Welcome to the village of Box and its Parish.
Village of Box
Box is uniquely situated at a gateway to the Cotswolds National Landscape, in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the historic Great Western Railway line and Great West Way, only 5 miles from the World Heritage City of Bath. The Parish stretches along the beautiful By Brook valley and river.
Read more from Greatwestway and Cotswold Lion - Lifting the LId on Box.
By Brook river valley (left)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel - painting by kind permission of J.Wigston .G.R.A. (right)
Box is a place to stay, visit, enjoy, and relax in stunning rural surroundings, allowing opportunity to step back in time through its cultural heritage. A variety of pubs, restaurants, cafes, and shops can be found in the area, with plenty of places to stay locally from cosy B&Bs to 5 Star hotels.
You don’t even have to drive! Box lies on a regular bus route between Bath and Chippenham, as well as one between Bath and Devizes - X31 Bus or 271/272 Bus
Coaches also stop in Box on their way from Bath to London Heathrow, and London Victoria Coach Station - National Express
HISTORY
The area has been settled since Neolithic times. The site of Box Roman villa (buried beneath the village) is a Scheduled Monument, and a Roman Road forms the southern boundary of the Parish. The Parish contains many buildings of national importance. Grade I and II*, of outstanding importance, such as Box and Middle Hill Tunnel Portals, Drewetts Mill, Hazelbury Manor, Rudloe Manor, and the Churches of St Thomas a Becket in Box and St Christopher’s Church in Ditteridge. The centre of Box village, Ditteridge/Middlehill and Ashley are all designated Conservation Areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character and appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.
Drewetts Mill (left)
Hazelbury Manor, Box (right)
Box Market place, looking up towards Quarry Hill (left)
The Parish Council owns and maintains a considerable amount of property within the village including the Recreation Ground, Lovar Garden, Cemetery, Lacy Wood and Box Hill Common, as well as the Youth, Sports and Community Pavilion, the Poynder Fountain, the Blind House (which is open on certain days in the summer to allow visitors to look inside), and the Viewing Platform by Box Tunnel. Several of these are Listed Buildings and the Parish Council strives to keep all of these assets well maintained and to preserve the history of the Parish.
The Blind House, Box
The Blind House, so called because it has no windows, is one of many local lockups found throughout Wiltshire, constructed in the 18th century. It is a Grade II listed building, as is The Queens Head public house to the right of the Blind House.
On top of Box Hill in Rudloe is Rudloe Manor, the site formerly known as RAF Box / RAF Rudloe Manor, the headquarters of 10 Group RAF during the Second World War. The operations room was initially in a block by the side of the manor but later relocated to an underground Bunker in a worked-out stone quarry
Historic Box Mill was bought by Peter Gabriel in the 1980s and converted into his internationally renowned Real World recording studios. Notable artists who have recorded at the studios include Robert Plant, Deep Purple, Harry Styles, Coldplay, and Tom Jones, and it is the headquarters of WOMAD.
Box is probably best known for Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s railway tunnel, and quarried stone. Views of Box Tunnel combine with his Road Bridge and magnificent Middle Hill Tunnel celebrate a wonder of the Victorian age and is one of the finest views of a historic railway line in the country. Hillside and underground quarries provided stone not only for the honey-coloured historic buildings in the area but fine country houses such as Longleat and Lacock Abbey, properties in Bath, London and exported around the world. A quarryman’s village grew up on Box Hill, the ‘Hill of Stone ‘, with stone yards, shops, cottages for workers, pubs, and Methodist Chapel.
Brunel’s railway tunnel
John Carpenter's Stone Yard, Box Hill (left)
Photo courtesy of the Quarryman's Arms Public House (right)
The stone yard has gone, but the historic house seen in the top left still survives Quarryman’s Arms.
Sculpture to celebrate stone quarrying, Lacy Woods, Box
Box also lays claims to being the birthplace of Thomas the Tank Engine, the popular children’s character was conceived by Rev. W.V Awdry when he lived in Box.
Plaque on Lorne House, London Road, Box
RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
Box Recreation Ground and the adjacent Lovar Gardens have been described as a 'hidden gem'. The Recreation Ground is at the heart of the village in a stunning location surrounded by hills and the By Brook valley. Given via a Deed of Gift to the parish in 1926, it offers a children’s playground, football ground, bowling green and tennis courts. It has thriving men’s and women’s cricket teams who play on the cricket pitch which WC Grace allegedly graced. Box Tennis Court includes a netball court and a five-aside court as well as tennis. Box tennis Court Resurfacing Working Group, supported by Box parish council is currently fundraising, with a view to carrying out the work in 2025/6.
Cricket on Box Recreation Ground
The Box Sports, Youth and Community Pavilion (opened by Queen Camilla in 2009) is situated within Recreation Ground and hosts the Box Bowling Club in the lower room and numerous local organisations, including a thriving Youth Club, make use of the top room. Box Bowls Club, founded in 1968 is a flat green, six rink bowls club.
Kingsdown Golf Club, founded in 1880, is the second oldest Golf Club in the West of England (behind Westward Ho!) and a popular destination for golfers of all abilities.
Kingsdown Golf Club
Box Rock Circus, a magnificent circle of rocks fossils and minerals on the recreation ground, demonstrates the evolution of the area and its geology. Find out more.
Box Rock Circus
ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES
The Lovar Garden, adjacent, with its pond and bog garden is a haven for wildlife and a habitat for flora and fauna. This small nature reserve and natural conservation amenity has been extended to include a bog garden. Permanently damp, it creates an area where moisture-loving plants thrive. These plants are different to those suited to the standing water of a pond, so will attract a host of different wildlife. As well as the abundance of water loving creatures, there’s a view of Brunel's Grade II listed Underbridge, located over the By Brook river and under the railway embankment. A Grade II listed building of architectural and historic interest.
Lovar Garden at the bottom of Box Recreation Ground (left)
Brunel’s Underbridge (left) and Lovar Garden (right)
The Parish owes a huge debt of gratitude to the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens (CVW), who help keep the Cotswolds special, some of whom live locally, for their tireless work around the parish to enhance and encourage its enjoyment, delivering carbon offsetting and increased biodiversity, in line with PC’s Climate Strategy Action Plan. The CVW teams have planted 2,000 broadleaf trees in support of the Queens Green Canopy (QGC) project. They have also laid four kilometres of broadleaf hedge, and planted 9,000 hedge transplants since 2022. The CVW teams have restored 2.5 kilometres of damaged drystone walls within the parish and created 1.5 hectares of Limestone Wildflower meadow. CVW teams have replaced 36 damaged wooden stiles with new metal Kissing Gates in order to improve access to the extensive Box Parish Public Rights of Way network. This year (2024), the CVW teams have been working closely with Jamie’s Farm, and have laid a further 800 metres of broadleaf hedge and planted 6,000 broadleaf hedge transplants in order to improve the biodiversity within the Parish.
A recent and successful initiative has been the extensive regeneration of the wood which had become neglected and overgrown. The CVW with the help of the Community Payback Team have opened up the understorey (a lower tier of shrubs and small trees under the main canopy) by coppicing Hazel and thinning out diseased Ash. One kilometre of ‘dead hedges’ has been created in order to improve biodiversity.
Voluntary Cotswold Wardens working in the Wood and on Box Common. Fire Team and Wardens Tree planting, photo courtesy of Russell Sachs. Top left photo, member of the Box Hill Common Community Group working at Box Common.
The Cotswold Conservation Board (CCB) and the Corsham Area Board (CAB) provided generous funded for the creation of a Community Orchard and Limestone Wildflower meadow at Box Hill Lower Common (just below the Quarryman’s Arms). The CVW team supported by the MOD Fire and Rescue team planted the trees and fruit bushes which are maintained by the Box Hill Common Community group who meet on the first Sunday of each month. The project is supported by the sterling efforts of the HM Justice Department Community Payback team.
In Lacy Wood The ‘veteranisation’ of these field maples will appear to most as chaos and destruction! However the works are specifically designed to create micro habitats, promoting natural decay pockets where fungi can thrive along with the benefits this provides for conservation. Where back branches and main stems are pruned back in this area, they are being retained in as large a section as practicable, so they can stand in an upright position, and wired together against other trees, in order that their intricate lichens and mosses can continue to exist. This in itself also provides another dimension for nest cover and standing deadwood to benefit woodpeckers, nut hatches and tree creepers.
Group learning about the ecology of Lacy Wood on a Great Big Green Week Guided Walk 2024
WALKING IN THE AREA
The Parish has over 100 Public Rights of Way making it a hugely popular destination for people looking to explore the glorious English countryside. Long distance footpaths The MacMillan Way and Cross Cotswolds Path cross the Parish. The Box Heritage Trail a circular walk of 4.5 miles, offers magnificent views of the By Brook Valley as well as details of quarrying, milling and Brunel’s Great Western Railway. Footpaths and bridleways pass through Commons, woods, and meadows, areas of significant habitat value for our native species of wildlife, with are improved with tree and hedge planting. Box Common at the top of Box Hill is an example of one of the splendid viewpoints around the Parish. Copies of The Box and Corsham to Box Heritage trails can be found through the following link: Heritage Trails.
The Parish Council also publishes a (free) Walking map available in various commercial businesses within the Parish. The map demonstrates the importance placed on the footpath network by the Parish Council.
Corsham Leaflets sponsored & supported by Corsham Town Council, Wiltshire Council, Cotswold Conservation Board, Corsham Walking Festival
Box Cemetery may be one of the earliest Victorian village public cemeteries in England. It also retains its original, group of important Cemetery Buildings . Chapel, Lodge and entrance gates and walls, all listed Grade II. Together with historic gravestones, likely areas of original planting and rural setting, it is a special place. It is a beautiful and peaceful area with the highest point giving panoramic views across Box Valley and the Cotswold National Landscape. Contractors assist the Parish Council Open Spaces Workers with the upkeep of the cemetery which offers an important opportunity for increased biodiversity. Much care and consideration are being given to keeping a balance to ensure the area is a safe and accessible place for all, venerating ancestors, respecting the feelings of mourners but at the same time promoting a healthy future for the environment. Mowing has been reduced where appropriate to improve wildlife habitat. In 2024 Box Parish Council launched a project to record the history of Box Cemetery and the people in the grounds. Box People and Places undertook the study and the information gathered will be available to view on the Parish Council’s Web site.
Find out more
Box Cemetery chapel, built as a mortuary Chapel Box Cemetery, Lodge
The Secret Garden, often visited by deer, badgers and foxes has been cleared and re-opened thanks to the voluntary working groups. At the edge of this is a wildlife corridor with a stream and ancient trees, likely to provide homes for mammals, birds, reptiles and other precious flora and fauna.
Box Parish Magazine has been in print since Victorian times, and is the monthly publication to go to for the diary of events, list of clubs and groups, latest Parish Council news, useful local business contacts and absorbing articles of local interest. Back copies of the magazine, including those dating back to Victorian times, are kept in the Box Library.
Box Revels which takes place every end of May Bank holiday commenced life as a medieval celebration of the patronal day of St Thomas à Becket. Box Revels has had a lot of in-carnations since then and each year brings different themes and ideas, but the two purposes remain the same; to bring together the whole demographic of the village in fun and entertainment, and to raise funds for community groups and projects.
Box People and Places is a local community and history web site. The website is superb and includes photographs , maps, and further information about discoveries on the history of the Parish. It encourages residents to take pride in the heritage of the village of Box, the Parish and their ancestry. For those considering visiting the area it also provides a fascinating glimpse of the historic treasures to be found, explored, and enjoyed.