Wiltshire
Wiltshire (abbreviated
Wilts) is a large southern
English county. Considered as a
ceremonial county, it is landlocked and borders the counties of
Hampshire,
Dorset,
Somerset,
Gloucestershire,
Oxfordshire and
Berkshire, and contains the
unitary authority of
Swindon. The
county town is
Trowbridge, situated in the west of the county at . 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.
The county, formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (
9th century), is named after the former county town of
Wilton (itself named for the river
Wylye, one of eight rivers that drain the county).Natives of Wiltshire like to be referred to as "Moonrakers" and in general the term is a source of great pride.
There many variations on the legend of "Moonrakers" and the location of the legend is claimed by many places in Wiltshire, but most generally it is regarded as being located in Devizes, specifically the town pond known as the Crammer.
The story told by non Wiltshiremen is that a traveller came upon some drunken Wiltshire yokels one moonlit night. They were trying to retrieve a round glowing object from a pool using hay rakes. The yokels claimed it was a large cheese; the traveller went on his way laughing at the stupid country bumpkins trying to rake out a reflection of the full moon.
However
A Wiltshireman's version, which probably stems from the 16th or 17th century, is that some smugglers noticed approaching excisemen ( customs revenue agents) on a bright moonlit night. The smugglers rapidly dumped their contraband (probably barrels of French brandy) into the nearby pond. When the excisemen had gone they began to rescue the barrels with hay rakes. However, the excisemen returned and asked them what they were doing. Thinking quickly they told him they were raking out the cheese they could see in the water. The excisemen rode away laughing at the country bumpkins for being so stupid, thinking that the reflection of the moon was a cheese. The "moonrakers" had the last laugh and continued to recover their kegs
Wiltshire is particularly well-known for its pre-
Roman archaeology. The
mesolithic,
neolithic and
bronze age Celtic tribes 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. In 878 the
Danes invaded the county, and, following the
Norman Conquest, large areas of the country fell into the hands of the crown and the church. In the
17th century English Civil War Wiltshire was largely
Parliamentarian.
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 Milk Hill on Salisbury Plain, at 295 m/968 ft.
As well as Salisbury Plain the chalk runs north east into
Berkshire in the
Marlborough Downs ridge, and south-west 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
sq km (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.
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. A local
nickname for a Wiltshire native is
moonraker.
Population of Wiltshire:
*
1801: 185,107
*
1851: 254,221
*
1901: 271,394
*
1951: 386,692
*
2001: 613,024
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 Labour members hold their seats in the towns of
Salisbury 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.
Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:
*
Bradford on Avon*
Calne*
Chippenham*
Devizes*
Marlborough*
Salisbury*
Swindon*
Trowbridge*
Warminster*
WestburyA full list of settlements is at
List of places in Wiltshire.
Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:
*
Avebury, neolithic stone circle
*
 |
Country park |
Barbury Castle*
Bentley Wood*
 |
Historic house |
Bowood House*
Burlington, city-sized nuclear bunker with accomodiation for 4000 people
*
Castle Combe*
 |
Accessible open space |
Castle Hill, Mere*
Cherhill Whitehorse
*
Chisbury Chapel*
|
Country park |
Coate Water, East Swindon
*
Crofton Pumping Station*
 |
National Trust |
Great Chalfield Manor*
|
Historic house |
Iford Manor and gardens
*
Lacock Abbey*
|
Country park |
|
Historic house |
Longleat Safari Park
*
|
Country park |
|
Historic house |
Lydiard Park and House, West Swindon.
*
Old Sarum, the former cathedral
*
Old Wardour Castle*
Salisbury Cathedral*
 |
English Heritage |
Silbury Hill*
|
English Heritage |
Stonehenge*
|
National Trust |
Stourhead*
|
Accessible open space |
West Kennet Long Barrow*
|
National Trust |
Westwood Manor*
|
Accessible open space |
Woodhenge*
|
Historic house |
Wilton House*
Wilton Windmill*
|
Accessible open space |
|
National Trust |
Part of
Win Green (shared with
Dorset)
Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
*
|
Accessible open space |
Cranborne Chase*
|
Accessible open space |
Marlborough Downs*
|
Accessible open space |
Salisbury Plain*
|
Accessible open space |
Vale of PewseyNotable routes through Wiltshire are:
*
A4 road*
M4 motorway*
A303 trunk road
*
Fosse Way old Roman road
* The
Great Western Railway*
Kennet and Avon Canal*
 |
Heritage Railway |
Swindon and Cricklade Railway*
The Thames Path, a long distance footpath
*
Wiltshire CyclewayThis is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Wiltshire at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| 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 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
*
List of photographs of Wiltshire*
Wiltshire County Council*
List of Councillors*
Wiltshire Constabulary Online*
BBC Wiltshire*
Wiltshire Tourist Office*
John Aubrey's The Natural History of Wiltshire*
White horses of Wiltshire*
Wiltshire Gazette & Herald*
Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News*
Office for National Statistics, 1991.
Census Data.
*
Geology map of Wiltshire (
PDF)
*
Wiltshire & Swindon Intelligence Network
