Everything about Wiltshire totally explained
Wiltshire (abbreviated
Wilts) is a
ceremonial county in the
south west of
England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of
Dorset,
Somerset,
Hampshire,
Gloucestershire,
Oxfordshire and
Berkshire. It contains the
unitary authority of
Swindon. The county covers 858,931
acres (3476 km²). Wiltshire is characterised by its high
downland and wide
valleys.
Salisbury Plain is famous as the location of
Stonehenge stone circle and other ancient landmarks. The city of
Salisbury is notable for its
cathedral. The
county town is
Trowbridge (originally
Wilton).
Etymology
The county, formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century), is named after the former county town of
Wilton (itself named after the river
Wylye, one of eight rivers that drain the county). The new
county town is
Trowbridge.
The local
nickname for Wiltshire natives is
moonrakers. This originated from a story of
smugglers who managed to foil the local
Excise men by hiding their
alcohol, possibly French
brandy in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. When confronted by the excise men they raked the surface in order to conceal the submerged
contraband with ripples, and claimed that they were trying to rake in a large round cheese visible in the pond, really a reflection of the full moon. The police took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities.
History
Wiltshire is notable for its pre-
Roman archaeology. The
Mesolithic,
Neolithic and
Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire.
Stonehenge and
Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK.
In the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of
Saxon Britain, as
Cranborne Chase and the
Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of
Bedwyn was fought in 675 between
Escuin, a
Wessex nobleman who had seized the throne of
Queen Saxburga, and
King Wulfhere of
Mercia. In 878 the
Danes invaded the county, and, following the
Norman Conquest, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown and the church.
At the time of the
Domesday Survey the industry of Wiltshire was largely
agricultural; 390
mills are mentioned, and
vineyards at Tollard and Lacock. In the succeeding centuries sheep-farming was vigorously pursued, and the Cistercian monasteries of Kingswood and Stanley exported wool to the
Florentine and
Flemish markets in the 13th and 14th centuries.
In the 17th century
English Civil War Wiltshire was largely
Parliamentarian. The
Battle of Roundway Down, a decisive Royalist victory, was fought near
Devizes.
Around 1800 the
Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire providing a route for transporting cargoes from
Bristol to
London until the development of the
Great Western Railway.
Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available on the
Wiltshire Community History
website, run by the
Libraries and
Heritage services of
Wiltshire County Council. This site includes maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures, thumbnail histories, faqs, and information on schools and churches.
Geology, landscape and ecology
Wiltshire is a mostly rural landscape, two thirds of the county lying on
chalk, giving it a high
chalk downland landscape. This chalk is part of the
Southern England Chalk Formation that underlies large areas of Southern England from the
Dorset Downs in the west to
Dover in the east. The largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is
Salisbury Plain, a semi-wilderness used mainly for
arable agriculture and by the
British Army as training ranges. The highest point of the county is the
Tan Hill-
Milk Hill ridge in the
Pewsey Vale on the northern edge of
Salisbury Plain, at 294m (965 ft) above sea level.
The chalk runs northeast into
West Berkshire in the
Marlborough Downs ridge, and southwest into Dorset as
Cranborne Chase. Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much Stone Age and Bronze Age
archaeology. The Marlborough Downs are part of the
North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), a 1,730
km² (668 square mile) conservation area.
In the north west of the county, on the border with
Gloucestershire and
Bath and North East Somerset, the underlying rock is the resistant
oolite limestone of the
Cotswolds. Part of the Cotswolds AONB is also in Wiltshire.
Between the areas of chalk and limestone downland are
clay valleys and
vales. The largest of these vales is the
Avon Vale. The Avon cuts diagonally through the north of the county, flowing through
Bradford on Avon and into
Bath and
Bristol. The Vale of Pewsey has been cut through the chalk into
Greensand and
Oxford Clay in the centre of the county. In the south west of the county is the
Vale of Wardour. The south east of the county lies on the sandy soils of the
New Forest.
Chalk is a porous rock so the chalk hills have little surface water. The main settlements in the county are therefore situated at wet points. Notably, Salisbury is situated between the chalk of Salisbury Plain and marshy flood plains.
Climate
As with the rest of
South West England, Wiltshire has a
temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of
England. The annual mean temperature is 10 °C and shows a
seasonal and a
diurnal variation. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 and 2 °C. July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C.
The number of hours of bright
sunshine is controlled by the length of day and by cloudiness. In general December is the dullest month, June the sunniest. The south-west of England has a favoured location with respect to the
Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer.
Convective cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and acts to reduce sunshine amounts. The average annual sunshine totals 1600 hours.
Rainfall tends to be associated with
Atlantic depressions or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower
clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and
thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm. About 8–15 days of
snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean
wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the South West.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional
gross value added (GVA) of Wiltshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year |
Regional gross value added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
4,354 |
217 |
1,393 |
2,743 |
| 2000 |
5,362 |
148 |
1,566 |
3,647 |
| 2003 |
6,463 |
164 |
1,548 |
4,751 |
The Wiltshire economy benefits from the "
M4 corridor effect", which attracts business, and the attractiveness of its countryside, towns and villages. The northern part of the county is richer than the southern part, particularly since Swindon is home to national and international corporations such as
Honda,
Intel,
Motorola,
Alcatel-Lucent and
Nationwide. Wiltshire’s employment structure is distinctive in having a significantly higher number of people in various forms of
manufacturing (especially
electrical equipment and apparatus,
food products, and
beverages,
furniture,
rubber, and
plastic goods) than the national average.
In addition, there's higher than average employment in
public administration and
defence, due to the
military establishments around the county. Wiltshire is also distinctive in having a high proportion of its working age population who are economically active – (86.6% in 1999-2000), and its low
unemployment rates. The
Gross domestic product (GDP) level in Wiltshire didn't reach the UK average in 1998, and was only marginally above the rate for
South West England.
Education
Wiltshire has a mostly comprehensive education system with two
grammar schools and three
secondary modern schools in the Salisbury district. There are 29 state and 13 independent secondary schools - notably
Marlborough College, not including the three further education colleges - Wiltshire College, Salisbury College and Swindon College, all of which provide limited levels of higher education. There is also a
sixth form college (New College) in Swindon. All schools in West Wiltshire have sixth forms, and only two in North Wiltshire do not. For the other two districts, it's half and half.
North Wiltshire has the largest school population, with Kennet the smallest. West and North Wiltshire have school year sizes around 200-250, whereas the other districts have school year sizes around 120.
There are no universities within Wiltshire, although the Oakfield campus of the
University of Bath is situated 2 miles east of central Swindon.
Demographics
The county registered a population of 613,024 in the
Census 2001. The
population density is low at 178 people / km². In 1991 there were 230,109 dwellings in the county. In 1991 98.3% of the population was indigenous and 17.9% of the population were over 65.
Population of Wiltshire:
1801: 185,107
1851: 254,221
1901: 271,394
1951: 386,692
2001: 613,024
Politics and administration
Wiltshire is a shire county, mostly under the control of Wiltshire County Council. This is divided into four local government districts, Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury and West Wiltshire. Additionally, Swindon Borough is a unitary authority that forms part of the county for various functions such as Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff, but doesn't come under county council control. The Department for Communities and Local Government announced on 25 July 2007 that Wiltshire County Council would become a unitary authority, replacing the four district councils of West Wiltshire, North Wiltshire, Kennet and Salisbury as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.
Following the elections in May 2005, 28 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats, three Labour Party members and two Independents (Christopher Newbury and John Syme) are members of Wiltshire County Council. Conservatives hold most of the more rural areas while the Liberal Democrats hold several towns, including Trowbridge, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon. The county divisions of Westbury Ham with Dilton and Warminster West elected the two Independents, while the three Labour members hold their seats in the towns of Salisbury, Melksham and Devizes.
At the parliamentary level Wiltshire is represented entirely by Conservative Members of Parliament, except for the predominantly urban area of Swindon which is represented by Labour. Since 1992 Devizes has been represented by the front bench Conservative Michael Ancram, MP for Devizes.
Sport
The county is represented in the Football League by Swindon Town, who play at the County Ground near Swindon town centre. They joined the Football League on the creation of the Third Division in 1920, and have remained in the league ever since. Their most notable achievements include winning the Football League Cup in 1969, two successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 (taking them from the Fourth Division to the Second), promotion to the Premier League as Division One playoff winners in 1993, the Division Two title in 1996, and their recent promotion to League One in 2007 after finishing third in League Two.
Principal settlements
Wiltshire has 21 towns and one city
Amesbury
Bradford on Avon
Calne
Chippenham
Corsham
Cricklade
Devizes
Highworth
Ludgershall
Malmesbury
Marlborough
Melksham
Mere
Salisbury (city)
Swindon
Tidworth
Tisbury
Trowbridge
Warminster
Westbury
Wilton
Wootton Bassett
A full list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire.
Places of interest
Places of interest in Wiltshire are:
| Ashcombe House
Avebury, Neolithic stone circle
Avebury Manor & Garden
Avon Valley Path
Barbury Castle
Beckhampton Avenue
Bentley Wood
Bowood House
Burlington, city-sized nuclear bunker with accommodation for 4000 people
Castle Combe
Castle Hill, Mere
Cherhill White Horse
Chisbury Chapel
Coate Water, East Swindon
Corsham Court
Cotswold Water Park
Courts Garden
Crofton Pumping Station
Edington Priory
Fonthill Abbey
Great Chalfield Manor
Iford Manor and gardens
Kennet & Avon Canal Museum, Devizes
King Alfred's Tower
Lacock Abbey
|
Littlecote House
Longleat Safari Park
Ludgershall Castle, Ludgershall
Lydiard Park and House, West Swindon.
Malmesbury Abbey
Maud Heath's Causeway
Mompesson House
Old Sarum, the former cathedral
Philipps House & Dinton Park
Salisbury Cathedral
Science Museum Swindon, Wroughton
Shearwater Lake
Silbury Hill
Stonehenge
Stourhead
Swindon Steam Railway Museum
Trafalgar House
Wardour Castle
West Kennet Long Barrow
Westbury White Horse
Westwood Manor
Woodhenge
Wilton House
Wilton Windmill
Wilts and Berks Canal
The Old Road Tavern, Chippenham
Part of Win Green (shared with Dorset)
|
Areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
Cranborne Chase
Marlborough Downs
Salisbury Plain
Vale of Pewsey
Routes through Wiltshire include:
A4 road
M4 motorway / M4 Corridor
A303 trunk road
Fosse Way old Roman road
Great Western Main Line railway
Wessex Main Line railway
Kennet and Avon Canal
Swindon and Cricklade Railway
Thames Path, a long distance footpath
The Ridgeway an ancient route
Wiltshire Cycleway
National Cycle Route 4
References and footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wiltshire'.
|
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