The idyllic village of Lacock is situated just outside The Cotswolds area of natural beauty in the county of Wiltshire. The village is largely unspoilt and is full of English country charm. These two attributes—as well as the lure of the historic abbey—attract visitors from near and far. The National Trust owns most of Lacock and is instrumental in conserving the heritage of the village and abbey. There are stone and half-timbered buildings in Lacock and a number of eighteenth century and earlier houses, as well as the Grade I listed abbey and fourteenth century St Cyriac’s Church and tithe barn.
The River Avon runs north to south through the parish just to the east of Lacock Abbey. A crossing point over the river was the only one available up until the 1700s when the village was involved in the wool industry. The photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot occupied the Lacock Estate from 1800 to 1877. Talbot invented the calotype process which uses paper coated in silver iodide. A converted sixteenth century barn in the village is home to the Fox Talbot Museum of Photography.
Lacock Abbey was founded in the thirteenth century as an Augustinian nunnery but was converted to a private dwelling by Sir William Sharington in the sixteenth century. It was here that Talbot made the first surviving photographic negative. Today the abbey is a mixture of archectural styles but significant Tudor areas still remain.
Both the abbey and village have appeared many times in film and on TV—most notably in three of the Harry Potter movies and the spin-off Fantastic Beasts. The Abbey, for instance, was used for the interior of Hogwarts School and Harry's parents' house was located in the village. Also filmed on location in Lacock was Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Cranford, Emma, The Other Bolyn Girl and Wolf Hall.
Lacock's 14th-century Tithe Barn, a stalwart built from local limestone, embodies the village's history. Once a monastic storehouse for Lacock Abbey, it adapted to changing needs, serving as agricultural space and even a market hall. Now, restored to its former glory, it stands as a captivating reminder of the past, its presence gracing film and solidifying its cultural significance.
