Aldbourne

Aldbourne is a pleasantly attractive large village lying in a valley within the south slope of the Downs. An unnamed winterbourne flows south-east from the village along the valley towards the River Kennet about four miles away.

Aldbourne is bustling with shops and a couple of popular pubs and with the B4192 Swindon to Hungerford road passing through the centre. Roads lined with attractive little period cottages lead from all directions to the village centre where there is an area known as The Square and the village pond. This dates from the 18th century or earlier and it was given a concrete base late in the 20th century.

To the north of The Square, tucked in behind a group of houses, is The Green and beyond this is the medieval parish church, St. Michael's. The nave and aisles of St. Michael's were built around 1200, although some earlier Norman arches and other traces remain. The chancel is Early English. The ashlar tower is Perpendicular Gothic and was added in 1460. It has angled buttresses and transomed three-light bell openings with gargoyles above.

In the centre of the village is the Heritage Centre, a museum run by the Aldbourne Community Heritage Group. It exhibits a changing array of artefacts and displays from Aldbourne's history ranging from Stone Age flints, through copies of mediaeval documents to an extensive collection of 19th- and 20th-century photographs.

A company of the US Army 101st Airborne Division, known as The Band of Brothers, was based at Aldbourne in 1944 in the months before D-Day. The headquarters of The Band of Brothers in Aldbourne was in The Crown Inn and is commemorated by a blue plaque on the wall outside.

About 1.5 miles south-west of the village is a small medieval earthwork known as Lewisham Castle. This type of earthwork is known as a ringwork. It is not certain however whether Lewisham Castle was in fact a castle.

Aldbourne is about 6 miles north-east of Marlborough on the B4192.