Lacock

The Town

If you’re a property buyer thinking about a Lacock property search, your Recoco buying agent can confirm this picture-perfect location is around 3 miles south of Chippenham. Your boutique buying agents can explain that the National Trust owns almost the whole village. Buildings are rented out to private tenants; this includes the pubs.  

Any property search will reveal the village is packed with traditional stone cottages, and your property buying agent can tell you about the medieval tithe barn, the old workhouse, the village church, and the old lock-up. Ask your buyers agents about the oldest house in town - even older than the thirteenth-century abbey.

Transport

Lacock lies in between Bath and Stonehenge. The easiest way for a property buyer to reach the village is by car.  Buyers agents can point you towards the large National Trust car park at the edge of the village. Our property search company can confirm the bus from Chippenham takes around 15 minutes. Your Recoco buying agent can tell you that Chippenham is the nearest railway station, linking to both London Paddington and Bath.

History 

The town’s name, Saxon in origin, is thought to mean little stream. Your boutique buying agents can tell you the village was later controlled by Norman lords who built St. Cyriac’s Church. Your property buying agent can confirm the area around the church was settled initially, the rest is a planned medieval town. As our Recoco property finder can tell you, from the Middle Ages, wool made the town wealthy, combined with its position on the main London to Bath route.

Our independent buying agents can give you a potted history of the Abbey, which was sold with its estate to William Sharington after the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. It passed to the Talbot family through marriage. Ask your property search company about the 1800 to 1877 period in particular - the time of Henry Fox Talbot, pioneer of modern photography. In 1944, the estate passed to the National Trust.

Education

In 1824, Henry Fox Talbot provided a school for 100 pupils. Your real estate buyers agent can provide more details - it became a National School in 1852, educating children of all ages until the early 1960s, when older pupils were taught in Chippenham. Ask your Recoco property finder about the agricultural college too -  now part of Wiltshire College.

Leisure and Events

Your property buying agent can tell you there’s plenty to keep any property buyer entertained in Lacock, including the annual scarecrow festival, the Abbey, and the Fox Talbot photography museum. Get your buyers agents to help you discover how Fox Talbot invented the positive-negative film process. Nearby Castle Combe is also worth visiting, as your property search company can tell you.  

Your Recoco buying agent can show you the independent shops in the High Street to help entertain you during your property search, including a National Trust shop, gift shops, a bakery, and general grocer.

Celebrity Connections

Your real estate buyers agent can confirm Lacock is often used as a location for BBC period dramas in particular. Lacock itself is quite a celebrity - just ask our boutique buying agents. Still located on the direct route from London to Bath, the village is a popular coach trip stop, as our independent buying agents can confirm.

Lacock, as your Recoco property finder can tell you, can take on a slightly surreal quality.  Residents become very accustomed to the presence of film crews around the place, and are regularly asked to remove their cars from the High Street while filming takes place. The village has featured in many productions including Cranford, The Other Boleyn Girl, Downton Abbey, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Moll Flanders, Wolf Hall, and the Harry Potter movies among others.

Foodies’ Corner

Ask your real estate buyers agent about the three pubs in town, the Red Lion, the Sign of the Angel Inn, and the George Inn. All offer hearty pub fare in attractive rustic surroundings. Cosy afternoon tea is available at King John’s Hunting Lodge Tea Rooms and Garden.

If diet allows, sample the lardy cakes at the Bakery, or check out what’s on offer through the honesty box system in the village. Artisan chocolatier CoCoChemistry has treats to suit all tastes - but don’t mistake the soaps at Quintessentially English for victuals, even if they do look (and smell) good enough to eat.

Fun Fact

Countess Ela, the Abbey founder, is the only female Sheriff in the history of the County of Wiltshire.