Key facts
OS grid ref: SU035379
Postcode: SP3
Post town: Salisbury
What3words: ///timidly.follow.twee
Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Parliamentary Constituency: Salisbury
Tilshead
Tilshead is a small, pretty Wiltshire village on the A360 Salisbury to Devizes road and completely surrounded by the open expanse of Salisbury Plain.
The village is a little over half-an-hour drive to the cathedral city of Salisbury with its shops, restaurants, bars, culture and heritage. The train from here to London takes less than 90 minutes. The towns of Warminster, Amesbury and Wilton are each around 20 minutes away.
Although small, Tilshead has lots of facilities and amenities. It has its own primary school, a fuel station with a village shop, a visiting library and allotments.
The village hall and playing fields are run by the community which comes together regularly for events such as bingo, harvest suppers, coffee mornings, auctions, fayres and demonstrations.
There’s a local bus service operated by Salisbury Reds.
King Alfred’s Way cycle route passes through the village.
History
It’s not surprising in this stark landscape, that there is evidence of prehistoric settlements with Neolithic long barrows and ancient boundary ditches.
The name Tilshead came into use in the 16th Century. On old maps the river was called the Winterbourne until it appears as the River Till on OS maps at the start of the 20th Century
There was a church here in the 12th Century and possibly as far back as Saxon times and the village has houses from the 17th and 18th Centuries, some thatched.
Walking and cycling
The area around Salisbury Plain is made for walking so if you’d like to explore it on foot, here’s a six-mile trail from Discovering Britain that starts from Tilshead Garage.
It promises you a walk across the largest area of chalk grassland and the largest military training area in the British Isles and includes birds, rare flowers and a massive prehistoric long barrow.