Wincanton

Wincanton sits in the gently folded countryside of South Somerset, close to the Dorset and Wiltshire borders, on the banks of the River Cale. It grew up as a coaching stop on the old road between London and the south-west, and that sense of a town built for passing trade still lingers in its wide Georgian high street, lined with stone buildings that were largely rebuilt after fires ripped through the town in the mid-18th century. Known to the Saxons as Wyndcaleton, it survived plague and fire to become a prosperous centre for the local cloth and coaching trades, and the elegant frontages along the High Street and Market Place are a legacy of that rebuilding.

Today Wincanton is best known for two very different things: its National Hunt racecourse, one of the country's most popular jumps tracks, and its unlikely twinning with Ankh-Morpork, the fictional city at the heart of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Surrounded by dairy farms, orchards and quiet lanes, the town makes an easy, low-key base for exploring this corner of Somerset, with Stourhead, Bruton and the Somerset Levels all within easy reach.

Top things to do in Wincanton

Wincanton rewards a slow look rather than a checklist, but there is a good spread of things to see both in the town itself and in the surrounding countryside.

• Wincanton Racecourse — one of the best-loved jumps courses in the country, hosting around 17 race days a year between October and May, including the Kingwell Hurdle in February and a popular Boxing Day meeting.
• Discworld Emporium — the town's most surprising attraction, a shop and workshop dedicated to Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, born out of Wincanton's official 2002 twinning with the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork.
• Wincanton Museum — a small volunteer-run museum on the High Street covering the town's history as a coaching stop and cloth-trading centre, with local artefacts and archive photographs.
• Church of St Peter and St Paul — a mostly Victorian rebuilding around a surviving 14th-century tower, once the largest new church built in Somerset since the Reformation.
• Stourhead — one of the National Trust's finest landscape gardens, a short drive away, with its famous lake, classical temples and wooded walks laid out in the 18th century.
• Haynes Motor Museum — a large motoring museum near Sparkford with several hundred cars and motorbikes on display, from vintage classics to supercars.
• South Cadbury Castle — an Iron Age hillfort long associated with the legend of Camelot, with sweeping views over the Somerset countryside from its ramparts.

Getting to Wincanton

Wincanton lies just off the A303, the main road linking London and the south-west, making it an easy stop for drivers heading to or from Devon and Cornwall. The A371 and A357 also pass close by, connecting the town to Shepton Mallet, Yeovil and Sherborne. There is no railway station in Wincanton itself; the nearest mainline stations are at Gillingham and Castle Cary, both a short drive away, with regular services to London Waterloo and Paddington respectively. Bristol Airport, roughly an hour to the north-west, is the closest airport for those flying in.

Best time to visit Wincanton

Wincanton's racing calendar runs through the autumn and winter, so if National Hunt racing is the draw, aim for a meeting between October and May, with the Boxing Day fixture a particular local favourite. For gardens, walking and simply enjoying the surrounding countryside, late spring and summer are ideal, when Stourhead's gardens are at their fullest and the lanes around the town are at their greenest. Early autumn brings a quieter, golden version of the same landscape, with fewer visitors on the roads.

Where to stay in Wincanton

Options in and around Wincanton range from traditional coaching inns in the town centre to farmhouse B&Bs and small hotels scattered through the surrounding villages. Its position just off the A303 makes it a practical base for touring this part of Somerset, whether that means a night before a race meeting or a longer stay exploring Stourhead, Bruton and the wider Somerset countryside.

Food and drink in Wincanton

The Bear Inn on the High Street is a long-standing local pub serving straightforward food alongside real ales. The Nog Inn is another well-regarded local for a pint and pub classics. For something more special, the market town of Bruton, a short drive away, has built a reputation as something of a foodie destination, home to the acclaimed Osip restaurant and the café at Hauser & Wirth's gallery and gardens at Durslade Farm. Wincanton's own café and bakery scene along the High Street covers the essentials for a coffee and cake between sightseeing stops.