Lindsay Mann is still getting used to people saying “Good morning” and “How are you?” every time she steps out of her beautiful five-bedroom Georgian home and hits the village high street. “It’s a shock after London, where people don’t speak to you if they can help it,” she says. “Everyone is just so warm and welcoming.”
So it comes as no surprise to Lindsay and her husband, Richard, both 41, that their new Somerset neighbourhood has topped a survey of the best villages to live in Britain, conducted by Savills estate agency for The Sunday Times.
The couple, who are both freelance consultants, “upped sticks” and left Putney, in southwest London, six years ago. They sold their terrace, with its tiny patio, and bought an early-19th-century house in Chew Magna for about £600,000, gaining a vast garden for their two sons, Alexander, 7, and Charlie, 4.
“After our first child, we just wanted to leave London,” says Richard, who helps run the newly formed Cub Scout pack. “But we still wanted to be within walking distance of shops to get a paper, good pubs and, especially, a good primary school.” Next on their wish list is a dog.
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Chew Magna, which sits in a bowl in the landscape, surrounded by rolling hills, can trace its history back to Saxon times, and is still busy and popular in the 21st century. The population of just under 1,200 sustains two banks, a supermarket, a nursery, a cafe and four pubs, including the Michelin-starred Pony and Trap. Last year, the village won a “thriving” award in the RHS Britain in Bloom competition.
On a quick trip along the high street, you can pick up free-range eggs and “well-rotted” manure (£1.50 a bag), attend an adult ballet class, book yourself a Swedish massage, find the mobile number of the local policeman or sign up for a murder-mystery night on Mother’s Day. The school hosts regular curry nights and there’s an annual duck race on the river.
Muriel Parker, 92, who says she “never has to leave” Chew Magna because “it has everything I could want for”, takes the news of the village’s league-topping achievement in her stride. Indeed, everyone I meet on a sunny spring day is welcoming and accepts the news that they live in one of the best villages in Britain graciously, but with a knowing confidence.
“We’re lucky,” says Clifford Pearce, the butcher, who with his brother Trevor is the third generation to run the family business. “It’s a good place to live. That said, there’s more traffic now, of course, and estate agents — a lot more estate agents.”
Buying into the village, however, is not cheap. As the local vicar, Charles Roberts, observes: “You either have to have lived a little or earned a lot to live here.” While it is possible to pick up a post-war bungalow or former council home in Chew Magna for about £250,000, Richard Brooks, a director in the Bristol office of Savills, says you should expect to pay £450,000 for a family home and anything from £750,000 upwards for one of the handful of large Georgian or extended Victorian properties. There are plans to build some affordable houses, but there is still debate over the location.
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Such is the degree of affluence, the church holds services in honour of the generosity of the villagers, who six years ago raised £30,000 in a little more than a fortnight for repairs when the lead was stolen from the church roof, and are showing no signs of fundraising fatigue. Not that there is a lot of crime in Chew Magna.
Finding the picture-perfect dream — the village green flanked by a 12th-century church, a row of thatched cottages, a post office and a pub with local ale and a roaring fire — can be a hit-and-miss affair these days. In many instances, the church is locked up as the parish has been amalgamated, the post office and local shop are boarded up, and the only transport passing through the village is a fortnightly mobile library. Another problem in many of the most picturesque villages, especially on the coast and in the Cotswolds, is that half the residents stay only for the weekend.
Despite the pressures facing rural communities, the desire to move to a village is a potent one. “They can provide a sense of community, which in today’s fast-moving world is lost elsewhere,” says William Marsden-Smedley, a director of the buying agency Prime Purchase. He estimates that more than half his clients fleeing the city or the suburbs in search of a rural dream yearn to find the perfect village — and are prepared to pay a premium when they find it.
“The worst are either dying and turning into large hamlets or becoming small towns, with too much infilling. Often, what was a quiet village street becomes a rat run.”
So, what makes a perfect village? Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills, who drew up our list, refers to the “seven Ps”: pub, primary school, post office, parson, public transport, phone box and petrol station. From a shortlist of 50 villages across England and Wales, suggested by local agents, Cook narrowed it down to 12.
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Chew Magna topped the table, performing well in four key categories that determine the character and desirability of a village — schools, transport, value and the outdoor lifestyle. Here’s Home’s guide to the others.
Best for schools
Education is one of the main motivators when it comes to selecting a village. So it’s no surprise that Crondall, in Hampshire, is in such high demand. The village’s primary school saw all its Year 6 pupils achieve Level 4 or above in English and maths Sats last year. “The desire to be within walking distance of a good school has a direct impact on prices,” Cook says. Buyers have to be prepared to pay 101% more to live in Crondall than the average in the county. Other attractions include a village store serving local organic produce and a doctor’s surgery.
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It is a similar picture in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, a pretty cluster of houses and pubs set around a large green and cricket ground. Two-up, two-down cottages start at £300,000, but a decent family house costs anything upwards of £500,000.
Julian Clark, a partner with Knight Frank estate agency, who is selling five-bedroom, Grade II-listed Forge Cottage, between the villages of Chipperfield and Bovingdon, for £850,000 (01442 861610, knightfrank.com), has noticed a rise in the number of people leaving London to get a place in a good state school and more square feet for their money. “We’re inundated by families,” he says. “More than a third of our interest comes from London addresses.”
The most expensive village on the list is Chiddingfold, in Surrey, where the average house costs £581,503, and the average detached property considerably more at £872,480. The reason? “It’s a quintessential English village, with the added benefit that Waterloo is accessible in less than an hour,” says Nigel Gammon, associate director in the Godalming office of Hamptons.
“Prices in Chiddingfold can be up to 10% more than in other villages, with properties on the green commanding an even greater premium.”
Best on a budget
If you find those price tags a little eye-watering, fear not. Savills has crunched the numbers to find the top three villages that still have a strong community spirit, and a healthy supply of shops, but with a much lower average house price.
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Navenby, a pretty stone village on the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, is a good example. The post office has closed, but it still has an antiques shop, a bakery, a butcher, several takeaways and a good primary school. The Lincoln office of Haart is selling a three-bedroom detached cottage for £205,000 (01522 510088, haart.co.uk) — a little over the average price of £191,894.
Another contender for “best-value village” is Farndon, on the banks of the River Dee, just south of Chester. The florist’s here is owned by Paul Burrell, former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, which may (or may not) add to its appeal. Besides his fresh flowers, the listed high street also offers local meat, two pubs and a pharmacy.
One of the most desirable — and affordable — villages is Walsham le Willows, not only for its beautiful setting in the Suffolk countryside, but because it has powerful village spirit. “There’s a cinema club, a horticultural society, a drama club, a history group, a reading group, the WI and an allotment association,” says Steve Ambridge, a partner in the Bury St Edmunds office of Savills (01279 756800, savills.co.uk).
Best connected
Some of the most expensive villages offer easy access to a mainline station within a two-hour ride of London or close to another big city. The appeal is obvious — country living with a City income — but, because of urban sprawl, some villages have become little more than dormitories.
“The key is to plump for a village that has an active community, as well as good train links,” says Jacqueline Smith, an associate in the Oxford office of John D Wood. “East Hendred is particularly attractive, with a community shop, a gastropub and a local vineyard with a drinkable white. Best of all, the main road is a no-through road and peters out to the Ridgeway.”
The average price for a property in this peaceful haven — only five miles from Didcot station, from which trains take 40 minutes to reach London Paddington — is £407,281, according to Savills’ research.
Another village where buyers are willing to pay a premium is Brenchley, in Kent. In a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, five miles from Tunbridge Wells, it has a Grade I-listed church and many period houses.
Best for the great escape
Sometimes the appeal of moving to a village is not merely to move somewhere with a more defined sense of community and a pretty church, but to live in spectacular wild countryside; to feel that you have really got away from the stresses and smells of urban life. The trick is to find a village that retains that feeling of remoteness, but offers a decent broadband connection.
Top of the list is Mylor Bridge, a creekside village on a tributary of the Fal estuary in southern Cornwall, where the average house price is £348,000 — a third higher than in other local villages. Why? It has a full-time post office, two pubs, a butcher, a cricket club and a yacht harbour.
Yet the key to making it work for long-term lifestyle investors is the high level of owner-occupiers. “Unlike many Cornish villages, it is an all-year-round place,” says Jonathan Cunliffe, head of Savills’ office in Truro, a 15-minute drive away. “It does appeal to holiday-homeowners, but there is a strong permanent community of all age ranges.”
The same is true of Hovingham, in North Yorkshire. Here, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the shadow of the Howardian Hills, where the average house price is £374,000, the villagers enjoy a local deli, a bakery, two stores, a live music venue and a smart hotel (but, unfortunately, since 2009, no post office).
Living in such small communities can demand a lot of their residents. One place where they have stepped up to the challenge is Grosmont, in the Welsh borders, a historic village of 300 people with a ruined castle and a Norman church, 20 minutes’ drive from the market towns of Monmouth and Abergavenny.
In 2006, the Angel Inn, a 17th-century hostelry that had been serving refreshments to the local farming community for more than three centuries, went on sale, raising the dread prospect that it could be bought by a chain and lose its character — or, worse still, become a fancy restaurant.
“You can’t have fun in a restaurant,” says Robert Barker, 59, who has lived at the Old Rectory for more than two decades. So, in a bid to retain the “heart of the community”, Barker and five other regulars clubbed together and bought the Angel for £250,000.
“It’s now a successful pub,” he says. “I run it along with my wife, Margie. I play the guitar and sing, and we hold regular music evenings. We like everyone to have fun. It’s also where lots of ideas are dreamt up.”
Retaining the pub seemed to spur everyone on to become involved in bigger projects, such as becoming an “eco village”. A group of residents have since got together and set up their own pig-rearing scheme, recycling their slops and scraps by fattening up two Tamworth gilts. Everyone is invited to the annual hog roast.
All of which is good news for the residents who continue to enjoy the real ales and ciders at the Angel — but it’s also been good news for the value of their homes.
“Buyers always sit in the local pub when househunting,” says Mark Zorab, the founder of Elstons (01291 672138, elstons.co.uk), an estate agency based in nearby Usk. “It’s a good way to meet people and a good way to test if you’re going to fit in.”
Britain’s 12 best villages
Best connected
1. Chew Magna, Somerset; population 1,161
Why: Three pubs, two banks, two hairdressers, butcher, cafe; 10 miles from Bristol and airport
Average house price: £403,644
2. East Hendred, Oxfordshire; population 1,092
Why: Near Didcot and Wantage; museum, three pubs, church where David Cameron married
Average house price: £407,281
3. Brenchley, Kent; population 2,715
Why: Speedy access to London, in Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with Grade I-listed church
Average house price: £530,705
Best for schools
1. Crondall, Hampshire; population 3,463
Why: 100% Level 4 Sats results in English and maths; village store for organic produce; doctor’s surgery
Average house price: £511,861
2. Chipperfield, Hertfordshire; population 1,800
Why: 96% Level 4 Sats; rural village set around green; store, butcher, three pubs, garden centre
Average house price: £545,151
3. Chiddingfold Surrey; population 2,882
Why: 96% Level 4 Sats; famous bonfire night; less than an hour from London Waterloo
Average house price: £581,503
Best on a budget
1. Navenby, Lincolnshire; population 1,666
Why: Pretty stone village, 8 miles from Lincoln; baker, butcher, good primary school
Average house price: £191,894
2. Farndon, Cheshire; population 1,517
Why: Historic village on banks of River Dee, south of Chester; florist, butcher, two pubs, pharmacy
Average house price: £241,953
3. Walsham le Willows, Suffolk; population 1,122
Why: In Suffolk countryside; cinema and drama clubs, history group, WI, horticultural society
Average house price: £251,474
Best getaway
1. Mylor Bridge, Cornwall; population 2,533
Why: Creekside village 5 miles from Falmouth; post office, butcher, fishmonger, pub, primary school
Average house price: £348,195
2. Hovingham, North Yorkshire; population 1,777
Why: On edge of Howardian Hills; Grade I-listed church, stone houses, ethical village store
Average house price: £374,039
3. Grosmont, Monmouthshire; population 335
Why: Norman church and ruined castle; 20 minutes from market towns; community-owned pub
Average house price: £311,750