Why visit Westwood
Townapedia lists 16 museums and landmarks, 6 parks and trails, 37 places to eat, 6 places to stay and 1 attraction in and around town.
Highlights include Westwood Manor, Farleigh Hungerford Castle and Iford Manor Gardens.
Weather in Westwood
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Westwood
Westwood is a large village and a civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. The village is about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) southwest of the town of Bradford-on-Avon.
From the Wikipedia article Westwood, Wiltshire (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photos of Westwood
Things to do1
Museums and landmarks16
Farleigh Hungerford Castle
Monument and historic site · 1.2 mi
Medieval castle in Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset, England, UK
Iford Manor
Monument and historic site · 0.5 mi
Mediaeval/17th century manor house with italianate garden.
American Museum and Gardens
Museum · 3.2 mi
Culture and arts museum near Bath, England, United Kingdom
Trowbridge Castle
Monument and historic site · 3.2 mi
Castle in Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Trowbridge Museum
Museum · 3.2 mi
Textile industry museum in Trowbridge, England, United Kingdom
Westwood Manor, National Trust
Monument and historic site · 0.5 mi
Su, Tu-We 14:00-17:00
4 more on the map.
Parks, trails and playgrounds6
Iford Manor Gardens
Park · 0.5 mi
Grade 1 Italianate garden designed by the architect and landscape gardener Harold Ainsworth Peto who lived here from 1899 to 1933.
Restaurants and cafes37
The Cross Guns
Bar and pub
159, Bath
Mo Off; Tu Off; We-Th 11:00-21:00; Fr 11:00-22:00; Sa 11:00-23:00;...
The Lock Inn
Cafe · British · 1.3 mi
Nov-Feb Mo-Fr 08:45-16:00; Nov-Feb Sa 08:15-20:00; Nov-Feb Su 08:15-18:00
Ravello
Restaurant · 1.5 mi
1-2 Saint Margaret's Street
We-Sa 12:00-14:30, Su 12:00-15:00, Mo,We-Sa 17:00-22:00, Su 17:00-21:00
The Bridge Tea Rooms
Cafe · Tea · 1.5 mi
24a Bridge Street
Mo-Fr 09:30-17:00; Sa 09:30-17:30; Su 10:00-17:00
25 more on the map.
History
Westwood's recorded history begins in 983 AD, when King Ethelred's charters granted various pieces of land to his servant Aelfnoth, and four years later to his huntsman Leofwine. In Norman times, Westwood was one of the estates assigned for the support of the monks at Winchester Cathedral, and the residents of the manor continued to be tenants of Winchester until it was dissolved by Henry VIII. The medieval population of Westwood, as recorded in Domesday Book of 1086, consisted of just 13 households, growing to 45 recorded taxpayers in the late 14th century.
Mills were built on the Avon at Avoncliff, and on the Frome at Iford, and were most active in cloth-making and fulling from the 16th century.
The parish gained 116 acres on the break-up and abolition of Bradford Without civil parish in 1934.
The earliest records of a substantial quarrying industry at Westwood are in 1649. By the mid-19th century, the quality of Westwood stone had earned a good reputation, and over the next half-century, output increased at a great rate. Westwood stone went to build many houses in Bath, as well as Holy Trinity church in Trowbridge (1838). A narrow-gauge railway was constructed to transport the huge blocks of rough cut stone from the quarry to the cutting-yard at Avoncliff railway station.
Read more of the history
Nowadays, all that remains from the centuries of intensive quarrying is the labyrinth of tunnels, eight feet high and twelve feet wide. They have been put to a number of imaginative uses, especially after they were taken over by the Ministry of Supply in 1939. For example, the eastern part of the quarry tunnels had since 1928 been used for growing mushrooms, as the relatively stable ambient temperatures and the high humidity of the underground were found perfectly suitable. From 1941, about six hundred workers manufactured gun-control equipment at an underground factory which had been located in the tunnels to defend against Luftwaffe raids. Additionally, by the end of 1942 the Westwood tunnels had "probably housed the greatest and most valuable collection of cultural and artistic artifacts assembled in one location anywhere in the world", including exhibits from the British Museum, pictures from the National Portrait Gallery, tapestries from the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Elgin Marbles, and the Wright brothers' aeroplane. An air conditioning plant had to be installed to control the humidity underground.
From the History section of Westwood, Wiltshire on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay6
Churches and places of worship28
Shopping11
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries6
Healthcare3
Saint Margaret's Pharmacy
Clinic and pharmacy · 1.4 mi
Station Approach, Bradford on Avon
Map of Westwood
115 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Bristol Airport (BRS) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 19 miles away.
- Trowbridge 3 mi east, about 5 min by car
- Rode 4 mi south, about 6 min by car
- Bath 5 mi northwest, about 7 min by car
- Westbury 7 mi southeast, about 10 min by car
- Melksham 7 mi northeast, about 11 min by car
- Frome 8 mi south, about 12 min by car
- Corsham 8 mi northeast, about 13 min by car
- Midsomer Norton 10 mi west, about 15 min by car
- Warminster 10 mi southeast, about 16 min by car
- Chippenham 11 mi northeast, about 18 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Westwood
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Westwood, Wiltshire, My another account ( talk ), CC0
- Farleigh Hungerford East Gate, nicksarebi, CC BY 2.0
- American Museum in Bath, don cload, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Trowbridge Museum Entrance, MuseumTrowbridge, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chapel of St Mary Tory, Charles Miller, CC BY 2.0
- Christ Church, Bradford-on-Avon, My another account ( talk ), CC0
- St Leonards Farleigh Hungerford, Mark Anderson, CC BY-SA 2.0
- NortonStPhilip Church1, Required attribution is: Photo by Tom Oates. The original uploader was Nabokov at English Wikipedia . (a.k.a. Tom Oates), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge, My another account ( talk ), CC0
- St Peters church, Freshford, My another account ( talk ), CC0
- Saxon church, Bradford on Avon, Charles Miller, CC BY 2.0
- Holy Trinity Church, Bradford-on-Avon, Charles Miller, CC BY 2.0
- Iford 2, No machine-readable author provided. Infilms assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
- Tithe Barn at Bradford on Avon, Rodw at English Wikipedia, Public domain
- Bradford on Avon St Lawrence 001, Mattana, Public domain
- Cross Guns, Avoncliff, Rodhullandemu, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Priory Steps, Bradford-on-Avon, Stevekeiretsu, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Avoncliffaqueduct, Martin Clark, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Westwood Manor - Topiary House to the right - panoramio, Adrian Farwell, CC BY 3.0
- Avoncliff Aqueduct, Kennet and Avon Canal. - panoramio, Robert Powell, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, chris_debian, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, jarosor0, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, elopio, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, chris_debian, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, chris_debian, CC BY-SA 4.0
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