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Everyone has an 'ideal traditional English village' - even if they have never visited it!
For some it might be streets of thatched cottages, while others will picture houses of glowing yellow Cotswold stone alongside a quiet stream, and still more of us might picture a small Cornish seaside village nestled around a quiet harbour, a windswept hamlet high on the moors or a picture-postcard setting on the edge of a lake.
While we might not agree on which is the most beautiful village in England, there is one thing we can all agree on - traditional villages are the heart and soul of England, and exploring them is one of the most pleasant ways to enjoy the countryside and to picture ourselves in an England that no longer exists for most of us...
Some of our favourite beautiful English towns and villages
Villages are ordered by county, and are just a selection of some of our favourites. There is also a map showing the position of the villages further down the page.
Hambleden
Buckinghamshire
Turville
Buckinghamshire
Great Budworth
Cheshire
Sandbach
Cheshire
Boscastle
Cornwall
Cadgwith
Cornwall
Gorran Haven
Cornwall
Mevagissey
Cornwall
Mousehole
Cornwall
Polperro
Cornwall
Port Isaac
Cornwall
Ambleside
Cumbria
Cartmel Peninsula
Cumbria
Grasmere
Cumbria
Hawkshead
Cumbria
Kendal
Cumbria
Eyam
Derbyshire
Clovelly
Devon
Combe Martin
Devon
Croyde
Devon
Abbotsbury
Dorset
Corfe Castle
Dorset
Alfriston
East Sussex
Rye
East Sussex
Thaxted
Essex
Bibury
Gloucestershire
Bourton on the Water
Gloucestershire
Lower Slaughter
Gloucestershire
Upper Slaughter
Gloucestershire
Diss
Norfolk
Burnsall
North Yorkshire
Clapham
North Yorkshire
Goathland
North Yorkshire
Grassington
North Yorkshire
Hawes
North Yorkshire
Horton in Ribblesdale
North Yorkshire
Ingleton
North Yorkshire
Robin Hood's Bay
North Yorkshire
Staithes
North Yorkshire
Alnmouth
Northumberland
Cropredy
Oxfordshire
Dorchester-on-Thames
Oxfordshire
Dunster
Somerset
Porlock
Somerset
Selworthy
Somerset
Wedmore
Somerset
Lavenham
Suffolk
Long Melford
Suffolk
Haworth
West Yorkshire
Castle Combe
Wiltshire
Lacock
Wiltshire