Two quaint 'chocolate box' villages in Derbyshire named among England's finest
Discover the charm of Ashford in the Water and Tissington, the Derbyshire villages listed among England's finest chocolate box locations.
Summer is the perfect time to explore the Great British countryside and luckily for us, stunning Derbyshire is on our doorstep.
Derbyshire, fondly known to locals as the ‘Gateway to the Peaks’ now appears on a prestigious list of the best chocolate box villages in England.
What is a chocolate box village?
You may be forgiven for feeling like you’re craving chocolate while reading ‘chocolate box’.
A chocolate box village is pretty and evokes scenes found on some of the first Cadbury’s chocolate boxes.
Surrounded by rolling green countryside, chocolate box villages are magical places where you can slow down the pace of life and enjoy being present.
There are many beautiful features of a chocolate box village.
These include cobbled streets, quaint courtyards, the gentle peal of church bells in the background and country pubs with roaring fires and stone hearths.
Experts at Independent Cottages have compiled a list of the top chocolate box villages in the country.
Here are several factors they took into consideration:
- The number of historic buildings, showing the architectural heritage that gives each village its character
- The oldest recorded existence of the village, demonstrating its depth of history
- Whether each village is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), recognising its natural surroundings and protection status
- How many people search for the village online, indicating public interest and recognition
- How many TikTok posts feature each village, showing how visually appealing they are
Two Derbyshire villages have made the Independent Cottages’ England’s most beautiful chocolate box village list.
The first place is Ashford in the water.
It boasts 297 listed buildings.
This is the second highest number on the list, beaten only by Gloucestershire’s Bourton-on-the-water which got top spot with 388.
Thought to be founded in 926AD, Ashford in the water has bucket loads of charm and is rich in heritage.
The top search phrase for this pretty-as-a-picture Derbyshire village is ‘The Bulls Head Ashford in the Water’.
The second Derbyshire village on the list is Tissington.
It has 48 listed buildings, is thought to be founded in approximately 1086AD, and the top search phrase is ‘Tissington Hall’.
The full list of England’s top chocolate boxes can be found here: independentcottages.co.uk