Wiltshire, England - Castle Combe


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	Famous as one of the most picturesque villages in Britain, it once voted the prettiest village in England. The Bye Brook winds its way through the village and passes beneath a small
		three arch bridge under the main street. The mellow limestone cottages press onto the road, some gabled and some dormer windowed, have stone tiled roofs which are mossy and uneven.

				Castle Combe. looking up the main street from the Bye Brook end towards the Market Cross

			The White Heart Inn as well as the17th century Dower House and the weavers cottages in Water Lane are of particular interest. Also the stone tiled Market Cross, its wooden beams supported by stone
The cottages beside and the bridge over the Bye Brook. Castle was once voted the prettiest village in England
			pillars.


The village nestles deep in a valley, with wooded slopes making a perfect background for the stone cottages.

Castle Combes beginnings lie on Castle Hill, where once sat a Roman fort. Later came the Danes who were finally routed out at nearby Slaughterford. The area belonged to the de Dunstanvilles after the Norman Conquest. But the Norman castle of around 1140 from which the village takes its name, hardly anything remains. Water de Dunstanvilles tomb of 1270 lies in the church.


		The Market Cross with pyrimidal roof supported by stone pillars

The manor passed to the Scrope family in the 14th century and there it stayed for five hundred years. The 17th century manor house is now a hotel, with a few additions.

Castle Comb, in the 15th century was an important weaving centre. But as with other towns and villages in the area, in later centurys the trade died away.

Today a motor racing circuit is on the outskirts, but has no visual effect on the village as it lies over the hill.

Parts of the film Dr Dolittle, which starred Rex Harrison and Anthony Newly were filmed in the village.


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