Restaurants Near Lacock Abbey

Places to eat near Lacock Abbey

Offering delicious, locally-sourced meals and award-winning Butcombe beers and ales on tap, our range of restaurants near Lacock Abbey are the ideal places for a bite to eat after a busy day exploring the attraction.

The Methuen Arms

Similar to the nearby Lacock Abbey, The Methuen Arms in Corsham started out as a nunnery, before becoming a brewery and coaching inn in 1608. Foodies will love the pub restaurant’s seasonal menus, lovingly crafted with the finest, locally-sourced ingredients (including many from their own kitchen garden), as well as the delicious list of accompanying beers, ciders and wines.

The Bear Inn

Right on the edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you’ll find The Bear Inn. Enjoy modern twists on pub classics in a historic pub with traditional features, rustic furnishings, a pleasant beer garden and a roaring open fire. Locals’ favourites on the restaurant menu include Baked Camembert, Butcombe Original beer-battered fish and chips, and, of course, Cirencester’s finest Sunday roast. Perfect for birthdays, events and meetings – or after a trip to Lacock Abbey!

The Crown

From steamed mussels steeped in cider to Butcombe Original beer-battered fish and chips, you’ll find something you love at The Crown restaurant. Fancy something sweet? Try the decadent warm chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream, or a New York-style cheesecake with maple-roasted figs and blackberry sorbet. The perfect pick-me-up after a day exploring Lacock Abbey.

The Horse & Groom

The Horse & Groom restaurant is a charming, Grade II-listed gastropub set in the village of Charlton. Having recently undergone a full refurbishment, the pub boasts a brand-new dining room that serves stunning seasonal dishes and modern takes on pub classics. With a tree-sheltered lawn and surrounding paddock outside, it provides a perfect space for al fresco drinking and dining after a trip to Lacock Abbey.

The King’s Arms

Steeped in history, The King’s Arms restaurant is a cracking 18th-century pub located in the historic market town of Melksham. Serving delicious seasonal dishes, the gastropub is renowned for its great food, alongside its excellent offering of beers, ales and wines – the perfect place to unwind after a tiring day in Lacock Abbey.

The Northey Arms

The Northey Arms is a stunning pub and inn steeped in history, with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We’re passionate about great food and drink, with an all-day food offer focused on seasonal, locally sourced produce and hearty pub classics. After spending the day at the nearby Lacock Abbey, you’ll find plenty of award-winning Butcombe beer and cider and a wide range of wine and cocktails behind the bar to quench your thirst.

The Quarryman’s Arms

Boasting incredible views across the Box Valley, the family-friendly Quarryman’s Arms gastropub in Box Hill has great food at its heart. The country pub and restaurant is renowned for its award-winning pies, sausage rolls and delicious Sunday roast – why not stop by to sample them after your day at Lacock Abbey?

The White Hart

Located in the heart of picturesque Wroughton, The White Hart inn is a beautiful thatched pub with spades of character. Passionate about great food, the pub’s restaurant is focused on local produce, seasonal ingredients and modern takes on pub classics. Behind the bar, it’s all about award-winning Butcombe beer – the perfect refreshing pint after a day in Lacock Abbey.

A brief history of Lacock Abbey

Lacock Abbey is dripping with history, first starting out as an abbey and nunnery in the early 13th century, before the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in the mid-16th century saw it sold off and converted into a family home.

The building continued life as a private residence, eventually becoming the home of William Henry Fox Talbot during the 19th century, who gifted the Abbey its name as the ‘birthplace of modern photography’ after he captured the first photographic negative in the building’s South Gallery in 1835.

The Abbey remained in the Talbot family until 1944 when it was given to the National Trust, who continue to maintain the Grade I-listed building to this day.

What to See At Lacock Abbey

Thanks to its previous incarnations as a monastery and country home, Lacock Abbey showcases a variety of architectural styles. Visitors can wander through the building’s medieval cloisters, and spot the unusual octagonal tower and Gothic-inspired entrance arch and Great Hall added by later private residents.

Former owner Wiliam Henry Fox Talbot’s amazing contributions to photography are celebrated in a museum found on the Abbey’s ground floor, whilst the gallery above hosts special photography exhibitions all year round.

As well as the building itself, the Abbey’s stunning wooded grounds are a must-see, and those with time to spare can venture into the surrounding village of Lacock to see its charming cottages, medieval buildings and an array of interesting local shops.

Lacock Abbey on screen

From Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice to Downton Abbey, the beautiful Lacock Abbey has stood in as the backdrop for a number of television and film productions over the years.

Lacock Abbey and Harry Potter

Lacock Abbey is a site of pilgrimage for Harry Potter fans across the world, after featuring in three of the franchise’s films. Notable filming locations include:

• The Abbey’s cloisters, which served as Hogwarts’ corridors in both the Philosophers Stone and the Chamber of Secrets
• The Warming Room, used as Professor Quirrel’s Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom in the Philosopher’s Stone
• The Sacristy Room, which features as Professor Snape’s Potions Classroom in the Philosopher’s Stone
• The Chapter House, where Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised in the Philosopher’s Stone, and also doubled up as the study hall in the Chamber of Secrets where Harry listens in on his fellow students discussing whether he’s the heir of Slytherin!

Lacock Abbey and Pride and Prejudice

In the BBC’s mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen’s famous novel, Lacock Abbey’s interiors provided the backdrop for Pemberley, the grand country estate owned by Mr Darcy, whilst also standing in as Cambridge University for the scenes that depicted Mr Darcy’s time there.

Lacock and Downton Abbey

Whilst no scenes of the award-winning period drama were filmed at the Abbey, the surrounding village of Lacock has played host to the production twice!

In 2015, the picturesque Church Street provided the perfect period setting for a 1920s livestock market filled with sheep, pigs and a long-horned bull, which was visited by Lord and Lady Grantham.

In 2018, the production returned to the village to film a major scene depicting a royal procession for the much-anticipated Downton Abbey film, with real-life Lacock villagers standing in to form the excitable crowd!

See pictures of Lacock Abbey here.