This England: Castle Combe

Today was the day we were going to the "prettiest village in England" - Castle Combe!  

Sadly, Emma was STILL sick.  However, we wouldn't let her miss Castle Combe, so we got her comfortable in the backseat of the car, and we were off!  She said later that she was glad we forced her to come, even if she didn't leave the backseat all day.

Even the map print-out from Castle Combe's website is pretty (and useful).  I plan on printing it on cardstock and framing it. 

The Village of Castle Combe really is this small!

Let me just pause and complain about my photos.  I was already using just my phone for all my England pictures.  Well, I spilled coffee and unfortunately, my phone got some condensation in the lense.  So all my photos from this day had a foggy look.  I did try editing a few of them.  Maybe someday I will have a nice camera.  But for now I'm just so thankful I had the opportunity to go to England - crappy pictures and all. :)

Anyhoo.  Castle Combe is in a valley ("combe" is derived from the Saxon word for valley), so we parked in the car park and walked down the hill into the village.  I could already tell this place was going to be incredible!

The whole walk down, I kept thinking, "Now this is a REAL English village."  It was just the absolute idyllic, quiet, quaint place!  

I had printed out a walking tour of the village from Castle Combe's website.  It was really well done and helped us learn about the amazing history of this little village as we walked around. 

The 14th-century Market Square.  People used to mount their horses here!

Straight out of a fairy tale!  I had the song from Beauty and the Beast playing in my head.  "Little town, it's a quiet village... Every day, like the one before." 

Also, Castle Combe is owned by the National Trust (just like Lacock), so people aren't allowed to change anything about the appearance of the houses.  Many films have been made here, like the old Dr. Dolittle and War Horse!

Local honey-colored limestone was used for most everything, as is the case with most villages in the Cotswolds.

A view down the River Bybrook...

 

We popped into St. Andrews Church, where a little girl and an old lady were setting up flowers for Easter service. :)

 Inside the church, they have a small gallery of photos from when they filmed "War Horse" here!

This is a picture of a picture (obvs)!

I had read about this Manor House Hotel, and I was obsessed with it... I must stay here someday!

Just look at it!  (These next three photos are from Trip Advisor.)  

I would feel like Cinderella here.  :)

Before leaving Castle Combe, Mom and I had some cream tea and scones at The Castle Inn.  This is a must do in Castle Combe, especially since you can sit outside when it's nice and enjoy the perfect view!  We sat inside... still too cold out!

After that, we headed back up the hill to the car (where Emma was still in the backseat). We then drove slowly through the village so that Emma could see it. :)  

There are so many beautiful walking trails in this area that I want to do someday, when the weather is a little nicer!

Next we drove about 20 minutes to Malmesbury, the town where Mom, Dad, Evan, and I lived so many years ago!  Emma and I stayed in the backseat while Mom and I walked around the town.  We saw the cottage we lived in, and went inside Malmesbury Abbey.

I can just picture my 4 year old self bouncing up these steps!

The River Avon runs through town. 

When I sent Dad some pictures of our day, I included this photo with the e-mail.  He e-mailed back and was impressed that I took the same photo of Castle Combe as the one that is hanging in their living room.  I didn't even realize that painting was of Castle Combe!  It was just coincidence that I captured the photo of the same scene, in the same town.  :)

Again, I'm sad that my pictures from Castle Combe are so terrible, since it truly was one of my favorite places we visited on the trip!  I'm so happy we had the chance to go there and step back in time for just a little while.