Lacock village, near Chippenham, dates back to the 13th century and has many limewashed half-timbered and stone houses.

Founded in 1229, Lacock Abbey was sold in 1539 and converted into a family home and it remained so for 405 years until it was given to the National Trust in 1944. The fine medieval cloisters, chapter house and monastic rooms have all remained largely intact and the Victorian woodland garden boasts a fine display of spring flowers, magnificent trees, an 18th century summerhouse, rose garden and botanic garden.

The Abbey is open to visitors between March and October, except Tuesdays and Good Friday. The cloisters and gardens and the Fox Talbot Museum are open daily until October, with the museum then opening at weekends until the last weekend before Christmas.

The Fox Talbot Museum showcases the photographic work of William Fox Talbot and there are also exhibitions featuring the work of contemporary photographers. The Talbots lived in the family home at the Abbey and William began his work in photography with a wooden camera, made to design by the village carpenter.

Due to Lacock's picturesque qualities it has been used as a location for period dramas including Pride And Prejudice, Moll Flanders and Emma. The Abbey also featured in the Harry Potter films - the cloisters and side rooms were transformed into the classrooms at Hogwarts School and it was also used for Harry's discovery of the Mirror of Erised. Dame Judi played the sorrowful Miss Matty Jenkyns in The Cranford Chronicles, a five-part series, based on three novels by Elizabeth Gaskell that tells an amusing story of how ordinary human lives alter dramatically in the course of one year. The BBC filmed scenes in the High Street, Church Street and the Tythe Barn.

Castle Combe, pictured below, is often referred to as Engalnd's prettiest village, and filmmakers certainly seem to think so. The village appeared in The Story of Dr Doolittle, Poirot, Robin of Sherwood and in the recent Hollywood blockbuster Stardust.