Lacock, (pronounced Laycock), just four miles south of Chippenham, is oft cited as the most beautifully preserved village in the Cotswolds. The village is actually located outside of the Cotswolds AONB, sitting just to the south, but with its abundant and timeless charm we won’t dwell on that!
The village’s existence is largely thanks to Ela, Countess of Salisbury, first and only female sheriff of Wiltshire. It was Countess Ela who founded Lacock Abbey in 1232 in memory of her husband, William Longworth, stepbrother to Richard the Lionheart. Lacock’s name is derived from from the Saxon word lacuc, meaning “little stream,” referring to the Bide Brook which flows through it.
Lacock Abbey, which was built for Augustinian nuns, grew alongside the village, each supporting the other, until its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539. The Abbey was then sold to Sir William Sharington who re-built it as a family home, although the original cloisters, chapter houses, sacristy and kitchens still survive. After just a few years the estate passed to the Talbot family with who it remained for 370 years until it was given to the National Trust in 1944.
The Talbot family are mostly remembered for their illustrious son, William Henry Fox Talbot, who took up residence in 1827. A mathematician, physicist, classicist, philologist and transcriber of Syrian and Chaldean cuneiform, Fox Talbot spent much of the 1830s carrying out experiments in the abbey using wooden cameras made to his design by the village carpenter.
In 1839 he presented the Royal Society with ‘an account of the art of photographic drawing or the process by which natural objects may be made to delineate themselves without the aid of the artist’s pencil’. Louis Daguerre was carrying out similar experiments at the same time in France but Fox Talbot distinguished himself by inventing the positive/negative process by which multiple copies can be made and is generally thought of as the father of photography.
Whilst in situ at the Abbey, Fox Talbot installed 3 new oriel windows, and one of the world’s earliest photographs shows a detail of one of these latticed windows. It is the size of a postage stamp and the first known example of a photographic negative.
Today the story of Fox Talbot’s life is on display in the Fox Talbot Museum, located in a barn at the entrance to the Abbey. The museum, run by the National Trust, houses memorabilia from Fox Talbot’s life together with a collection of early cameras. There are also regular exhibitions by contemporary photographers.
It was Fox Talbot’s grand daughter, Matilda, who gave the estate to the national Trust in 1944. The villagers of Lacock, once tenants of the Abbey, then of the Sharingtons and Talbots, are now tenants of the National Trust, who are dedicated to preserving and maintaining the Abbey for future generations to enjoy. In the grounds are newly-restored botanical gardens, a Victorian woodland garden and a holiday cottage due to open in summer, 2008.
During the middle ages the village, which prospered from the thriving wool industry, grew into a bustling town on the main Bristol to London road. It had its own mill and weekly market as well as three farms, carpenters, wheelwrights, several pubs and a brewery.
Many original buildings still survive, including ‘The Sign of the Angel‘, an inn in a 15th century weaver’s house, a 14th century tithe barn complete with dirt floor, a medieval church and the 18th century packhorse bridge, built to solve the problem of transporting goods when the Byde Brook was in flood.
Today’s village, though it has shrunk to just a few shops and pubs, supported by the tourist trade, remains prosperous. Like the Abbey, much of the village is now under the stewardship of the National Trust, but this doesn’t mean Lacock has become a museum piece. It is still a thriving village at heart with about 200 people living in its historic cottages. The National Trust rents out most of the houses (even the pubs) to local residents under the condition that the historic exteriors remain unchanged.
Lacock as a film location
The absence of power cables, yellow lines and or TV aerials from its quadrangle of streets has made it very popular as a movie and TV filming location with Lacock being used used in countless productions. So if you have a sense of déjà vu when you arrive, there’s a reason. Some of the better know productions filmed here include:
Harry Potter
Lacock Abbey served as a filming location for Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, with its cloisters used as the school’s corridors. The Abbey’s Warming Room became Snape’s Potions classroom, while the Sacristy housed the Mirror of Erised. In the village, fans often visit “Harry Potter’s parents’ house” at 20 Church Street, seen in a Philosopher’s Stone flashback. Nearby, a home on Cantax Hill appeared as Horace Slughorn’s hideout in Half-Blood Prince. Lacock also portrayed Budleigh Babberton, where Dumbledore and Harry recruited Slughorn. The village was later featured in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, solidifying its magical legacy.
Downton Abbey
Lacock featured in the final season of Downton Abbey and the 2019 film, portraying a village near the Downton estate. In Series 6 (2015), Church Street was transformed into a 1920s livestock market, complete with sheep, pigs, and a Longhorn bull. The village returned to the spotlight in the Downton Abbey film, hosting a grand royal parade for King George V, with 350 extras, vintage carriages, and period decor. Lacock’s unchanged historic charm made it an ideal filming location, allowing fans to step into Downton’s world with little imagination.
Pride and Prejudice
Lacock served as Meryton in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice (1995) mini-series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. The Bennet sisters’ frequent walks into town to shop and gossip were filmed along Lacock’s streets, while the Red Lion pub stood in for the Meryton assembly rooms, where Darcy and Elizabeth shared a dance. The village also set the scene for Lydia and Kitty’s excited chatter about officers and bonnets. With its well-preserved historic charm, Lacock became a perfect Regency-era backdrop, making it a must-visit for Pride and Prejudice fans.
Other Productions
Lacock has been a popular filming location for numerous productions. It appeared in Cranford (2007), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and Wolf Hall (2015), with Lacock Abbey doubling as parts of Henry VIII’s palaces. The village also featured in Galavant (2015) and His Dark Materials (2019). Older productions, including a 1990s Robin Hood series, Moll Flanders, and Emma, also filmed here. The Red Lion pub was notably featured in Cranford.
Lacock’s timeless charm continues to make it a go-to for filming period dramas and fantasy series alike. You may not be surprised to hear a cottage industry providing Harry Potter and film locations tours has sprung up in the village. That aside, it isn’t difficult to identify the key locations with a bit of research or by asking the friendly National Trust guides on site.
