Highlights
- historic abbey and photographic museum
- traditional English village
- scenic views of the river Avon
- Bowden Park and House
- glorious views of the Wiltshire countryside
Scenes that are "forever England" follow one another step by step as you follow this pleasant ramble through the Wiltshire countryside. Lacock village has been preserved in a bygone age and is now under the protection of The National Trust. The gentle hills and tradional farming country present views of classic beauty, enhanced by the Bide Brook and the River Avon (crossed more than once on this walk). Lacock Abbey will look familiar to afficionadoes of the "Harry Potter" films.
The Route 
From the car park take the marked path into Lacock village, past the abbey and the photographic museum. Go past the Stables Tea Room to the Red Lion. Turn right opposite the Red Lion (the road is called East Street, but the street name is not marked)
At the T junction, turn right (opposite the Lacock Bakery) into Church Street (beside the Carpenters Arms) and walk past King John's Hunting Yard and towards the church. Turn left into the road opposite the church and follow that lane to a humpback bridge and ford, crossing the Bide Brook. Cross the bridge, turn right and follow the path beside the brook.
After leaving the brook, continue to the top of the lane then turn right and go through a kissing gate. Follow a tarmac footpath straight across the field (the River Avon comes into view over to the right). Go through a kissing gate and follow the path past cottages to a road. Turn right and, after a few yards, turn right again to cross a bridge over the River Avon. Immediately after crossing the bridge turn left over a stile into a field. There is a tree in the middle of the field; go to the right of the tree and head towards the point where a wall meets a metal fence. Go over a metal stile and cross the road to a tree-lined footpath skirting round the edge of private land. Follow the path round to a double squeeze stile. Go through and follow the left field edge round 2 sides of the field to half-way up the second side.
The next stile is almost hidden among the hawthorns on the left, just after a fenced gap. Cross that double stile into a field and turn right. The path is poorly marked, but roughly follows the right hand side of the field and then through into the woods.
At this point the path picks up the line of the old Berks and Wilts Canal. But the section through the trees is well shaded and readily becomes muddy, so expect some difficult walking until you are out of the trees. Fortunately this is quite a short section and, after the next stile, you come out onto a metalled path running alongside the old canal. The River Avon comes back into view down on the left.
The path comes to an old bridge (recently restored), where a seat provides a scenic point for a welcome rest. Continue along the same path (from this point the canal is virtually dry) and through a gateway. Just before a second gateway (where the path changes to gravel) turn right and cross a stile and promptly go left across another stile leading into woodland. Follow the turns of the woodland path then cross a stile into a field. Cross a narrow section of the field straight ahead to the corner of a tree boundary, then follow the line of trees straight ahead along the left hand side of the field. Go through a gate and continue straight ahead across the next field. Pass through another gate into another field and follow the left hand boundary along to a tarmac farm road.
Turn right onto the farm road and follow it uphill towards woodland. Cross two cattle grids and follow the road through the woods, out between fields and up to where it sweeps right, crosses another farm track and leads out to a T junction with a public lane (Grid Ref. 937692). This section the route presents sweeping views of the Wiltshire countryside. Turn left at the T junction and follow this lane for about 100 yards until you reach a cottage. Cross the stile on the right near the cottage and walk diagonally back across a paddock crossing to the opposite hedge and another stile. After crossing that stile go diagonally left across a field to a further stile in the far corner. Cross the left-hand corner of the next field and go over another stile into woodland and follow the path to a further stile. Cross into a field and walk along the right hand edge to yet another stile, which crosses into Bowden Park (an area of parkland below Bowden House, with views down to the plain of the Avon valley).
Move down to the lowest part of the field, away from Bowden House (though you may want to go over and take a look at this impressive house) and down to a gate (Grid Ref. 934684). After passing through the gate head straight down a field to another gate and stile leading into a field that is notable for its Scarlet Pimpernel plants.
Follow the left side of that field round to a stile beside a house. Cross the stile, follow the path between hedges then turn left on a drive. Go through a boundary onto Bewley Common. The drive changes from tarmac to gravel and sweeps left; at that point turn right onto a footpath leading across the common to a road. Turn right onto the road and follow that road along, over the River Avon and back to Lacock Car Park.
Safety
This 5 mile walk is mostly flat and certainly easy. Boots are advisable because some sections may be muddy.
Notes
Lacock Abbey has been a country house since Tudor times, but was an active convent (founded in the 13th century) until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. Its first non-monastic owner, William Sharrington, seems to have been a local bully, but his actions preserved some fine ancient architecture. The well-preserved cloister and some of its surrounding rooms may look familiar to afficionadoes of Harry Potter films as they were used as sets on more than one of the series.
Bide Brook is just a tiny stream on the edge of Lacock village, but a strikingly pretty start to the walk. The brook flows eastward into the River Avon.
Photographic Museum - Run by the National Trust and known as the Fox Talbot museum, this permanent exhibition celebrates the work of one of the pioneers of photography, who was also a former resident of Lacock Abbey. Fox Talbot's innovative techniques were a major contribution to the development of photography as an art form.
ItLacock Village is managed by the National Trust and remains a pretty village trapped in a past age. Apart from the Abbey, it boasts a fine example of a tithe barn and some attractive houses, shops and pubs.
Bowden Park, which is worth a short diversion before continuing with the walk, is a fine 18th century mansion surrounded by parkland. It was designed by James Wyatt and is in private ownership.
Bewley Common - A large village green kept as a traditional grazing area in the middle of Bewley village.
Tithe Barn - In the Middle Ages almost every village had one of these, but most have since fallen into ruins and disappeared. But this fine example in Laycock village is in good repair - and this walk gose right past it.