Tourist Information
Where to stay:
Accommodation is available at "The Jolly Huntsman" public house or Arch House B&B. Other B&B's are available within the area. For further details of where to stay and what to do, visit Chippenham Visitor Information Centre on (01249) 665970.
Places to Visit:
Lacock Abbey and village, owned almost exclusively by the National Trust. Includes the Fox Talbot Museum of Photography, a working pottery, teahouses, several public houses and a wealth of local detail.
Castle Combe, "one of the prettiest villages in England" is renowned for its use in the film Dr Doolittle!
Biddestone, a charming village with a pub by the duck pond and green.
Chippenham, one of the West Country's most dynamic market towns with a population of over 40,000. The combination of the old and the new, the historic architectural gems, modern shopping centres and nearness to some of the country's greatest houses and historic villages, makes this town midway between Bath and Swindon an ideal location for living, working and visiting. The town is set on a prominent crossing of the River Avon and lies between the Malborough Downs to the east, the Cotswolds to the north and west and Salisbury Plain to the south. Surrounding the town are a number of stone-built villages, including Lacock (National Trust), Biddestone and Castle Combe. The great house and art treasures of Longleat, Bowood, Lacock Abbey, Sheldon Manor and Corsham Court are within easy reach.
Malmesbury, one of the most ancient boroughs in England, is a quaint market town.
You may also like to visit Malmesbury Abbey.
Bath is within 25 minutes of Kington St Michael with its Roman Baths and remains, Georgian buildings, including the Royal Crescent and its connections with Jane Austen (the Jane Austen Museum). Longleat, Stonehenge (ticked off President Barack Obama's "bucket list" in 2014!), Avebury and Salisbury are all within an hour!
Bristol is 30 minutes away with its unique iron ship, the SS Great Britain, Bristol Zoo, @Bristol, and the Arnolfini gallery.
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Kilvert's Trail - A Walk Around Kington St Michael,
Kington Langley, Langley Burrell & Allington
The
Rev Francis Kilvert 1840 – 1879 wrote diaries portraying everyday
Victorian life. These were kept in many notebooks during his relatively
short life, sadly, most of which were destroyed. Thankfully 22
notebooks remain and these have been published in three volumes. His
work has been acknowledged to be as important as that of Samuel Pepys.
Kilvert
was a keen walker. Indeed he walked to Bath and back in one day. He
took delight in the countryside around him, never failing to note the
beauty surrounding him.
To that end, some residents of Langley
Burrell have compiled several local walks, taking in familiar landmarks
that Kilvert would have known (Kilvert's Trail), and one of these comes through Kington St Michael - the Allington Walk
(obviously you could join this walk at any point along it in Kington St
Michael and complete the loop back to your starting point).