Lacock, South West England

Few villages today capture the sprit of the past in the way that Lacock does. Walking its streets is like going back in time, maybe not as far back as the middle ages but certainly as far as the 1700’s. 

Lacock’s history dates from the Saxons who called it ‘lacuc’, meaning little stream.  The Domesday book mentioned it as belonging to William the Conqueror’s knights.  It is described as having:

‘twelve villeins and sixteen conssets with three cottars.  There are two mills paying seventeen shillings and sixpence, and twenty acres of meadow and half an acre of vineyard.  The wood is one mile between length and breadth.  It was and is worth £7.’

Most of the townspeople were tenants of the Abbey and the feudal system dictated that they were obliged to perform various services on the manor lands in return for their holdings.  The medieval tithe barn in the town still stands and would have been used to hold the collected rents from villagers, which would have been paid in corn, hides, fleeces and other goods they produced, including livestock. 

Lacock’s medieval prosperity is due in part to the medieval wool trade.  Its location on what was known as Cloth Road, the road running between London and Bath, helped to ensure its success.  In the 13th and 14th Centuries it became known for its wool and cloth and unlike other towns, this continued after the Dissolution. There were also medieval pottery and tile kilns locally, which provided for the abbey and then sold goods further afield. 

Court records of 1656 record two men being charged with blasphemy.  They were arraigned before the grand jury for airing their views in public over a pint of ale at the inn.  First, William Bond the weaver for having stated:

‘that there was noe god or power only above the planets.  And that there was  noe Christ but the son that sines upon us’

Second, Thomas Hibberd, also a weaver, stated that:

‘he did believe that god was in all things and if hee was drunk god was drunke with him.‘

The punishment is not recorded.

In 1783 a new road to Bath was built, and Lacock was no longer on the main route.  Larger towns gained the trade which Lacock lost and gradually the industries that were such a large part of Lacock’s success died out.  The cloth industry suffered and clothiers moved away to larger towns but the sacrifices made then are part of what helped the preservation of the town we see today.

Almost nothing in Lacock is newer than the 18th Century, this alone is quite unique.  The National Trust owns much of the town, which was donated by the Talbot family so that it would be preserved.  The entire area is a conservation area that ensures that nothing can be changed to the exterior of buildings without permission.   Because of its unique character, the town has been the location of many film productions. Amongst them are Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Wolf Hall. Although it is a village preserved in time, it is not a museum but a working village that is still lived in.

The church at Lacock dates mainly from the 15th Century, with traces of some earlier construction. It is dedicated to St. Cyriac, a popular Norman saint.  According to legend, Cyriac was a three year old child who boxed the ears of the governor of Silicia because he had killed Cyriac’s mother for being a Christian.  The governor was so enraged, he threw the child onto the marble floor, killing him instantly.