Top 10 Prettiest Villages in England!!

Ok 

I know I said i'd have the weekend off and I kind of have. Garden has been spruced up, thank you Hubster. No new houses on the horizon to look at so we even have our first Monday off together not searching / looking at houses / areas.

I've been looking at several sites for the prettiest villages in the UK or rather England as Scotland has some real gems but its a bit far to commute. Enjoy reading.

Top Ten Prettiest Villages in England

AVEBURY, Wiltshire

Avebury is a rustic village with thatched cottages entirely enclosed by the country's largest ancient henge monument. Avebury is truly astounding. The village Pub at Avebury is very old and atmospheric and also serves excellent lunches.

The massive ancient stones and henge earthwoks are stunning, awe inspiring and impossibly pretty on warm summer evenings. They were built here many thousands of years ago (older than the pyramids of Egypt) for reasons we can only guess at. If you get the chance you really should visit Avebury and see some of the ancient majesty of England. Stonehenge is 20 miles away and well worth a visit, but much closer (within walking distance) you can visit the ancient earthwork of Silbury Hill and the West kennet Long Barrow, the oldest surviving roofed structure in the country. It dates back almost 4,000 years and is still perfectly safe for those brave enough to walk inside.

BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER, Gloucestershire,

The beautiful and shallow river Windrush trickles through the middle of this impossibly quaint village. It is filled with lots of tiny arched footbridges to allow pedestrians to cross. In the heart of the cotswold hills, all the houses in Bourton on the water are built of local yellow sandstone, giving the whole place a friendly ambience.

There is a bird sanctuary and a pottery close to the centre of town. The bird sanctuary in Burton is actally rather special and well worth a visit for anyone interested in wildlife.

Undoubtedly, Bourton-on-the-Water is on of the most beautiful villages in England.

CLOVELLY, Devon

This lovely little village on a steep road down to a great pub by the beach is an official English heritage site. Once the home of smugglers, We suggest you come out of season to be seduced by it's full charms. Being on the north Devon coast ensures winters full of stormy days and bracing winds. On a hot summer day Clovelly can seem more like a greek fishing village.

This is not such a good option for people who find walking difficult because the main cobbled street is incredibly steep; to steep in fact for any car so it is traffic free apart from donkeys and people pulling wooden sleds, the traditional way to move items around the village.

Clovelly really is a delight and the visitors museum at the top of the town (this is where you park your cars) tells you the story of the village and the people who lived here in the past.

CASTLE COMBE, Wiltshire

Uniform stone houses dating back hundreds of years make castle combe a spectacular site deserving to be known as a beautiful village. The hill above Castle coombe has seen occupation by an ancient British hill fort, then Romans camp, then a Norman Castle.

Local attractions within easy driving distance include Laycock (another of our top ten beautiful villages), Dyrham Park, The Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury Bowood House, Bath, Bristol, Chipping Norton, Bourton on the Water, Chipping Camden, Cirencester and the Kennet and Avon Canal.

DORCHESTER, Oxfordshire

The village of Dorchester features a ramshakle mix of building styles down the ages on the banks of the Thames. Many people come to Dorchester to see the wonderful abbey, a surprisingly large church for the size of village. Dorchester is quintisentially what the villages of England are all about. Quiet, clean, and absolutely beautiful in a ramshackle vernacular style.

The Abbey at Dorcester is open 365 days a year, 8am to 6pm and entry is free. The land around here is pretty gentle and can be strongly reccomended for cycling vacations as well as sightseeing. The city of Oxford is just a 20 minute drive away.

DUNSTER, Somerset

Dunster is an old west country wool town that retains a perfect market street that is little changed in hundreds of years. The additional reasons for visiting Dunster are the hilltop fortifications of romantic Dunster Castle and Dunster Woods where you will find the oldest tree in England. For these reasons, Dunster deserves to be included on a list of the most beautiful villages in England.

However, there is much more just that. Dunster sits at the edge of wild Exmoor; a beautiful national park covering 267 square miles where great walks are to be had. Dunster is also close to the rocky and windswept north Devon coast with great views across to south Wales.

ETON, Berkshire

Just a cross the river Thames from Windsor and only 23 miles from London, the entire village of Eton is the property of Eton College who ensure it retains its distinct olde worlde charm. One of the most visited beautiful villages in England, Eton boasts a number of excellent pubs and restaurants, an open riverside meadow for picnics and a two minute walk to Windsor Castle.

All these extras add to the attraction of this slice of heaven close to London. Travel to Windsor and walk across the bridge to Eton rather than trying to park in Eton itself. Then walk the high street with shops that have been here since the late medieval times. Be sure to go on one of the excellent guided tours of Eton college that run at times so as not to disturb the schoolboys from their lessons.

HAWKSHEAD, Cumbria

An unspoilt village in the lake district, blessed with amzing views round every corner. Hawkshead is a great base for a cumbrian hill-walking holiday.One of the most beautiful villages in England that has some of the greatest views in England all around.

The poet William Wordsworth and children's author Beatrix Potter both loved the town with its narrow streets and tumbledown architecture. There is a great Beatrix Potter gallery in the village, and being in the heart of the lake district it is a perfect base for hillwalking holidays.

LACOCK, Wiltshire

The entire village of Lacock is now owned by the National Trust to ensure its unspolt character is retained for the future.

Lacock is a village often used for a filming location, so some views may be quite familiar to you. The village and Abbey (which was used as a film set for some of the Harry Potter Movies) are both a total delight.

Lacycock was also once home to William Fox Talbot who was the inventor of the negative - positive photographic process. The world's first photographs were taken in Laycock and there is a small museum dedicated to his genius.

MEVAGISSEY, Cornwall

Mevagissey is pretty much the perfect cornish fishing village. A tight bundle of houses around a small harbour crammed with working boats. Of the most beautiful villages in England, Mevagissey gets the vote for its charm and the warm welcome offered to visitors by the Cornish residents.

Mevagissey is just a few miles away from St Austell and the spectacular biodomes of the Eden project, the south west of England's most popular attraction

These were voted for by http://travel.newarchaeology.com and there are numerous other site available. The Times produced a least of 100 but I thought that might be a few too many villages for you to pore through on a Sunday lol!!!

As for my house search as we are now focusing on the South West side of England. The lists of prettiest villages are as follows (i'm on a real list frenzy this morning lol).

Top Ten - in Wiltshire

Castle Combe

Lacock

Avebury

Alton Barnes

Lydiard Tregoze

Edington

Stourton

Donhead St Andrew

Dinton

Aldbourne

Top Ten - Somerset

Dunster

Montacute

Porlock Weir

Porlock (how lucky are they????)

Cheddar

Wookey Hole

Nunney

Farleigh Hungerford

Meare

Wheddon Cross

Top Ten - Devon

Bigbury on Sea

Widecombe in the Moor

Clovelly

Lynmouth

Mortehoe

Beer (hubster likes the name of that one!!!!)

East Portlemouth

Belstone

Torcross

Lydford

Top Ten - Cornwall

Sennen

Boscastle (personal favourite of mine and Hubsters)

Lizard

Tintagel (stayed there whilst we explored houses, pretty but....)

Cawsand

Rock (Visited and took sea ferry over to Padstow, amazing place but ..... holiday lets charge up to £1660 for a week!!!!)

Perranporth

Porthcurno

Mullion

Port Issac

Phew has that helped us with our choice has it heck as like lol!!!!!

TTFN!!!!