A Leisurely Weekend Break in Wiltshire

I don’t claim to have visited all these sights in this one visit to Wiltshire (it was after all a short weekend away), but over the years I’ve seen them all and would recommend them to you.

Longleat House is perhaps the most famous, and this fine Elizabethan mansion is still in the hands of a Marquess of Bath. An ancestral home that has adapted as the centuries pass it by and is responsive to the interest of the public at large. There are superb gardens, running true to the original design of "Capability Brown", the renowned nature reserve with the famous "Longleat Lions", natural mazes to challenge your sense of direction and, of course, the masterfully crafted mansion, with its original furniture and well preserved murals and artwork. They have a great website at www.longleat.co.uk so you can find out more there.

Just down the road is Horningsham – make sure you check out the oldest non-conformist thatched chapel (built in the 1560s by Scottish labourers working on Longleat House). Due North from Longleat and you’re on track to see the Wiltshire White Horse – it’s just outside of the Georgian market town of Westbury. Allegedly a figure existed in or around the year 900 and supposedly was cut to commemorate King Alfred’s victory over the Danes in 878. The current horse was cut in the mid-18th century making use of the earlier work. Even if the history is disputable it’s still a fine figure and a great tale.

To the west of Salisbury is the town of Wilton, famous for its carpets. The eponymously named Wilton House has been built over the abbey, which was founded by Alfred the Great. It was rebuilt after a fire and now contains a fine collection of paintings and period furniture. If you fancy shopping, Wilton has a factory centre, which attracts busloads of eager purchasers.

Old Sarum is the site of the original Salisbury infamous constitutionally as a "Rotten Borough" when an electorate of less than a dozen people voted in two MP’s, including William Pitt the Elder.

On the road out to Tisbury (which has a fine 13th-century church and the largest thatched tithe barn in the UK), we spotted an interesting carving – not up to the white horse standards, but still worth a look.

Quick Tips:

I would recommend that you avoid touring the area in the height of the summer season and bank holidays. The tourists are out in force then, and it's much harder to enjoy tooling down the rural back lanes and stopping at whim to enjoy the countryside or snap a few photos.

A decent map of the area will make you feel confident about leaving the main roads and exploring the smaller lanes that criss-cross the area. It’s worth just following your instinct because you will avoid the main traffic, enjoy some superb country views, spot the wildlife and you might just stumble across a great country pub in a small village.

Most large towns will have tourist information centres, and if our experience is anything to go by, they’ll all be more than happy to give you tips and advice. In villages the locals are often proud to point out the best things to see in "their town". Don’t be afraid to ask.

Although I’d suggest you have an itinerary for your "must-sees", it is worth fitting in some flexible time for "diversions" en route.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way of touring this area is by car, as this will enable you to take your time, stop as the mood takes you and enjoy the serenity of the area. Car hire is widely available and if you’re visiting the UK it would make absolute sense to hire from the airport. As parking is at a premium in Salisbury, I strongly recommend that you choose a hotel with its own parking or look to the outskirts for a country pub, where parking will not be an issue. For a short stop, the Old George Mall (at £2.90 for three hours) is a good deal, as this puts you virtually at the centre of town.

Salisbury is a walking city (you can hire a bike if you prefer); all is in easy reach, and walking routes are well signposted. Some parts of the city are pedestrianised, but you’ll always need to be on the lookout for delivery vehicles or the cross-over between the two zones.

For the none drivers amongst you, there a a range of coach trips available in and around the area. I haven’t indulged, but my parents would maintain these are "value for money".

The Pelican Inn is, like many country pubs, a place that serves meals as well as alcohol. The pub has a distinct restaurant, although you can choose from the same menu in the bar area. If you prefer to be seated at "proper dining tables" and have your meal served, then I’d strongly advise that you reserve a table.

Like many a pub restaurant, you have to place your order at the bar and from either the "specials board" or the menu card. The choice not huge, but all of it sounded very appetising. I started with a Greek salad, which was well presented with a variety of lettuce and dressed with red and green peppers and cucumber. A lacy arrangement of cress finished the dish off. The olives were extremely tasty and perfectly complimented with feta cheese – the only negative being that they had been a little heavy-handed with the olive oil. My wife opted for the cod pancetta fishcakes with a chilli dip. This is a robust starter, and the two fish cakes were well prepared, amazingly tasty, and served with a small salad. I tried a mouthful with a good dip of the chilli sauce – wow, that had a kick and the satisfaction of a nicely balanced hot accompaniment.

We sat in what appeared to be a converted barn with large rustic cartwheeled chandeliers dancing light across the fascinating array of village memorabilia and between the open rafters straddling the width of the room. Hung on the wall were cattle hay feeders and displays of animal horns, horse bridles, horseshoes, a variety of horse brasses, and a range of rural artwork. A fine stone fireplace has pride of place at the end of the restaurant, and the view across the pub’s open courtyard to a large green field is a constant reminder of this pub’s setting. Try to ignore the occasional traffic rumble as large lorries thunder along the adjacent main road.

For my main course, I went with a deep-fried fish platter accompanied by a large portion of chips. Amongst the deep-fried was a battered salmon – never had salmon deep-fried before, and it made for an interesting taste. There were loads of different fishes on the platter and plenty of them. This was a formidable meal with lashings of what tasted like a homemade tartar sauce.

There was a reasonable atmosphere in this rural pub and traditional dining chairs with comfortable cushions and loads of table space made it a pleasurable experience. It’s worth noting that the last serving is at 9pm, and although you can enjoy the same meal in the bar area, it does get busy, so booking a restaurant table is highly recommended.

The food here is far better than you’d imagine – a few up from village pub fare. It’s not too far out of Salisbury, and with easy parking, I’d recommend it to you.

We just liked the sound of Amesbury and decided to visit this small Wiltshire town, which has been around for over 1,000 years. We parked in a free parking area just off the main road, and by luck rather than judgement, found ourselves only seconds away from the main shopping area.

Again, instinct led us, and we stumbled across a sign pointing towards a "river walk" past the Norman Church, which was once part of a much bigger abbey complex. Once you’re off the main highway, the walk is not well signed, but if you keep the river on your left and the town in sight, you’ll achieve a very pleasant circular walk around the outskirts. Make sure you close the gate behind you, as the meadows are full of grazing sheep. They looked at us very warily, and if we approached too closely, they interrupted their mastication, bleated plaintively, and headed away. When at a safe distance, they settled down again and continued chewing.

We did have to pick our way across a fairly overgrown rack at the side of the fields, but despite the intruding nettles, we managed to progress the route. It is well worth it, because there are some superb views of the river with a small island and the sounds of the gushing water as it changes course and rushes over rocks under a small pedestrian bridge. At the end of this walk, a left turn will take you back to Amesbury town centre and its small local shops, some selling locally crafted goods.

Amesbury is an ancient market town, and despite large modern developments, retains its early history. Amesbury Abbey (a mansion, not a religious building) is an impressive classical building operating as a private nursing home. But, as you walk around this busy market town, spot the original architectural features on the late 17th/early 18th-century properties on Salisbury Street, Smithfield Street, and the High Street, notably the very small windows and half-hipped roofs. There are the original lamp brackets from the days of oil lighting and a couple of fascinating thatched cottages

Amesbury also boasts an original coaching inn, modified, but retaining some of its earlier characteristics.

As you leave Amesbury, to the west, near the A303, is a small group of beech trees. These were planted 200 years ago to represent the English and French ships at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. It is alleged Lady Hamilton arranged for them to be planted after Nelson’s death at Trafalgar. They are affectionately known locally as "The Trafalgar Clumps."

Whilst here, spend a moment or two at West Amesbury (previously known as "Little Amesbury"). Here you’ll find some super thatched and timbered cottages and the 17th-century West Amesbury House with mullion windows and the remains of a medieval house.

The Amesbury’s are not massive tourist attractions, but they cling to their earlier traditional charm. It’s worth half a day if you’re in the area

Perfect weather for a short car tour of the region and starting from Stapleford we headed due North to the picturesque village of Shrewton. It’s a charming place to stroll around with it plethora of beautifully thatched cottages and the gently flowing River Till. We particularly like a thatched house, near to the river, which we christened the "pudding cottage" – I can’t find out anything else about it, but like most of the old cottages in this area it has been well preserved and its idiosyncratic elements are both interesting and fun.

Just down the road is the small prison cell, known as the "Blind House" (because there are no windows) was built around 1700. Its sole function was to securely accommodate prisoners overnight as they were transported from Devizes to the county gaol in Salisbury. Needless to say the responsible constable would have stayed at the local inn and imbibed of a few bevies! It is not in the original site as it was regularly being "nudged" by juggernauts as they negotiated the narrow roads, and so in the 1980s, the whole building was dismantled and rebuilt a little further from the road.

We headed north on the B3086 towards Larkhill and the village of Durrington. Durrington did nothing much for us and other than the medieval cross in the village centre and All Saints Church (partially built of flintstone), we found nothing to make us tarry.

Finally we motored southwards to Countess turning westwards to Woodhenge. This is a fascinating site to visit, not because of the historical remains but due to the stories behind it. It is one of the first archaeological sites to have been spotted from the air and soon after its discovery in 1925, it was surmised that this was a predecessor of the mighty Stonehenge. It is believed that it was a ritual temple and like its stone equivalent it was aligned to glorify the summer solstice. Nowadays concrete pillars mark the positions of the original wooden pillars, and a solitary marker in the centre of this acre site marks the burial of a three-year-old child who seems to have been buried here following an ancient sacrifice over four thousand years ago. Views from this site have probably remained remarkably unchanged over the years, and there are some superb unobstructed views across the Wiltshire countryside.

Whilst here, it is difficult not to ponder on how this building would have looked. Was it just a maze of wooden pillars or did they support a significant roof. Was it regularly used, or perhaps it was built for a significant event, and its vast pillars would signal the site for miles around. I don’t know, but a few moments' solitude here will enable the imagination to run rampant. Perhaps you’ll even smell the wood fires and feel the excitement as bodies crush together to participate in the pagan festivities. On a sunny day, this is a great place for a picnic.

A visit to Wiltshire is incomplete without a trip to the legendary site of Stonehenge. I guess if you describe the site to someone who has no knowledge of Stonehenge, it sounds remarkably uninspiring – a number of huge rocks arranged in an approximate circle in the middle of a vast field sandwiched between two busy main roads. Not sold on this as a major site? With that description, neither would I! Let me try again!

Stonehenge is often viewed as the mystical centre of England and has been a revered site since 3000 BC, when it is speculated that ancient man indulged in sun worshipping. The original site was much larger than the remaining stones, and aerial photographs and excavations have shown that the layout, despite the monstrous size of the stones, has changed over the millennia.

From the roadside, the whole site looks inconsequential, and it’s only when you’ve paid your money and are approaching the stone configuration that you’ll realise how vast these monoliths are (the largest is over 20 feet high). It’s really hard to imagine how ancient man managed to get the rock into position. Not only did the stone come from over 200 miles away (southwest Wales), but also the massive lintels had to be put in place. They were so well placed that they remained there! In the centre is the altar stone, and although this is a pagan site, there is nothing to indicate that ritual killings took place here. It does seem as if sun worshipping was its raison d’être, with the stones mathematically so well placed that the so-called heelstone is the point from which the summer sun rises on the longest day (21st June). The whole thing must have been a major feat of construction in days when the only source of construction power was manpower.

I imagine the view from the centre of Stonehenge has been subject to minimal changes over the centuries, as the area, other than the roads, has, incredibly, not been subjected to either residential or industrial development. What is not easy to see from the ground is the extent of the site. There are the 56 "Aubrey" holes (named after the 17th-century diarist who discovered them) that make up the perimeter and the realisation that the stones positions had been changed in the earlier part of its life - as if the first construction wasn’t difficult enough, but perhaps the earlier "engineers" got their calculations wrong! This would be perfectly feasible, because there is a strong view that Stonehenge was built as an elaborate timepiece. Not accurate for the time of day, but a competent way of dividing the year into seasons or key time "zones."

So, while you’re there, consider the vast scale of the work involved and the reasons for its construction – a key meeting place for local councils, a place of worship, or an a elaborate calendar.