Castle Combe, Wiltshire Pt.2

It's the first day of our cottage holiday and we are making Castle Combe our first port of call.The village is in a valley, the top of the hill being the original site of a British Hill Fort which became occupied by the Romans and later the Normans who turned the Fort into a Castle.

By the Middle Ages the village in the valley became an important centre for the wool industry. In recent times the village has played host to many filming activities.
Dr. Dolittle was filmed here in 1966. More recently 'Stardust' with Sienna Miller and 'The Wolfman' with Anthony Hopkins.

The houses are typical Cotswold type (being on the edge of the Cotswolds), constructed in stone with thick walls and roofs made out of natural split stone tiles. The properties are all many of hundreds of years old and are mow listed as ancient monuments.


No space for cars in these ancient villages so we park outside the village and walk down the hill taking some photos on the way

Sit and rest here if necessary

The 14th century market cross

The Castle Inn on the right where we ate a delicious lunch and later retired to the restrooms fitted out with pretty rosebud loos and basins

The old village pump - The White Hart Pub (the white walled building on the left) has served ale continuously on the premises for the last 5 centuries.

A Living above the road - now an hotel

An interesting door with an interesting garden behind I am sure

The War Memorial

This area was turned into a 'waterfront' for Dr. DoLittle

The church built in 1291

Note the date over the door - 1573

On our way back to the car now before a few more visits before the day is out. Lots more to come as this is only the first day. (Blogger has been a pain today losing my text twice while editing)

Hilmarton,Wiltshire Pt.1

The county of Wiltshire is one of those places that we usually drive through or drive past on the M4. This year we felt we needed to rectify that and spend time there. We were definitely not disappointed and spent the week enjoying, not all, but much of what Wiltshire has to offer.

Before sharing our visits I will show you the village where we stayed and I must begin by saying that Hilmarton was the friendliest village we have encountered. As well as everyone being so friendly Hilmarton were last year awarded 'the best kept village in Wiltshire'. So lets have a look at the flavour of this place.

Val and Geoff the owners were delightful, and as well as being very friendly and helpful their hospitality included home made bread, Apricot preserve,shortbreads and ground coffee.They also gave us a tour of their lovely cottage and enchanting cottage garden at the back.

We begin with the cottage where we see the back entrance where the door marks the end of the cottage we were renting as at this point it was attached to the owners cottage. Val tells me that 'Small Cottage' (our rental) dated from 1400 and their own mid 1600.

Alan at 5 foot 8 inches is far too tall to walk straight through the door

The view from a bedroom snuggled under the thatch

And looking out down the road towards the centre of the village



A bridleway and footpath close by

Lets go inside, straight into the sitting room through the front door to the left of where I am standing, the stairs being just to the right, again straight off the sitting room.

The stairs with a 'headbanger'. If one does not stoop low enough then you bang your head on one of these 'headbangers' which stops you banging your head on the beams.

Into a bedroom with a tassled headbanger. Certainly stops you walking through the door and smashing your face!

A picture of the cottage when it stood at the end of the village a very long time ago

And a sample of the original Wattle and Daub used in the original construction of the cottage all those centuries ago.

The Baptist Chapel, and yes it is still used.

The primary school

The Post Office, no longer in operation. The current post office, open only for short periods, is operated from the post mistresses sitting room and assessed from the garden at the back of the house.

The old Almshouses, look at the roof

A larger dwelling

The Parish church

Site of an old well

Entrance to a back garden

A neighbour invited us to his chicken run

An ancient Neolithic white horse on a hillside (more later) seen from the village

And last but not least, a part of the Parish church bell tower during practice. It's now time for confessions!

I was invited to bell practice and as I had been a bell ringer in my youth I was invited to ring with the ringers. I declined as it was so, so long ago - dare I say it - in the 1950's. I did however accept the offer to 'pull' the Treble bell. In my enthusiasm I did not take a minute to think about what I was doing and launched straight in. I pulled and did not leave go of the 'Sally' the red part that you see here in the picture. As my feet were lifted off the ground there was a loud "let go of the rope". As I did this the rope took the skin off the end of one of my fingers and it is still stopping me typing properly over a week later.

Needless to say I was mortified and a little shakey and shocked but everyone assured me it was quite normal for a new or out of practice ringer. Here ended my bell ringing session but it was enjoyable to just sit in the tower and listen, bringing back memories of a long time ago.

In the next post we will begin our trips around Wiltshire.