Key facts
OS grid ref: ST946408
Postcode: BA12
Post town: Warminster
What3words: ///sprouted.freed.sunk
Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Parliamentary Constituency: South West Wiltshire
Upton Lovell
Just five miles south east of Warminster is the small village of Upton Lovell in the stunning downlands of the Wylye Valley, and close to the expanse of Salisbury Plain.
The village is between Codford and Heytesbury, close to the A36 for access to Warminster, which is just a 10-minute drive away and has a train station. The cathedral city of Salisbury with its shops, restaurants, bars, heritage, culture and amenities, is a 30-minute drive, and train from here to Waterloo takes less than 90 minutes.
It’s unsurprising that it’s in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape), as the backdrop to village life here is a spectacular rural landscape, a vast patchwork of greens, browns and golds.
There’s a strong sense of community with a popular village hall that hosts activities such as charity events and Pilates classes to book clubs and village fetes. Salisbury Reds and First Bus both operate routes through the village.
The Prince Leopold is at the heart of the community, a family-run riverside country pub and restaurant with a beer garden and views over the river. It serves classic and modern pub dishes and a traditional Sunday roast. The pub is named The Prince Leopold, in recognition of the youngest son of Queen Victoria who lived in the nearby village of Boyton.
History
There’s evidence of settlement near Upton Lovell from the Bronze Age. Knook Horse Hill is a Bronze Age bell barrow, a burial ground, where in 1812 archaeologists found a stunning amber necklace which is now at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. Nearby Knook Castle, is also the site of an Iron Age hillfort.
The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Ubettone’ with the suffix of Lovel added when the Lovel’s were lords of the manor between the 14th and 16th Centuries.
The medieval church dedicated to St Augustine of Canterbury is Grade I listed, dating to the 13th Century.
Walking and cycling
The area around Upton Lovell is perfect for walking, so to explore it on foot, here’s a 5½ mile trail from Komoot, the Knook Horse Hill loop from Upton Lovell that takes you up to the Bronze Age site.