Walk through timbered streets unchanged by time

A springtime walk through the timbered streets of Lacock, with its ancient abbey, reveals a village suspended in the past

AHOUSE SPARROW STANDS on a stone wall, trilling exuberantly in the April sunshine. To either side, honeycomb houses seem to turn their faces skyward, soaking up the welcome warmth of spring. Quintessential English country gardens burst with colour: the lavenders, lilacs and mauves of crocuses; buttery yellow daffodils, and jewel tulips.

A scent of freshly baked bread is borne on the breeze, and doorstep and windowsill displays of home-grown and handcrafted produce are beginning to reappear, for sale via honesty boxes, now that winter has passed. Lacock is a village remarkably time-capsuled 200 years in the past. From the higgledy-piggledy collage of half-timbered buildings and thatched, stone cottages to the absence of overhead cables and aerials, and the riverbank grounds of Lacock Abbey, where lambs gambol in the dappled shade of oak trees, there is a reason why this unassuming place provides a frequent backdrop for historic television dramas and films alike.

Birthplace of photography

A satisfying two-mile walk wraps itself around the village, combining historical landmarks with noteworthy architecture and some of the most impressive carpets of crocuses in the county.

The walk begins from the National Trust’s Hither Way car park. Crossing Hither Way and following the path towards the High Street, the glinting diamonds of Lacock Abbey’s latticed windows will appear through a lime-green screen of beech leaves. Now owned by the National Trust, it is these humble windows that have enticed visitors to Lacock from both near and far.

In 1835, the scientist and inventor William Henry Fox Talbot, who was the owner of the abbey at the time, captured these windows in the world’s first

photographic negative. His invention, which made it possible to produce multiple copies of a given image, led the village of Lacock to become known as the birthplace of photography.

The story of Fox Talbot and his calotype technique is told at the Fox Talbot Museum, housed in a former 16th century barn 175yds (160m) further along the road and adjacent to the abbey entrance. Here, photographic objects, such as Fox Talbot’s mousetrap camera, interactive displays and the extensive Fenton Collection of cameras, optical devices and approximately 3,500 photographic images, explore the development of photography from its creation to the present day. There are also changing photography exhibitions in the museum’s Upper Gallery.

Standing at the entrance to the museum, the beauty of the abbey can be fully appreciated, with its Gothick arches, ashlar and rubble stonework, and 16th century chimney stacks spiralling upwards like celebratory candles against a clean blue sky. By purchasing tickets in advance, entry into the abbey and its grounds will extend the walk and offers the opportunity to admire the enclosed cloister garden. Here are borders of fragrant lavender,

rosemary and thyme, as well as geraniums, hydrangeas and mass plantings of the alba rose ‘Celestial’. There are the woodland gardens, at their best in spring, due to their showcase of anemones, daffodils, snakeshead fritillaries and crocuses.

Frozen in time

The walk continues from the abbey along the High Street. From the left, the soft sound of chatter lingers in the air as families gather in the courtyard garden of the Stables Café, and residents of the village pause mid errand to chat.

At the corner with East Street, opposite the Red Lion pub, where the local Stokes Marsh Farm beef is a firm favourite on the menu, stands Lacock’s 14th century Tithe Barn. Large timber doors on its western side provide access and a vantage of the construction and carpentry techniques. These include raised cruck trusses, with arch-braced collars, and the timbers, the carpenter’s marks and apotropaic protection symbols still visible, that awarded it a Grade I listing.

A wander along the High Street is a history lesson in the making. At No. 2, a wonky-walled, 15th century cottage used as a coffee tavern in the late 19th century, the building now showcases a display of early 20th century items in the window for passers-by to reminisce over. The village school was financed by William Henry Fox Talbot to mark his 21st birthday, although the planned opening, in 1821,

had to be delayed by three years in order for the cottages standing on the proposed site to be demolished. The school features the Talbot coat of arms. Where the High Street joins West Street stands Lacock’s elaborate war memorial, providing remembrance to those residents who gave their lives in both World Wars.

When the village was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1944, so arose a unique opportunity to fix Lacock in time. This is why there are no overhead cables, no modern buildings, and 100 listed properties. Even the bus shelter on West Street is significant, converted from the village’s last remaining smithy. Lacock has essentially been preserved in the past.

Turning right onto West Street, a gravel courtyard to the left is home to antiques shops and The Chocolate Barn, selling handmade chocolates. The George Inn, the oldest pub with a continuous licence in Lacock, dates back to the 16th century, although it is believed that there has been an inn of sorts here since 1361. The inn is renowned for its wooden turnspit wheel, which would have been attached to a chain and spit. A now-extinct, short-legged breed of dog, called a turnspit, ran on the wheel, and the spit would turn, cooking meat on it evenly.

Approximately 100yds (91m) beyond the George Inn, at the Bide Brook, from which Lacock gets its name, ‘lacuc’, meaning ‘little stream’ in Saxon, West Street becomes Cantax Hill. Although the walk turns right and follows Church Street towards the Norman St Cyriac’s Church, it is worth taking a short detour up the hill to admire the Grade II*-listed Cantax House. Unmissable, thanks to its red brick with ashlar dressings frontage, Cantax House was Lacock’s vicarage until 1866.

Church Street is best appreciated from the centre. Here, the gentle meander of the house fronts can be seen. Although most of Lacock is laid out in grid formation, a true medieval planned town, its foundational settlement is irregular, based solely on the church.

Local produce

The walk continues past the Sign of the Angel on the left. This is the third traditional public house for Lacock’s residents and visitors to enjoy. The inn is

“Can you trace a fairer garden, truer-trimmed or better-ordered? Here the channel of the Avon, there the Valley of the Horse”

Alfred Williams, ‘About Wiltshire’

packed with 15th century character, from its horse passage entranceway to the weather-eroded stone ornamentation at the door; the shoulder-high fireplaces and the ancient latch doors. The menu is seasonal, showcasing Wiltshire produce, and there is a garden with a stream running by.

Approximately 40yds (37m) beyond, where Church Street meets East Street, is the Lacock Bakery. This is an old-fashioned business, where bonneted staff serve freshly baked savoury pies and sticky spice- and sultana-packed Lacock lardies: perfect for snacking on from the inviting bench out front or the seat-height walls of St Cyriac’s Church, diagonally over the road.

Pausing at St Cyriac’s offers a reminder of the success Lacock enjoyed during the 15th century, courtesy of its wool and cloth trade. It is thanks to the income from these industries that the church was rebuilt into the perpendicular structure on a cruciform plan that stands today. The spring sun casts shadows that highlight the church’s ashlar and rubble stonework, the mullion windows and the octagonal spire.

It was only in the 18th century, when a new road was built to Bath, which diverted traffic away from Lacock, that its cloth industry suffered. Many of the village’s resident clothiers relocated to towns such as Chippenham, which now thrived.

But signs of its industrious heritage remain in Lacock to this day. There is the regular chime of the Lacock Abbey clock, set five minutes fast, in a nod to a

“I stood upon the stone where ELA lay, The widowed founder of these ancient walls, Where fancy still on meek devotion calls, Marking the ivied arch, and turret grey”

William Lisle Bowles, ‘Lacock Nunnery’

100

Top to bottom: Traditional treats and old world charm at the village bakery in Lacock, Wiltshire; the arched entrance to Lacock Abbey; home-made produce to buy for a donation.

Lacock Abbey in its verdant grounds. It went on to become a Tudor family home, and Sharington’s Tower, to the right, was built with original abbey stones.

The interior of the barn, where crops or fleeces were housed: ‘rent’ from the village tenants to the abbey.

The Tithe Barn, on the right, a stone’s throw from the abbey, once used by the nuns of Lacock to store grain.

The imposing timbered frontage of the George Inn, the converted bus shelter and alleyway leading to a yard of shops and Coco Chemistry at The Chocolate Barn.

Left to right: A turnspit dog would run around this wheel for hours so the owner would not have to rotate roasting meat; a look back in time through the window of No. 2 High Street; the Talbot family coat of arms at the school.

A curved timber cruck, or crook, frame supporting a roof.

The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery on set of the film version of Downton Abbey (left). Shooting period drama Cranford (right).

Walkers pass the cool water of the ford, viewed from the packhorse bridge.

St Cyriac’s with its sheep gate reflecting Lacock’s position on the old Bath to London droving route (top). Local produce at The Stall on the Wall next to its honesty box (above).