Wiltshire village that has 'timeless charm' named among most beautiful in UK
A Wiltshire village that 'epitomises timeless charm' has been named as one of the most beautiful villages in the UK.
Castle Combe was handpicked by property experts as part of The Daily Mail's list of 24 villages.
The article states: 'With stories of rats and overflowing bins recently dominating the news, it's easy to forget that the UK is blessed with beautiful villages dotted up and down the country.
'But where can you find these gorgeous places? We've spoken to estate agents, property experts and buying agencies to bring you a selection of the UK's prettiest villages.
'The 24 most beautiful villages in Britain have now been revealed by experts…there's little-known ones and surprising gems - but does your favourite make the cut?'
The Mail's article states: 'With golden, stone-roofed cottages, cosy country lanes and a babbling brook, it's no surprise that this Wiltshire village with its sweeping views across Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Dorset, and Somerset has been a filming location for Downton Abbey, War Horse and more.
'And 'Castle Combe is the epitome of timeless Cotswold charm', says Jonathan Hopper, CEO of Garrington Property Finders.
Patchwork fields, picturesque villages and iconic landmarks, Wiltshire is the ideal place to visit all year round... pic.twitter.com/D29vgjXxaF
— VisitWiltshire (@VisitWiltshire) April 29, 2025
'Most of the houses date back centuries and are built from honey-coloured Cotswold stone, which looks lovely all year round.
'The ancient bridge over the by Brook Valley in particular is 'pinch yourself' beautiful.'
Equally stunning villages were also picked by experts, including Goudhurst, Kent, Great Budworth, Cheshire, The Mardens, West Sussex and Mells, Somerset.
Recommended reading:
Castle Combe things to do from motorsports to river walks
Marlborough tops Wiltshire's 'most desired' market towns
Malmesbury named best place to live in Wiltshire as top 10 revealed
The news that Castle Combe made the most beautiful list comes shortly after two other Wiltshire villages were ranked among the 29 poshest places to live in Britain.
Biddestone and Shalbourne were both picked for their 'intangible sense of a village's so-called poshness' by The Daily Mail back in April.
The rankings added that the villages are an attraction for those with 'deep enough pockets'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bristol in Pictures: England on fire in T20
England took on the West Indies in a T20 international on Sunday afternoon [Getty Images] It was not to be for Bristol Bears at Bath on Friday night, but the many supporters who made the short journey to the Rec could look back on some incredible matches this season. There was sporting success for England's cricketers when they visited Bristol on Sunday however. Advertisement World-famous show War Horse has cantered into the Hippodrome just as another big production finishes at Bristol Old Vic. Cricket legends from years gone by gathered at Downend on Friday for a special match to raise funds for a Gloucestershire legend, and some enterprising lads from Keynsham have been preparing for a motorsport challenge. Here is our snapshot of life in Bristol over the past few days. [PA Media] Clean sweep: England completed a series victory over the West Indies at the Seat Unique Ground in Bristol on Sunday, beating the visitors by four wickets. [Bristol Bears] Pride in defeat: After their defeat to Bath on Friday, there was a moment for the Bristol Bears players to pause and reflect on a great season, with Knowle West boy Ellis Genge giving the speech. [Bristol Zoo Project] [Bristol Zoo Project] Cooling off: With hibernation a distant memory, the European brown bears at Bristol Zoo Project can often be found taking a dip as the summer warms up. Fellow zoo inhabitants the lemurs have their own ways of relaxing in the sunshine (above). [Brinkhoff-Moegenburg] Mount Up: Highly-acclaimed play War Horse has arrived at the Hippodrome, and will be galloping across the stage until 21 June. [Cheryl Dennis/BBC] Local legend: A celebrity match took place at Downend CC on Friday in aid of the MND Association and former Gloucestershire cricketer David "Syd" Lawrence. The game, which attracted names such as West Indies legend Courtney Walsh and England fast bowler Devon Malcolm and was watched by an audience of hundreds, also hosted the launch for Syd's new book. [Ellie Kurttz] Thought provoking: Described by one critic as a "masterpiece", The Beautiful Future is Coming has been enthralling Bristol Old Vic audiences over the past three weeks. [Lily Renshaw] African rhythms: Project Zulu Choir's tour of Bristol and Bath came to an end with a concert at Bristol Beacon on Thursday. The tour, in association with UWE, raises funds for school projects back in South Africa. [Hope Against Suicide] Covering the miles: Volunteers raised money for charities Hope Against Suicide and 1625 Independent People by taking on the challenge of using gym equipment to cover the distance from Bristol to Land's End on Friday. [Kingswood RFC] On the up: From struggling to put out a team before the Covid-19 pandemic, hard work by club members and volunteers has led to Kingswood RFC fielding multiple sides and holding events such as walking rugby (above). [BBC] Plugged in: Lord Lieutenant of Bristol Peaches Golding was one of the first people to get a close look at a new fleet of electric buses that will be serving the city and also Weston-super-Mare. [Flowers by Alla] Rosy future: A florist who fled war-torn Ukraine has held her first workshop in her new business. Flowers by Alla, on the Wells Road in Totterdown, is run by Alla Orekhovska, who had to leave her home three years ago after Russian forces invaded. [IKB Academy] Get your motors running: A group of 10 teenage boys from Keynsham are revving up for a national karting final this month. The group, from Wellsway, Broadlands and Sir Bernard Lovell Schools, built the kart themselves and will be going up against other schools from across the country on Saturday. Advertisement Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. More Bristol galleries
Elle
21 hours ago
- Elle
The Original 'Dept. Q' Was Set in a Completely Different Country
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Spoilers ahead. Netflix's newest thriller series, Dept. Q, follows Carl Morck (Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode), a detective who has recently returned to work after being shot by an unknown assailant. While struggling with the aftermath of being the victim of a crime, Morck is put in charge of a newly formed cold case unit. With a haphazard group of unlikely co-workers, Morck starts investigating the mysterious disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie) several years earlier. But is the cold case at the center of Dept. Q's creepy first season based on a true story? Dept. Q is based on a book series by Danish crime fiction author Jussi Adler-Olsen. There are actually 10 books in the series, which follows former homicide detective Carl Mørck, who is put in charge of a cold case unit called Department Q. While the Netflix series is set in Edinburgh, Adler-Olsen's novels take place in Copenhagen. In a 2017 interview with Crime Fiction Lover, Adler-Olsen revealed that he incorporated parts of his own personality into Dept. Q's protagonist, including his real first name (the author was born Carl Valdemar Jussi Henry Adler-Olsen). 'One characteristic we share is a certain degree of laziness,' the writer explained. 'I have always been embarrassed by this so I have always been quite diligent out of fear of indulging in my laziness. Basically, I envy [Carl's] ability to put his feet up and take a nap.' However, Adler-Olsen also noted some of the more positive attributes he has in common with his famous character, such as finding 'it easy to come up with creative ideas,' and being 'direct.' The author suggested he envies when Mørck 'speaks plain truths directly to people.' In a 2020 interview with Thrillers & More, Adler-Olsen discussed how his own childhood influenced his writing. The author's father was a doctor, which led to his family living in 'three mental hospitals' when he was growing up. 'Suddenly I had a lot of friends amongst the patients,' Adler-Olsen explained. 'Like Mørck. He was a real patient, who killed his wife. It started as a normal argument, but ended terribly. That deed drove him insane. But he was nice to me.' Living in hospitals meant that Adler-Olsen witnessed 'autopsies being performed' and 'shock treatments' being carried out, he told Thrillers & More, which all fed into his writing later in life. 'It was very interesting for me to see what a patient I'd known looked like on the inside,' the author said of watching doctors perform autopsies. 'To me, life and death were obvious and meaningful at a young age, and I was never scared. It also influenced me a lot in my understanding of when you're twisted, how twisted you can be. How normal it can be for even a normal person to have good and evil in you at the same time. It's only a matter of the wrong incident at the wrong moment that raises the bad in you.' One of the biggest changes between Adler-Olsen's book series and its Netflix adaptation is the setting. The show's creator, Scott Frank, is responsible for moving the action from Copenhagen, Denmark to Edinburgh, Scotland, and for casting English actor Matthew Goode in the lead role. 'Because of Matthew, I realized the main character is going to be English, not Scottish, and that it would be really fun to play up his loathing of the Scottish people for no other reason than his ex-wife was Scottish, so he takes it out on everyone else,' Frank told Tudum. As for why he wanted to move Dept. Q from Denmark to Scotland, Frank told the outlet, 'I hadn't really seen a show in Edinburgh before, and it's a beautiful city.' The creator explained, 'It's the perfect combination between the modern and the medieval.' Goode concurred, suggesting to Tudum that Edinburgh's 'gothic architecture, and it being the judicial center of Scotland' made it the ideal city in which to set Dept. Q. In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Goode said that Edinburgh's 'medieval architecture' and the fact that the city is 'quite small' provided further inspiration for Dept. Q. 'It becomes a real character of our series,' the actor noted. While Dept. Q is based on a series of novels, some members of the cast drew inspiration for their characters from real crimes. In an interview with The Scottish Sun, Chloe Pirrie, who portrays kidnapped lawyer Merritt Lingard in the series, explained, 'I did a lot of research around the legal world in Edinburgh.' She continued, 'The court system there has been televised quite a lot through the BBC documentary series Murder Trial so I could see how it works, and how it feels like a bit of a club.' Based upon her research, Pirrie believed 'Merritt would absolutely exist outside of' any sort of insular legal clique, 'and actually be in conflict with it.' Pirrie continued, 'That immediately told me she would be someone who is potentially not well-liked—but that she probably doesn't give a shit that that's the case.' The actress also wanted to ensure she could accurately portray what being trapped in a hyperbaric chamber might be like. 'I spent a lot of time looking into the effects of solitary confinement and what it does to people psychologically,' Pirrie told the outlet. Despite playing the lead in Dept. Q, Matthew Goode wasn't overly familiar with the show's source material, and was allowed a certain degree of freedom when it came to his character. 'I've done many adaptations [in] my career,' Goode told The Hollywood Reporter. 'And sometimes you get so attached to bits in the book and then they just don't appear in it.' He continued, 'We got to create a different past. So [Morck] is still a bit of a mystery to people, which is, again, why I want to come back [for season 2].'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Olympic swimmer engulfed in ‘inappropriate' behaviour accusations makes fiery statement
Luana Alonso will no longer stay silent. The Paraguayan swimmer who reportedly was booted out of the Olympic Village during last year's Summer Games has fired back at 'false rumours' surrounding her departure from Paris. Alonso posted a fiery statement on her Instagram stories this week, hitting out at the reports that she was removed for creating an 'inappropriate atmosphere.' 'Let me make this clear: I left the Olympic Village on my own,' she wrote on Wednesday. 'These are false rumours that have hurt my name and my career.' Alonso ignited a firestorm at the Games last summer, going viral for alleged behaviour behind the scenes at the village. The 21-year-old swimmer competed for Paraguay in the women's 100-metre butterfly, but failed to reach the semifinals – and then seemingly announced her abrupt retirement from the sport in a post on Instagram. But instead of heading home, Alonso stayed in the French capital to see the sights – which were well-documented on her social media account – before reportedly got her booted by her country's Olympic committee for creating an 'inappropriate atmosphere.' 'Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,' Larissa Schaerer, the head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee (COP), said in a statement at the time. But, 11 months later, Alonso is now firing back at the accusations. 'The Paraguayan Olympic team claimed I created an 'inappropriate environment' simply because I decided I didn't want to swim anymore,' she said. 'They tried to take my accreditation away, but that's not something they had the right to do. I chose not to hand it over and apparently that was 'inappropriate' to them.' The Daily Mail also reported that Alonso was accused of being a distraction to her fellow competitors with her socializing and attire. She was often seen sporting stylish outfits as opposed to team uniforms and opted to take a trip to Disneyland Paris instead of cheering on her compatriots. 'I was judged for wearing skinny clothes, for socializing, and for not conforming,' she added. 'That's not inappropriate — that's being a young adult. 'I had finished racing. I was no longer obligated to stay. If others saw that as disrespectful, that's on them.' Alonso reportedly checked into a Parisian hotel after leaving the Olympic Village, and visited high-end stores and restaurants. But despite the contentious nature between herself and her country's Olympic committee, the Southern Methodist University alum claims she was asked by Paraguayan swimming officials to return to the pool for the Pan American Junior Games, which are being held in the country's capital, Asunción, this August. 'If I had been treated like a human being, maybe I would have stayed,' she said. 'But they made me feel like a problem.' Olympian kicked out of village for 'inappropriate behaviour' teases return to pool Ex-Playboy model reveals 'painful' divorce from Olympic star Ryan Lochte It's not only the COP that Alonso has in her crosshairs, either. The two-time Olympian also threatened legal action against media outlets that are spreading the 'false rumours' about her. 'I'm seriously considering legal action against the magazines and media outlets spreading false rumours like that I was expelled from the Olympic Village. Really? Who came up with that nonsense? Well that it's not true,' she wrote. She also teased that she would be releasing a video to better explain her thinking. 'Seriously (these) lies are wild and affecting my life and that's why I decided I'm keeping my life lowkey,' she said.
