Welcome to Hook

HOOK has been described as the poor relation to Lydiard Tregoze. The village does not have all the usual facilities associated with a rural settlement.

It has no church or village green, although a hall which can hold up to 100 people serves the 400 or so inhabitants. The village does not have a parish council of its own it comes under Lydiard Tregoze because its worshippers go to St Maryıs Church, in the grounds of Lydiard House.

And without an obvious heart it would be easy to assume people living there have little to do with each other. But after digging deeper, outsiders will find a community willing to challenge multi-national companies to preserve their corner of rural England.

Once dominated by dairy farming, houses in the village are spread out in small clusters along the main Greatfield road, which links it to Wootton Bassett and Purton. The other main road, Hook Street, leads to Lydiard Tregoze and is where a number of dairy farms used to be. There used to be nine dairy farms in the parish but today there are just two dairy farmers left in the village.

Homes in Bolingbroke Close are known for their dazzling display of Christmas lights, which attracts visitors to the street every year. But villagers do face disadvantages from living in such a tiny community.

In 1995, villagers won a battle to prevent the construction of a motorway service station within sight of homes in Dianmer Close. Some campaigners felt so strongly about the issue that they daubed signs on the side of their houses to enlist support of motorists on the M4.

And their outspokenness paid off because the then Environment Secretary, John Gummer, dismissed the application from Total Oil following a public inquiry.

People in Hook were also among the first in the country to undertake a pioneering scheme to build their own homes. A total of 10 families, who had been priced out of the housing market in rural Wiltshire, were given planning permission on a greenfield site near Dianmer Close because they were arranging the building their own affordable housing.

They all had a strong connection to the village but were being forced out of the countryside because they couldn't afford homes there. The self-build houses can only be sold to local people.