 11am so please don’t rock up too early, you might be waiting a while to get in!

You can walk into the centre of Lacock from the abbey in less than 5 minutes which is handy! The village has a couple of pubs, some gift shops, a lovely bakery, a church, tearoom and post office. Every building you look at is steeped in history, with many dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The name Lacock dates back to the Saxon times, when it was named Lacuc, meaning ‘little stream’. The village looks a lot like it would have 200 years ago when it was prospering under the wool industry, new development has been minimal and there is a house dating back to before the 13th century.