Best Kept Village Competition winners 2021

Many Wiltshire villages appeared laid back about competing in this year's Best Kept Village Competition.

The first round of judging CPRE Wiltshire and The Hills Group Best Kept Village competition has been completed.

This year's competition started with 28 villages put under the microscope by the expert team of judges looking for criteria including tidiness, cleanliness, presentation and village community spirit.

One village, Castle Eaton, has been announced as this year's 'Best Newcomer' and will receive a £150 cash prize.

"The parish councils and their volunteers had clearly been hard at work, achieving encouragingly high standards and making the judges' task that much more difficult," said Mike Manson from CPRE Wiltshire.

Each village is judged within the categories of 'Small', 'Medium' and 'Large' and in the first round, they are only judged within their own district: West Wiltshire, North Wiltshire, South Wiltshire or Kennet (East Wiltshire).

The final results are announced in August and on September 26, Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire and CPRE Wiltshire's President Mrs Sarah Troughton presents the winners with their awards.

Results locally are:

WEST WILTSHIRE

LARGE VILLAGES

1st Hilperton (only entrant)

MEDIUM VILLAGES

1st Sutton Veny (only entrant)

SMALL VILLAGES

1st Bishopstrow

2nd Bukington

3rd Beanacre

SOUTH WILTSHIRE

LARGE VILLAGES

1st Whiteparish (only entrant)

MEDIUM VILLAGES

1st Tilshead

2nd Maiden Bradley

3rd Dinton

SMALL VILLAGES

No entrants

Each winning village receives a certificate, and in July, will be judged against the similar-sized villages in the other districts, to find the best kept large, medium and small villages in Wiltshire.

Also in July the Laurence Kitching Award will be judged from six villages who won their size categories in the past two competitions (2018 and 2019) and ineligible for the main competition.

The results of this second round are published in August. Award ceremonies are held sequentially at the three winning villages on Sunday, September 26, Lord-Lieutenant for Wiltshire Mrs Sarah Troughton will pull away the Union Flag surmounting the shield and commemorative plaques are presented. Cash prizes between £30 and £200 are awarded to all villages in this second round.

Best Newcomers Award

For several years an award has been made available to encourage villages which have not entered the competition for the previous five. This year, five villages entered and the winner is Castle Eaton which receives a £150 cash prize.

Contributions to the CPRE-organised competition come from sponsors The Hills Group and Princeton Homes and Wiltshire Council support as well as parish councils and villagers. It is a joint effort but one the organisers feel benefits Wiltshire and in particular participating villages.

Best Kept Village Competition winners 2021 - New Valley News