The parish includes Bowden Hill, a small village 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Lacock, and the hamlets of Bewley Common, Notton and Reybridge.

Lacock Abbey was founded on the manorial lands by Ela, Countess of Salisbury and established in 1232; and the village – with the manor – formed its endowment to "God and St Mary".

[3] At the dissolution, the Abbey and estate, including the village, were sold to William Sharington, later passing into the Talbot family by marriage.

Elsewhere in the parish, the country houses at Bewley Court (14th century, restored 1920)[5] and Bowden Park (1796)[6] are also Grade I listed.

[14] A school was provided on a central site in Lacock village by Henry Fox Talbot in 1824, with accommodation for 100 pupils.

In 2015, Lacock was used for an episode of the Downton Abbey TV series, portraying a livestock market of the 1920s; Lord Grantham, his family and some of the staff appeared in this location.

Not long after, the village was featured in two episodes of the Wolf Hall series, based on the novels by Hilary Mantel.