Castle Combe is regularly cited as one of England's prettiest villages, with warm honey-coloured stone cottages clustered around a medieval market cross. The 14th-century church overlooks the village, while a packhorse bridge crosses the babbling By Brook. Film crews frequently use Castle Combe as a location for period dramas, drawn by its unspoiled character and absence of modern intrusions. The village's former wealth came from the wool trade, evident in the grand merchants' houses.