South Park Farm Barn is ideally located for visits to the Cathedral cities of Salisbury (19 miles) and Winchester (24 miles) while Bath with its Abbey is a little further afield (42 miles). The area is also rich in Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury. There is so much to see and do in the area that we have put together some possible trails that you might like to do when staying with us.

Salisbury and Stonehenge Trail

Visit the World Heritage Neolithic sites of Woodhenge and Stonehenge and wander around the stone circle and Neolithic houses. Then on to Old Sarum, the site of the first settlement of Salisbury, with its remains of an Iron Age Fort, a Norman castle and the original Cathedral. Finally Salisbury with its timbered buildings, Early English Gothic Cathedral home to the famous Magna Carta, a thriving market, a buzzing arts scene, museums and some of England’s finest historic houses has many things waiting for you to explore. Conservationists may be interested in the Stonemasonry Works tour. https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/salisbury http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/woodhenge/ https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/history https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/works-yard-tours

Marlborough and the Avebury Trail

The quintessentially English market town of Marlborough is just 15 miles from the barn has a market in the high street on Wednesdays and Saturdays as well as excellent shopping and a wide choice of places to eat. Visit the 17th century Merchant’s House. Head west along the A4 and the first Neolithic monument, The Sanctuary, then the West Kennet Longbarrow and Silbury Hill. Turn right at the roundabout to take you into Avebury with its stone circle, Elizabethan Manor House and gardens, Alexander Keiller Museum. The more energetic can walk to Windmill Hill, a causewayed enclosure dated to around 3,650BC, or along the West Kennet Avenue, thought to have linked the stone circle to The Sanctuary. https://www.marlboroughwiltshire.co.uk https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/lists/avebury-world-heritage-site

The Kennet and Avon Canal Trail

The Kennet & Avon Canal, at 87 miles long, links London with the Bristol Channel, and passes through some spectacular landscapes including Wiltshire and the rolling Cotswolds. The route from Wilton, 10 miles from the Barn, to Devizes can be walked or cycled or you can drive via Pewsey and All Cannings. Starting from Wilton (where you can also see the only working windmill in Wessex) visit the Crofton Beam Engines, the oldest working steam engines in the world. The engines are “in steam” on eight weekends per year. The beam engines were built in 1807 to supply water to the summit of the canal. In Devizes the Caen Hill flight of 29 locks rises 237 feet in 2 miles. The Kennet and Avon Canal Museum is also in Devizes. http://www.wiltonwindmill.co.uk https://www.croftonbeamengines.org https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network/kennet-and-avon-canal

Historic Houses with Capability Brown gardens Trail

This trail incorporates both gardens and historic houses. Bowood House near Chippenham is a Grade 1 listed Georgian country house set in the middle of Capability' Brown's grade 1 park. Interesting rooms include Robert Adam's Library, the Laboratory where Dr Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774, and the Chapel that is still used for family services. Lacock Abbey is Country house with monastic roots, once home to William Henry Fox Talbot, scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. The interior was used for Hogawarts in some of the Harry Potter films. The village of Lacock is delightful and has also been used in a myriad of period films and TV series. Corsham Court completed in 1582 and the Elizabethan house still forms the core of the property today. Of note is the 72 ft long Picture Gallery housing Sir Paul Methuen’s collection of 16th and 17th century Old Master Paintings. One of only four Palladian bridges in the world can be crossed at Prior Park, near Bath. The park was created in the 18th century by local entrepreneur and Mayor of Bath, Ralph Allen, with advice from 'Capability' Brown and the poet Alexander Pope. Bowood House - https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/wiltshire/houses/Bowood.htm Lacock Abbey - https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/wiltshire/houses/lacock.htm Lacock Village - https://www.britainexpress.com/villages/lacock.htm Corsham Court - https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=255 Prior Park - https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=2024