Moving to Wiltshire with young children: Warminster or Chippenham?

[CrazyCatLady1993]

Hello!

I’m hoping to move from Berkshire to Wiltshire this year. Mainly because of house prices.

We currently live in Arborfield, Wokingham which we love but we are totally out priced!

We have been looking at houses in Wiltshire villages. We’ve narrowed it down to Warminster & Chippenham (maybe even Westbury Leigh)

My main concern is that we will be totally isolated for anything for the kids to do on the weekends and half terms! I have 7 year old twins and an almost 2 year old. Midweek is fine because it’s just school & nursery but weekends I like to keep them busy.

Our weekends at the moment usually consist of soft play, parks, countryside walks, coffee shops for treats, cinema, bowling & swimming etc

We don’t want it to be ridiculously busy but we also don’t want total seclusion. We did think about Ludgershall but that looks far too secluded so we decided that’s a no! We’d like to have enough amenities around us, but also with a bit of countryside

Can anyone give their opinions? Is there enough to do in either of these destinations? Is there a sense of community? I am very social and will talk to anyone but if there is no sense of community I will feel very lonely!

I also want to think long term too for when they are teenagers. Will they be bored? And will I be driving them around everywhere?🤣

Thank you 🙂

In my experience, people in and around Chippenham often use Bath as their nearby "big" city. Only 10 mins by train. Theatre, great restaurants, parks, museums etc.

Do you mean villages near Warminster and Chippenham? Neither are villages and I would avoid Ludgershall! Any reason why you’re not considering any villages nearer to Salisbury? Are they out of budget? It would give you far more choice of things to do, especially with children.

Have you considered Devizes? My Mum lives near there and I have always considered it a lovely town but tbh having grown up in a rural location myself I would not want to bring up any hypothetical children i might have in a place like that.

Warminster is nice, I’d live there with young kids. It’s on the trainline to Bath for when they are teenagers. Consider Trowbridge as well. Good value, lots of families and kids, decent schools, trainline to Bath and surrounded by nice countryside. Frome is also popular but probably more expensive.

I would avoid Westbury Leigh. Out of those two options, I’d say Warminster if you’re just outside the centre, can be lovely. Frome is nicer IMO.

Hi! Sorry, I should have been much more clear with location🙊
We are looking at new build developments. And that’s why we are being quite specific!

Warminster:
Persimmon Homes Jubilee Gardens, BA12 8BT
Keepmoat Homes Cley Hill View

Chippenham:
Crest Nicholson Rowden Gate
Bloor Homes Hill Top Park
Redcliffe Homes Lackham Place

They all seem nice when viewing, but day to day life is different than visiting on a sunny day!

That’s good to know! Thank you

My husband was brought up in Wilts. A naice bit. He was bored rigid and couldn’t wait to escape.

Hi! We haven’t actually. We are after a new build and I don’t think there are any new builds in Devizes in our budget at the moment

I hope I don’t come across nosey, but what is your reason not wanting to bring up children in a place like that? Is it because there wasn’t enough to do? I’m definitely worried about my children being bored!

I can understand that! Unfortunately we are left with no choice, it’s too expensive where we live currently. We are a family of 5 living in a 2 bedroom flat that is worth £315,000 so you can imagine the house prices are atrocious here😂

We might move again when they are teenagers if it’s not suitable anymore. Just right now, we need to move further out 😰

Sorry everyone, I should have been much more clear with location🙊
We are looking at new build developments. And that’s why we are being quite specific!

Warminster:
Persimmon Homes Jubilee Gardens
Keepmoat Homes Cley Hill View

Chippenham:
Crest Nicholson Rowden Gate
Bloor Homes Hill Top Park
Redcliffe Homes Lackham Place

They all seem nice when viewing, but day to day life is different than visiting on a sunny day!

We going to visit Chippenham again on Monday and Warminster again on a random Friday to do some more investigating 😅

Yes, I was bored a large majority of the time. You mentioned soft play and I can say with 100% certainty there were no soft play venues where I grew up. As a young teen there was literally nothing to do, no youth clubs, no hobby groups. Public transport was fairly non-existant, if i wanted to go out my parents had to take me. It got marginally better when my friends got driving licenses. When I left for uni and was suddenly in a city I had few hobbies, little independence and no street smarts. There were so many things I had never done purely because there was no where to do it. I hated living on the country and swore I wouldn't bring up my children there.

I don’t live in either but nearby. Chippenham has a reasonable amount going, especially sport, but as PP said - 10 mins on the train to Bath is a big appeal.
Devizes is lovely but almost impossible to get around without a car, nearest station is Chippenham. Lots of arts festival / carnival stuff.
i barely know Warminster.
just a piece of advice about moving west - it’s really different to Berkshire. You’ll find things close earlier than you expect, less open on a Sunday, public transport significantly worse, hardly any takeaway deliveries and taxis need to be booked. You need to be able to drive as buses never go where you want, when you want them. Less choice of schools (both Chippenham’s secondaries are on the same site!)

Personally I love it here, despite all the above, but I’d visit and stay for a few days if you can, before you commit.

Chippenham is good.
good secondary schools, leisure centre, climbing centre (town centre shops a bit meh but not far to Bath or outlet centre at Swindon)
nice villages round and about.

Warminster is OK but there really are limited things for children to do in my opinion. It's also worth knowing that the secondary school is overcrowded already. As far as I'm aware, there are no plans for additional schooling or doctors, despite the huge amount of houses being built at Jubilee Gardens.

I do think you would all be a little bored there.

What is your budget? There’s a lot of distance between Arborfield and Chippenham.

Hi Op, all three of the developments in Chippenham are near each other, and none of them are rural. Chippenham isn’t rural, it’s a big town. The developments are on the edge of town, but definitely close enough for your children to bike/walk/bus themselves in with ease. Chippenham has a nice cinema, swimming pool, park with splash pad. Town centre is ok, but there is a retail park by the developments you’ve mentioned which has next, tk Maxx, Costa, m&s and opposite is a huge Sainsbury’s and there is also an Aldi next to it.
chippenham has a decent train station with links to bath, London, wales etc.
The college is great, and new. Three secondary schools.
Countryside and villages in all directions, and loads of bike links and walking trails.
Bath is up the road about twenty minutes, and in the other direction is Swindon - both good for shopping and other activities. Huge bypass being developed at the moment. Also has a motorway link.

Avoid Devizes. It’s tiny, lots drunk and antisocial people hang around the town centre as there is lots of social housing right in the centre - before anyone flames me I know it’s not all people in social housing but a select few do ruin it for everyone else and it’s those who are causing bother. And it’s far from the motorway and doesn’t have a cinema/trainstation etc and there is a housing development currently being built on a flood plain there.

Chippenham is a town with all the facilities you mentioned. Not rural at all. It's m4 corridor and has a mainline station.

I'm not a huge fan, but that's primarily because it reminds me of commuter belt london!

Warminster is fine but definately more 'small town' vibes.

Of those two I would definitely go for Chippenham with children.
Big town with all the usual facilities, cinema, leisure centre, restaurants, coffee shops etc
Good schools especially at secondary
Great transport links to Bath, Bristol and London

There are lots of new build developments on the edge of Salisbury/Wilton, which are just as ‘rural’ as the ones you have mentioned, the huge benefit being that they’re close to a small city, surrounded by countryside, with all the benefits that brings. You’re 40 mins. from the coast and very close to the New Forest. Lots to do and good rail links to go further afield.

We’ve lived in both Salisbury and Chippenham. Salisbury is bigger/smarter and more expensive than Chippenham. It’s a more grammar schooly system there. the ring road is a pita and it can take much longer to get out of the city and onto a motorway, though much better for the south coast.

Chippenham is very close for the motorway -good for getting to Bristol/cardiff/london/West Country.. There are some nice national trusts near Chippenham (lacock abbey, Avebury, Dyrham park) and westonbirt arboretum is lovely (not too far away).

Chippenham with its rail service would be the key to me.

I agree😀
Two of my children live in Chippenham, opposite sides,
fantastic schools, great leisure centre, beautiful parks and the river, a lovely old town with some great independent coffee shops and near to Bath and Bristol with a train station with great links to London.
Lots of green countryside around too
(oh and some great garden centres 🤣)