Beautiful cobblestone buildings, enchanting cottages, a diverse selection of independent shops and sweet blossoming gardens are among the highlights you can expect in Tisbury. The village in Wiltshire is said to offer "country life for the smart" complete with a train station, a range of independent boutiques, shops, pubs and cafes as well as a good art scene.
As the largest village in Wiltshire, Tisbury has several special attributes, namely its prime location in the Nadder Valley, in the West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is steeped in over 2,000 years of history and is home to St John's 12th-century church, where an ancient yew tree continues to blossom in the yard.
The architecture boasts an attractive combination of old stone homes and red brick houses, with more eco-friendly and off-grid events taking place in the area. Visitors from Bristol can reach Tisbury via train in less than two hours via Salisbury, or drive 90 minutes to the picturesque village.
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St John’s parish church features an ever-flourishing 4,000-year-old ancient yew tree growing in the yard. This huge tree is believed to be the second oldest in the whole of Britain. The church's graveyard is also where you can pay your respects to the parents of Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, who are buried in the cemetery.
For many, a recently restored 13th-century Monastic Barn is a must-visit. This is reputed to be the largest of its kind in England and covers a floor space of over one-third of an acre.
The Great Barn was originally built for the Abbess of Shaftesbury as a storage barn and was owned by Shaftesbury Abbey until the Dissolution. Together with the farmhouse and gatehouses the barn is part of one of the finest surviving groups of monastic grange buildings in the country.
Inside the barn, the walls interestingly contain scores of inscribed signs. These are concentrated around the inner doorways of the central entrances, on the inner edges of the window openings and directly below the roof trusses. For the first time in its history, the scheduled Ancient Monument is open to the public, run by Messums Wiltshire as a prestigious centre for the arts.
One of the other attractions in the area is Old Wardour Castle. Located just outside the village, English Heritage says that Old Wardour Castle was once one of the country's most "daring and innovative homes". It was built in the 14th century as a "lightly fortified luxury residence for comfortable living and lavish entertainment".
Today its ruins are open daily to visitors, who can climb to the top to check out views across the countryside and adjacent lake. It also inspired the castle featured in Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Living in Tisbury is just slightly steeper than the county's average price of homes, coming in at £442,750 according to Rightmove - just over £50,000 more than the Wiltshire overall average.
