BRITAIN Wiltshire Digi guide

BRITAIN THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

TRAVEL CULTURE HERITAGE STYLE

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WONDERFUL WILTSHIRE From medieval towns to rolling downs

DIGITAL GUIDE

PHOTO: JANE GIFFORD

Gardens in the grounds of The Abbey House built in the 16th century alongside Malmesbury Abbey

Hidden Wiltshire

Moonraker country

Wiltshire natives refer to themselves as ‘moonrakers', originating from a time when smuggling was big business in this sleepy county. Today the smugglers have gone but the white chalk horses, rolling countryside and pretty stone villages of years past remain in an England unchanged for generations WORDS JANE GIFFORD

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lmost half of Wiltshire is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it’s a large county. Situated in England’s mainly rural West Country, Wiltshire is made up of young rivers, medieval towns and villages, high plains and extensive rolling downs, all flanked with white horses and topped with old drovers’ roads where you can walk for miles under wide open skies. This pleasant green county is criss-crossed by over 8,200 paths for walkers and cyclists, as well as hundreds of bridleways. It encompasses numerous prehistoric hill-forts and hundreds of tumuli, those ancient burial mounds which dot the skyline all over the county.

Picture-perfect manor houses and historical rural churches abound. And where there is an interesting church, there is usually an excellent country inn not far away. Potential paradise for the keen angler and you can spend hours relaxing on a riverbank, where the water is clear and fast moving and there are plenty of healthy fish. The water meadows are peaceful and just the rustle of wind in the willows and the occasional birdcall punctuate the silence. The downs, although not high, often completely block out the sound of traffic. They also block your mobile signal. But if you were to receive a text message, it would say “relax, you’re in Wiltshire”.

You can catch a glimpse of some of Wiltshire’s deeper secrets through the window of a railway carriage or while driving on the main (and small) roads, that weave through the county, from which many tourist hotspots are well

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sign-posted. Some of Britain’s most iconic and most loved visitor attractions are in Wiltshire. Clad in mystery, the prehistoric megaliths and stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury may rekindle the pagan in you in Salisbury Plain. For early risers a surreal experience awaits on Longleat Estate as the lions on the Safari Park, safely penned, join in the morning chorus of birdsong. Not far away, hidden amongst the gentle wooded hills at the head of the River Stour are the lakeside walks and sweeping lawns of one of the most beautiful and famous gardens in Britain – Stourhead. Now cared for by the National Trust, somehow the gardens manage to absorb thousands of visitors each year and still retain their serenity.

Signed from the M4, Bowood has been the family home of the Marquis of Lansdowne for the past 250 years. Here an adventure playground will entertain the children, leaving you time to appreciate the house and gardens. Two of Wiltshire’s most celebrated Cotswold villages are an easy drive away.

Lacock on the River Avon (that’s the Malmesbury Avon) where William Henry Fox Talbot famously discovered the negative-positive process of photography at Lacock Abbey.

And the charming village of Castle Combe, where the

By Brook, a tributary of the Avon, glides under the old

PHOTOS: © JANE GIFFORD/STEVE BARDENS/LOOP IMAGES/ SUPERSTOCK ILLUSTRATION: SUSAN BULL

Hidden Wiltshire

Above: Wiltshire cottages. Facing page: (top) A cricket match being played with Salisbury Cathedral in the background; (bottom) Silbury Hill, the tallest prehistoric chalk mound in Europe

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Wiltshire is made up of young rivers, medieval towns and villages, high plains and extensive rolling downs, all flanked with white horses and topped with old drovers’ roads

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World Class Spa • Michelin Star Restaurant • Equestrian Centre Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award 2012 • AA Hotel of the Year England 2010-11 A 1720 Palladian Mansion set in a 500 acre parkland just 6 miles from the historic City of Bath, a World Heritage Site Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN14 8AZ Tel: +44 (0)1225 742777 reservations@lucknampark.co.uk www.lucknampark.co.uk

Hidden Wiltshire

bridge. You will discover that most Wiltshire towns and villages have a river at their heart. These two will be familiar from TV dramas and movies – Dr Doolittle and War Horse featured Castle Combe while Cranford, Pride and Prejudice and the Harry Potter films used Lacock.

On route to Avebury from London, affluent Marlborough in the northeast of the county is famous for its school and is the market town most visitors associate with Wiltshire’s charms (the High Street’s market day is Wednesday and Saturday). The River Kennet, the other half of the Kennet and Avon Canal, rises on the Marlborough side of Salisbury Plain and flows east out of the county.

Wilton House, in the south near Salisbury, has been the family home of the Earl and Countess of Pembroke for over 460 years. The house stands on the site of a 9th-century nunnery founded by Saxon King Alfred the Great. The neighbouring town of Wilton has a history going back 2,000 years and lays claim to the title Ancient Capital of Wessex. It is also said to have given its name to the county. ‘Wilton’ is of course synonymous with luxury woollen carpets too. In Wiltshire there was always plentiful water for the mills and plenty of excellent pasture for sheep. Most of the region’s considerable wealth came historically from wool.

Salisbury, Wiltshire’s only city, boasts a fabulous medieval cathedral, built from 1220, which still holds the record for the tallest spire in Britain. Not bad for a building constructed on marshland fed by three major rivers. There are some fine old houses on Cathedral Close. Leave by the North Gate to explore this attractive rural city. For a change of pace, seek out Heale House and its eight acres of beautiful riverside gardens, hidden away amongst the downs above Salisbury. The house is little changed since King Charles II hid here in 1651. Also well worth exploring is the Chalke Valley where watercress is still farmed and the Wylye Valley, where you can fish in Langford Lakes Nature Reserve.

To best appreciate the full flavour of Wiltshire-proper, you must take your time. Many born here simply don’t see the need to travel much outside the county. Wiltshire natives refer to themselves as ‘moonrakers’, a name originating from the end of the 18th century when smuggling was big business. French brandy would pass through the county on its way from the

PHOTOS: JANE GIFFORD/SUPERSTOCK

Salisbury boasts a fabulous medieval cathedral, built in 1220-1258, which still holds the record for the tallest spire in Britain

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Above: Castle Combe. Below: Avebury stone circle and village

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Scotland Lodge Farm BlackBlack Dog Farm Dog Farm Bed & Breakfast close to Stonehenge Bed and Breakfast Bed and Breakfast

An elegant Georgian farmhouse offering three spacious en-suite bedrooms and a delicious breakfast.

It is a 10 minute drive to Longleat, Warminster, Westbury and Frome.

For enquiries and bookings please call: Lyn & Fraser Mills on 01373 832858 Black Dog Farm Chapmanslade, A warm welcome awaits you at Scotland Lodge Farm, a 4 BA13 4AE www.blackdogfarm.co.uk Star silver B & B, set in 46 acres of lovely Wiltshire

countryside close to Stonehenge and Salisbury. A great base for longer stays with excellent pubs in the area.

An elegant Georgian farmouse offering three spacious en-suite bedrooms and a delicious breakfast. It is a 10 minutes drive to Longleat, Warminster, Westbury and Frome.

For enquiries and bookings please call:

Scotland Lodge Farm, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 4TF

Lyn & Fraser Mills on 01373 832858 Black Dog Farm, Chapmanslade, BA13 4AE www.blackdogfarm.co.uk

Tel: 01980 621199 www.scotlandlodgefarm.co.uk

Salisbury Cathedral

THE CATHEDRAL HOTEL PRIVATELY PRIVATELY OWNED OWNED AND AND RUN RUN WITH WITH YOU YOU IN IN MIND MIND

A privately owned,modern 22-bedroom hotel in the heart of Salisbury City Centre, comprising of a public bar, garden, meeting room and lounge area.

Situated just a 5-minute walk from Salisbury Cathedral, with its tallest spire in Britain. The Cathedral Hotel is the perfect location in which to base yourself for a comfortable sight-seeing vacation in Wiltshire.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS YOU CAN ACCESS WITH EASE FROM THE CATHEDRAL HOTLEL SALISBURY

Stonehenge

HOTEL ACCOMMODATION

WELL-APPOINTED HOTEL & MEETING ROOMS AVAILABLE

HIGH QUALITY FOOD

FOOD AVAILABLE ALL DAY EVERY DAY AL LA CARTE EVENING RESTAURANT MENU AVAILABLE DINE AND DRINK USING OUR FULL TABLE WAITING SERVICE

RELAX & UNWIND

COFFEE AVAILABLE ALL DAY COMFORTABLE OUTSIDE DINING AND DRINKING AREA 7-9 Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2AJ

Telephone (01722) 343700

www.cathedralhotelsalisbury.co.uk

City of Bath

Bath Abbey

Avebury

PHOTOS: JANE GIFFORD

Hidden Wiltshire

south coast to the Midlands. Legend has it that one night the excise men caught the smugglers raking out contraband hidden in a village pond. Aware that ‘towny types’ considered all those with a Wiltshire accent to be stupid, the smugglers laid it on thick and, pointing to the moon’s reflection in the water, made out that they were attempting to rake out a cheese. Feeling greatly superior, the excise men left the yokels to their madness.

There are two rivers with the name Avon in Wiltshire and, given that avon is an old Celtic word for river (afon still means river in Welsh), this can be confusing in a fashion greatly appealing to the local sense of humour. One Avon rises near Malmesbury in North Wilshire District and flows west through Bradford-on-Avon. The other rises in the Vale of Pewsey, where two tributaries, also both called the Avon, join forces and flow south towards Salisbury. So strictly speaking Wiltshire has several rivers named ‘River River’.

You could avoid getting lost (at least when on the water) by hiring a narrowboat. Enjoy slowly gliding through the countryside along the Kennet and Avon Canal. The 29 lock-gates at Caen Hill near Devizes might present a challenge but Honeystreet, a tiny village on the canal, is a perfect place to moor up. You have a view of the White Horse on Pewsey Downs and you are alongside The Barge Inn, built in 1810 to coincide with the opening of the canal.

Also, look out for summer crop circles in the Vale of Pewsey.

Westbury White Horse (1778) is Wiltshire’s oldest, carved out of the chalk hillside below an Iron Age hill-fort. Not far www.britain-magazine.com

away is Bradford on Avon, a busy historical market town, where you can enjoy both the canal and the (Malmesbury) Avon. The old bridge spanning the river is the centre-piece of the town, featuring an 18th-century ‘lock up’ at one end.

Nearby, Avoncliff aqueduct carries the canal over the river.

In the neighbouring valley, medieval Iford Manor makes the perfect English country home. Renowned architect and garden designer Harold Peto thought so too. He chose Iford as the ideal location in which to settle down. Today’s owners have added delicious home-made cakes and cream teas and a summer music festival in the Cloisters to its charms.

Above: Heale House and the River Avon.

Below: Westbury White Horse

WHERE WE STAYED IN WONDERFUL WILTSHIRE With more shades of green than can be put into words, Wiltshire's countryside makes for blissfully peaceful driving. The small road to Drovers' Barn dips and weaves like a roller coaster designed for the ultra-relaxed.

Down a quiet field-framed and tree-lined street, Drovers' Barn is in a particularly lovely spot in the ancient and pretty village of Shrewton.

The barn sits in a large and idyllic garden in the grounds of its bigger sibling, a beautiful butter-coloured thatched cottage – family home to Brian and Christian (owners of Drovers' Barn).

The cottage has been in the family for three generations, each adding – very carefully – their own extra 'bit' to create what we see now: a beautiful home and a large garden with a small river meandering through it and teeming with flowers, a summerhouse and two friendly pigs.

Guests staying in Drovers' Barn can wander freely in the garden, which is framed by a wide variety of trees that provide much needed shade on a sunny day and, in a soft breeze, create a sound so similar to waves breaking on a beach that if you close your eyes you expect to feel the ocean lapping at your toes.

The cottage may have been in the family for generations, but Drovers' Barn began life elsewhere as a cattle barn. Brian purchased and rebuilt it using his skills as a conservationist builder. Today it is decorated in English

Malmesbury, now a sleepy market town, was once of major importance. The first king of all England, King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, made Malmesbury his capital in 925. The present abbey with its impressive Norman porch dates from 1180. Neighbouring Abbey House – part 13th century, part Tudor – was rescued from ruin by the Pollard family in 1994. They have created a beautiful garden with some unexpected twists. Find Pan amongst the topiary and see the abbey ruins reflected in the cauldron. Close by is The Smoking Dog, one of numerous excellent country pubs in Wiltshire.

Year round, Wiltshire always has something special to offer. From March to September the lanes are a floral paradise and cowslips and orchids, wild roses and honeysuckle mark the ebb and flow of the seasons. Wisteria flowers in cottage gardens in spring, old-fashioned English roses in summer. Hares box in the fields in March and in winter long avenues of trees stand out against the frosty plain. So if simply pottering about – known locally as ‘going for a bimble’ – appeals, then Wiltshire will not disappoint.

STONEHENGE NEWS The ancient monument is to have a new visitor centre and galleries to the tune of £27 million. In autumn 2013, the new visitor facilities and galleries will open and the A344 will be closed to traffic. Visitors will be taken to near the stones on a low-impact shuttle, with the option to disembark mid-way at a landscape viewpoint and walk to the stones from there. By summer 2014, the existing facilities and fencing near the stones will have been removed and restoration of

the landscape will be well underway. Visitors will be able to walk and enjoy the wider landscape and other outstanding prehistoric monuments.

Throughout the construction, Stonehenge will continue to welcome visitors as normal. An opening date for the new visitor building will be announced in 2013.

For more information on the site visit www.english-heritage.org.uk and follow the links to Stonehenge, ‘Our Plans’.

PHOTO: © VISITBRITAIN

Wisteria f lowers in cottage gardens in spring, old-fashioned English roses in summer

country-cottage style with a well-stocked, whitewashed kitchen and display shelves stacked high with pretty pottery. A log burning stove, easy-to-use range, farmhouse kitchen table and comfortable traditional armchairs complete the main room, which is large enough to host four people comfortably.

A middle room has twin beds and a large sleeping platform. The main bedroom is situated through the middle room and has French doors leading onto a sheltered seating area.

The property has everything you need for a short or long break – including a charming claw-foot bathtub and separate shower cubicle in a good-sized family bathroom. The bathroom also houses an annexe room with washing machine, drier and storage area. Even this room has been carefully crafted. In fact, the entire property has been so sympathetically decorated and guests are wonderfully well cared for (from the most delightful welcome basket to free wifi) that you’ll want to start planning your next visit before your first has ended.

Drovers' Barn is a Hideaways property – a family-owned cottage agency offering high-quality properties across the South of England, Heart of England, Cotswolds, West Country and the South-West of England.

For more information about the property, tel: +44 1747 828170 or visit www.hideaways.co.uk

 Go to www.visitwiltshire.co.uk for ideas about what to see and do, or visit the BRITAIN website at www.britain-magazine.com 10

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Hidden Wiltshire

wiltshire

Ancient... beautiful... mystical...

Visit Wiltshire during 2012 and discover a land where iconic attractions and breathtaking sights combine with picture perfect villages nestling peacefully amid rolling countryside.

Call 0844 888 5135 (or +44 (0) 1271 336217 from outside the UK) quoting reference 5108 for a FREE copy of our Accommodation & Destination Guide

Begin your journey now at visitwiltshire.co.uk

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DISCOVER A GREAT DAY OUT As FISHERTON MILL Salisbury recommended in The Times

Largest Independent Gallery, Shop & Cafe in the South West

www.fishertonmill.co.uk Tuesday - Friday 10am-5pm Saturday 9.30am - 5.30pm Fisherton Mill . 108 Fisherton Street . Salisbury . SP2 7QY . Tel: 01722 500200

www.cornerwayscottage.co.uk

bed and breakfast

Watergardens Bed & Breakfast and Selfcatering offers comfortable, light and spacious accommodation ideally located for those wanting to explore the sights and attractions of Wiltshire. Situated between the villages of Yarnbrook and West Ashton with wrap-around gardens, all our double/ twin bedrooms are en-suite and the luxury mattresses and clean crisp cotton sheets ensure a good night’s sleep.

We offer a range of breakfasts from the hearty English Farmhouse breakfast, Eggs Benedict to the lighter options of a Continental or Salmon & Scrambled Eggs.

Guests are free to use the lounges and browse the books and magazines or watch television on our larger screens. Free WiFi is available throughout and plenty of good places to eat out locally.

We look forward to welcoming you here.

Adrian & Jenny.

Call us on 07824333971 or visit www.watergardens-stay.co.uk 131 Yarnbrook, Wiltshire, BA14 6AF

A Salisbury Playhouse Production

The Spire

by William Golding adapted by Roger Spottiswoode The stage première of the novel about the men who built the spire on Salisbury Cathedral

SalisburyPlayhouse

CORNERWAYS COTTAGE

Watergardens

John & Irene welcome you to our lovely comfortable cottage in Zeals. We are just 10 minutes by car to Longleat and 5 minutes to N.T. Stourhead House & Gardens. There is an excellent local pub within walking distance.

We are please to offer our guests 33% discount on ‘All in One Day tickets’ to www.longleat.co.uk To book, please call on 01747 840477 or email us at enquiries@cornerwayscottage.co.uk Longcross, Zeals, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 6LL

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1 – 24 November 2012 Sponsored by Frank & Elizabeth Brenan

Box Office www.salisburyplayhouse.com | 01722 320 333

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5 Lucknam Park Colerne, Chippenham, SN14 8AZ +44 (0)1225 742 777 lucknampark.co.uk

7 Salisbury Playhouse Malthouse Lane SP2 7RA +44 (0) 1722 320 333 salisburyplayhouse.com

9 Watergardens 131 Yarnbrook Road BA14 6AF +44 (0) 7824 333 971 watergardens-stay.co.uk

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2 Cathedral Hotel 7-9 Milford Street SP1 2AJ +44 (0) 1722 343 700 cathedralhotel salisbury.co.uk

4 Fisherton Mill 108 Fisherton Street SP2 7QY +44 (0) 1722 415 121 fishertonmill.co.uk

6 Scotland Lodge Farm Winterbourne Stoke, SP3 4TF +44 (0)1980 621 199 scotlandlodgefarm.co.uk

8 Visit Wiltshire 18 Pennyfarthing Street SP1 1HJ +44 (0)845 602 7323 visitwiltshire.co.uk

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