'Wiltshire' (abbreviated 'Wilts') is a large
English county in the
South West England region of the
UK. Considered as a
ceremonial county, it is landlocked and borders the counties of
Dorset,
Somerset,
Hampshire,
Gloucestershire,
Oxfordshire and
Berkshire, and contains the
unitary authority of
Swindon. The county covers 858,931
acres (3476 km²)
The county is characterised by its high
downland and wide
valleys.
Salisbury Plain is famous as the location of
Stonehenge and other ancient landmarks. The city of
Salisbury is notable for its
cathedral.
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 local
nickname for Wiltshire natives is
moonrakers.
History
Main articles: History of Wiltshire
Wiltshire is particularly well-known 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 sixth and seventh 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.
[1] 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 industrial pursuits of Wiltshire were almost exclusively
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 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
In the seventeenth century
English Civil War Wiltshire was largely
Parliamentarian.
Around 1800 the
Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire providing a route for transporting a range of cargoes from
Bristol to
London, which was successful in encouraging local commerce for some years before the development of the
Great Western Railway.
A growing amount of 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 and about two thirds of the county lies 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 vast expanse of 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.
As well as Salisbury Plain 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
Along 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 approximately 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 and 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 around 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.
[2]
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Wiltshire at current basic prices
[3] with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional gross value added[4] | Agriculture[5] | Industry[6] | Services[7] |
|---|
| 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, villages and some of its towns which make it a desirable place to live, visit and work. The northern part of the County is relatively more economically dynamic than the southern part. 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 are is higher than average employment in
public administration and
defence, probably due to the scale of
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 did not reach the UK average in 1998, and was only marginally above the rate for
South West England.
[8]
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.
[9]
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 does not 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.
Following the elections in May 2005, 28
Conservatives, 16
Liberal Democrats, three
Labour 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.
Settlements
Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:
★
Bradford on Avon
★
Calne
★
Chippenham
★
Corsham
★
Devizes
★
Malmesbury
★
Marlborough
★
Melksham
★
Mere
★
Salisbury
★
Swindon
★
Trowbridge
★
Warminster
★
Westbury
★
Wilton
A full list of settlements is at
List of places in Wiltshire.
Places of interest
Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:
★ Ashcombe House  Historic house
★ Avebury, Neolithic stone circle  Accessible open space
★ Avebury Manor & Garden
★ Avon Valley Path Accessible open space
★ Barbury Castle  Country park
★ Beckhampton Avenue
★ Bentley Wood Accessible open space
★ Bowood House Historic house
★ Burlington, city-sized nuclear bunker with accommodation for 4000 people
★ Castle Combe
★ Castle Hill, Mere Accessible open space
★ Cherhill White Horse
★ Chisbury Chapel
★ Coate Water, East Swindon Country park
★ Corsham Court Historic house
★ Cotswold Water Park
★ Courts Garden
★ Creative Planet, Science Museum, Wroughton
★ Crofton Pumping Station
★ Edington Priory
★ Fonthill Abbey
★ Great Chalfield Manor
★ Iford Manor and gardens Historic house
★ Kennet & Avon Canal Museum, Devizes .png) Museum
★ King Alfred's Tower
★ Lacock Abbey |
★ Littlecote House Historic house
★ Longleat Safari Park Country park Historic house
★ Ludgershall Castle, Ludgershall
★ Lydiard Park and House, West Swindon. Country park Historic house
★ Malmesbury Abbey
★ Maud Heath's Causeway
★ Mompesson House
★ Old Sarum, the former cathedral Accessible open space
★ Old Wardour Castle
★ Philipps House & Dinton Park
★ Salisbury Cathedral
★ Shearwater Lake
★ Silbury Hill
★ Stonehenge
★ Stourhead
★ Swindon Steam Railway Museum  Heritage Railway
★ Trafalgar House Historic house
★ Wardour Castle
★ West Kennet Long Barrow Accessible open space
★ Westbury White Horse
★ Westwood Manor
★ Woodhenge Accessible open space
★ Wilton House Historic house
★ Wilton Windmill
★ Wilts and Berks Canal
★ Part of Win Green (shared with Dorset) Accessible open space |
Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
★
Cranborne Chase Accessible open space
★
Marlborough Downs Accessible open space
★
Salisbury Plain Accessible open space
★
Vale of Pewsey Accessible open space
Notable routes through Wiltshire are:
★
A4 road
★
M4 motorway
★
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 Heritage Railway
★
Thames Path, a long distance footpath
★
Wiltshire Cycleway
★
National Cycle Route 4
References and footnotes
1. Kennet & Avon Middle Thames:Pearson's Canal Companion, , Michael, Pearson, Central Waterways Supplies, 2003, ISBN 0-907864-97-X
2. About south-west England
3. Regional Gross Value Added (pp.240-253)
4. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
5. includes hunting and forestry
6. includes energy and construction
7. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
8. Wiltshire Strategic Analysis (2002)
9. 1991 Wiltshire Census Data
See also
★
List of civil parishes in Wiltshire
★
★
List of places in Wiltshire
★
List of Lords Lieutenant of Wiltshire
★
Flag of Wiltshire
★ Wiltshire is
"Mid-Wessex" in the novels of
Thomas Hardy
External links
★
Wiltshire County Council
★
Wiltshire Community History
★
List of Councillors
★
Wiltshire Constabulary Online
★
Wiltshire Libraries
★
Merlin local information
★
BBC Wiltshire
★
Wiltshire Tourist Office
★
John Aubrey's The Natural History of Wiltshire
★
White horses of Wiltshire
★
Wiltshire Gazette & Herald
★
Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News
★
Geology map of Wiltshire (
PDF)
★
Wiltshire & Swindon Intelligence Network
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