Castle Combe
Castle Combe has been called 'The Prettiest Village in England' and with good reason; visitors have been coming to enjoy its charms for at least a century and the small street leading from the Market Cross down to the By Brook is as picturesque today as it ever was.
Castle Combe has featured regularly as a film location, most recently in The Wolf Man, Stardust and Stephen Spielberg’s War Horse. It was also used in the original Dr Doolittle film.
The village houses are all typical Cotswold type, constructed in stone with thick walls and roofs made from split natural stone tiles. The properties are many hundreds of years old and are listed as ancient monuments. Strict rules apply to preserve the beauty and character of Castle Combe for later generations to admire.
By the Middle Ages, the village in the valley had become an important center for the wool industry. The spinsters and weavers lived in the cottages (hence names such as "Weaver’s House") and the river, still known as By Brook, provided the power to run the mills.
I must confess that the first thing that sprang to my mind when the village was mentioned was the race circuit! Not some beautiful village such as this.
View from the river bridge
By Brook - the river running through Castle Combe
The Market Cross
This historic monument is in the center of the village. It is believed to date from the 14th century when the privilege to hold a weekly market was first granted.
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