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England > Southern England > Wiltshire

Also found in the South West England region

Wiltshire is mostly famous for Stonehenge and its rolling chalk downs. It's not an area you would base yourself for a long time, but there's plenty to see and do on the way through.

Click on the headings to find out more: Stonehenge. This is a must-see for any tourist, but from your humble travel writer, it's one of the more under-whelming tourist attractions. Yes, it's a very important prehistoric site, and yes, the stones are enormous and some 5000 years old. My memory is more of the busy highway trundling past the stone circle, which are fenced off from the public by the way, a crowded car park, and a gift shop that you can't avoid before walking through a tunnel under the road to the actual ruins. With imagination it may be better to view Stonehenge from the motorway and fantasise about what you missed by not stopping for a closer look.


Salisbury however is a most pleasant surprise. For more than 600 years, markets have been held in the town centre twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday) and the bustling stalls give the city a vibrant personality. The town has many fine buildings dating from medieval times.


The most famous building in Salisbury, and justly so, is the cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was built between 1220 and 1258 and is one of the most beautiful in England. Impressive inside and out, with many notable graves and tombs, it's a must-see. The cloisters lead to the Gothic Chapter House where one of four surviving original versions of the Magna Carta (1215AD) is kept. In 1668, the architect Sir Christopher Wren surveyed the cathedral and calculated that the soaring spire was leaning sideways by 75cms (a bit over 2ft). In 1737 a brass plate was inserted under the centre of the spire and the lean hasn't changed since then.


While you're in a 'churchy' mood, drop in to St Thomas' Church, which has a marvellous 15th Century Judgement Day painting. Christ sits in judgement with heaven on his left and hell on his right. In 'hell' you'll find two kings and a bishop, naked except for their crowns and mitre along with other curiosities.
Castle Combe has been called the prettiest village in England with its stone houses and arched bridge. The movie Doctor Dolittle was filmed here. A couple of miles west of Salisbury is Wilton House, which was a gift from Henry VIII to the first Earl of Pembroke in 1541. The present owner is the 17th Earl of Pembroke. The grounds are lovely and inside you'll find, among many relics, a lock of Queen Elizabeth I's hair. It's open from April to October from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Well worth a visit.


If you want to avoid, or are disappointed by Stonehenge (or indeed, impressed!) go north to Avebury for a prehistoric complex of ceremonial sites and burial chambers. The stone circle is bigger than Stonehenge and there's more atmosphere. On the right eerie, misty afternoon you could be forgiven for having the urge to slaughter a goat. Avebury itself is a very pretty village full of thatched cottages and there are many rewarding walks in the district.


Lacock Abbey, just 3 miles south of Chippenham, was the last abbey in England to be shut down by Henry VIII, and thus is one of the best preserved. It came into the hands of the Talbot family in the 1600's under unusual circumstances. The maiden of the house was confined to an upstairs room in the abbey by her father, but leapt from the window into the arms of her lover, a Talbot, almost killing him. The father was so impressed at his daughter's devotion he allowed the marriage to go ahead. One of their descendents, William Fox Talbot, was a pioneer in photography. A negative he took of a window in the abbey in 1835 is the oldest photograph in the world, and much of his other work can be seen in the Abbey's Museum.


Longleat (just west of Warminster) is worth a visit to see tack meet tradition. It's a fine stately Elizabethan home dating back 400 years, which houses Churchill memorabilia and the cotton doublet worn by Charles I when he was beheaded. The garment is frayed at the neck and, on close inspection, you can see bloodstains. Due to tax problems, the owners of Longleat decided to add more modern attractions and in the grounds you'll also find a pub, a narrow-gauge railway, a Doctor Who exhibit, a pet's corner, a safari park with lions and a butterfly garden. How could you resist?


Nearby Marlborough and Malmesbury are also worth visiting for history and atmosphere. In the churchyard of Malmesbury Abbey (S/E corner) is the gravestone of Hannah Twynnoy who died in 1703 at age 33. It reads "For tyger fierce, Took life away, And here she lies, in a bed of clay". She was serving as a maid in the White Lion pub when a tiger that escaped from a visiting circus attacked and killed her.
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