The UK's 'prettiest village' where no new houses have been built in 400 years

Located in Wiltshire, within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is the village of Castle Combe, which often makes appearances on lists of the UK's prettiest towns. Along with this accolade, Castle Combe has been labelled a typical 'chocolate box' village, reminiscent of the images that used to appear on chocolate boxes.

Alongside its beauty, Castle Combe has a long history, which the townspeople have taken every effort to preserve. As part of this preservation, no new houses have been built in the town centre since around 600, making all the houses over 400 years old. However, while there are now efforts to keep the village exactly how it is, this wasn't always the case, and a castle that once stood nearby (hence the village's name) has long been destroyed.

The area surrounding Castle Combe has been inhabited since the Roman era, with excavation work discovering that a Roman villa sat just three miles out of the village.

While the settlement was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, the castle, which would give the village its name, wasn't built until the 12th century. In the centuries since, however, the castle has been destroyed, and nowadays, all that stands on the site is the old earthworks and masonry.

Those who have visited Castle Combe in recent years have remarked that it's like stepping back in time. One TripAdvisor review reads: "One of my favourite towns trapped in time. It's so peaceful and pretty there. Will go back there and spend a few days. We were part of a tour and only had two hours to visit."

Another wrote: "Castle Combe is a village that feels as though it has stepped straight out of a postcard. Bathed in sunshine, its honey-colored stone cottages and winding lanes create a picture-perfect charm that lingers in memory long after visiting.

"The atmosphere is serene, unspoiled, and timeless, making it easy to see why it's often called one of England's prettiest villages."

While another added: "Time has stopped in this quaint little place. No doubt is the most picturesque place in England. It's like you stepped into the Jane Austen Regency era, I was expecting Mr Darcy on a horse riding past any moment."

Perhaps unsurprisingly for somewhere that's been labelled the prettiest town in the country, Castle Combe has appeared on both the big and small screens.

The picturesque village has appeared in the 2007 film Stardust, 2011's War Horse and the historical TV series Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986), among plenty of other TV shows and films.

Even those that weren't filmed in Castle Combe directly have been known to use images of the town in scene shots, with the village appearing in this way in Downton Abbey, Dick Turpin and Poirot.