Wiltshire’s best-kept villages recognised in official ceremonies
Villages were judged on criteria including tidiness, cleanliness, presentation, conservation, and community spirit
Wiltshire’s best villages were recognised in a series of ceremonies on Sunday (September 21) to celebrate the culmination of the CPRE Wiltshire Best Kept Village Competition.
Wiltshire’s Lord Lieutenant Dame Sarah Troughton, High Sheriff Martin Nye, and the chair of Wiltshire Council, Laura Mayes, joined parish councillors and villagers in Seend, All Cannings, and Swallowcliffe – the winners in their respective categories: large (over 1,000 residents), medium and small (fewer than 300).
Meanwhile Urchfont won the Laurence Kitching Award for the best of 2024’s and 2023’s winners.
Villages were judged on criteria including tidiness, cleanliness, presentation, conservation, and community spirit.
Each winning village received a special plaque on an 8ft post, which they will display for a year.
At All Cannings, CPRE chair Anne Henshaw said she remembered the village from 2016 – the last time it won the competition – the view from The Pound towards the North Wessex Downs hill range, which cradles the village and includes Milk Hill and Tan Hill – the highest points in the county.
“You’re tucked away here, it’s so pretty, it’s so peaceful and you look after it so well,” she said.
The Lord Lieutenant noted that the “charming village” had neolithic enclosures, bronze age works, an iron age fort, a Norman church, and a 21st century long barrow burial chamber, which she pledged to visit.
Parish Council chairman Amy Gray thanked “the parish council and volunteers, who put a lot of effort in every year.”
She also praised the people behind the volunteer-run community shop – which celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this month – the village hall, the King’s Arms pub, and the church, all of whom “make the village a community.”