Lacock

This Wiltshire village is one of England’s oldest and may look a little familiar

- Rose Bateman

There are certain British film and TV institutions that have a knack for cherry-picking the most unambiguously beautiful spots in the country as locations. Downton Abbey, the Harry Potter film franchise, and many a screen adaptation of Jane Austen are guilty of using chocolate-box backdrops.

It should tell you much of what you need to know about Lacock in Wiltshire, in southwest England, that all three of these examples – as well as many more – have stationed their crews here over the years. Eagle-eye visitors will no doubt recognise the village from the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, in which it doubled as the hamlet of Meryton.

It is thanks to another British institution – the National Trust – that so many people want to film here at all. The conservation charity, which manages hundreds of historic properties across Britain, looks after the whole village, ensuring this beguiling world of half-timbered cottages and perfectly kept lawns is maintained just as it should be.