There are many reasons why anyone might want to visit (or review) Lacock Abbey and Village in Wiltshire. I’ll be honest, one of mine was a certain wizard with a unique scar on his forehead. If you didn’t know this already, Lacock Abbey and Village have been used as film locations for several Harry Potter movies, including the Wizarding World movies. It’s also been used to film the village scenes for the Downtown Abbey film, Cranford, Pride & Prejudice, The White Princess and more.
Filming locations in Lacock Abbey and Village
The Harry Potter locations are concentrated in a small part of the building; the iconic corridors, classrooms for Prof. Snape and Quirrell and the location of the Mirror of Erised were all filmed inside the Abbey. There are also a couple of buildings in the village itself that were used as locations. This includes the original location of Lily and James Potter’s house, Professor Slughorn’s House, Babberton Arms & Village.
Helpfully they have a map at the entrance of the village with all of the film locations on it.
Inside the Abbey
There is actually an awful lot of history in the Abbey that has nothing to do with movies. The Abbey was founded in the 1200’s and it’s been through many permutations and additions since then. It is also the place where one of its former residents invented modern photography! It even had its own copy of the Magna Carta in the safe room (sadly it looks like they no longer open this room). Once you move away from the medieval Cloisters the rest of the Abbey has a very different feel, much more homely.
The building is not pushchair friendly. The flooring of the cloisters can be hard to get around (they’ve actually closed certain rooms) and you’re not allowed to take pushchairs or rear baby-carriers. They do have hip carriers you can borrow and front baby-carriers are fine. There are quite a lot of steps but it’s easy enough to get around. Different parts of the house are set up to show different times in the history of the house.
There are guides in every room and we found them all to be very friendly and informative. They were also really good at engaging with the kids. Because it was fairly quiet most of them made a point of coming over and pointing out interesting things to them which is always appreciated. When one asked Middle Child on our first visit if he wanted to walk into their massive “piggy bank” he was delighted. She also suggested he asked for a pay rise from us so he could fill a room that big with his own money – that got a lot of giggles. There are a lot of wonderful things to be found throughout the property, particularly with a focus on science which all the kids loved.
The gardens, stables and parkland
Right next to the abbey is the stables, with the cafe and second hand bookshop. There used to be a brew-house and bakery here as well but those are also closed.
There’s some nice gardens to explore, with an orchard and the most wild garlic I’ve ever seen in my life! They also have this crazy rockworks over the river. Genuinely don’t know what to make of this!
There’s also the stunning wider parkland to have a wander around in the summer. It closes in the winter because of flooding.
The Fox-Talbot Museum
As you go into the visitor’s centre there is the Fox-Talbot museum, all about the invention of photography. My boys were too excited to “go to Hogwarts” to have a look around first time we visited. It’s really interesting in there.
Up in the abbey itself you can see the window that was the subject of the first ever negative photograph. How cool is that?
Out in the village there is the stables cafe, a decent playground, picnic area and public toilets. I did have one issue with the toilets in the village though; there are two steps to get into them. This means if you want to change a nappy you have to leave the pushchair outside. The baby changing station was right next to the hand driers as well which is always fun with babies who don’t like the noise!
The village is small but it is largely untouched because it is mainly owned by the National Trust. There are a couple of pubs and some nice, independent shops. There are a lot of people wondering round taking photos of the houses (including me) but I did feel for the residents. There are lots of signs up asking you not to be intrusive. I noticed there is now a large hedge outside the “home” of Lilly and James Potter so I guess they’re not that keen on being the centre of attention.
Admission Charge
FREE for the village and playground.
Family ticket to the abbey, grounds and museum is £55 for 2 adults and up to 3 kids. 1 adult family ticket is £33 (summer prices). Free for NT members.
Parking and how to get there
Visitor car park on Hither Way, Lacock, Wiltshire SN15 2RQ. £5 for non-members. Cash or app.
Toilets
A couple within the abbey grounds, also in the village itself
Food
Cafe within the abbey grounds, stables cafe (NT) in the village, several pubs plus Lacock Bakery. There is also a picnic area in the village just opposite the entrance to the abbey.
Our Lacock Abbey and Village Review
All in we were here for about 4 1/2 hours but we could have stayed for longer quite easily. That includes the abbey, gardens and village. As well as the links to all of the films, this place has an amazing history. There’s lots of interesting things to see here, including for the kids. The gardens are not the biggest here, but there’s the parkland to walk around, plus the village.
You can get all of the latest reviews, what’s on guides and discounts sent straight to your phone by following my WhatsApp channel. It’s completely confidential; no-one (other than your contacts) can see that your number or that you follow – including me. Click the button above to follow.
One thought on “Lacock Abbey and Village Review”