Wiltshire

History

Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology. The Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people who 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 West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, and King Wulfhere of Mercia. In 878 the Danes invaded the county. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, 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 monastery of Stanley exported wool to the Florentine and Flemish markets in the 13th and 14th centuries.

In the 17th century, during the English Civil War, Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian. The Battle of Roundway Down, a Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes.

In 1794, it was decided at a meeting at the Bear Inn in Devizes to raise a body of ten independent troops of Yeomanry for the county of Wiltshire, which formed the basis for what would become the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, who served with distinction both at home and abroad, during the Boer War, World War I and World War II. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry lives on as Y (RWY) Squadron, based in Swindon, and B (RWY) Squadron, based in Salisbury, of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.

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 at Wiltshire Council's Wiltshire Community History website, which has maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures, and short histories.

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 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 officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities. Many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in Devizes.

Geography

Two-thirds of Wiltshire, a mostly rural county, lies on chalk, a kind of soft, white, porous limestone that is resistant to erosion, giving it a high chalk downland landscape. This chalk is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and stretching from the Dorset Downs in the west to Dover in the east. The largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain, which is used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point in the county is the Tan Hill–Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale, just to the north of Salisbury Plain, at 295 m (968 ft) above sea level.

The chalk uplands run north-east into West 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 km² (670-square-mile) conservation area.

In the north-west of the county, on the border with Gloucestershire and Somerset, the underlying rock is the resistant oolite limestone of the Cotswolds. Part of the Cotswolds AONB is also in Wiltshire, in the county's north-western corner.

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 northernmost area of the New Forest.

Chalk is a porous rock, so the chalk hills have little surface water, and the main settlements in the county were therefore established at wet points. Notably, Salisbury lies between the chalk of Salisbury Plain and the marshy flood plains.

Climate

Along with the rest of South West England, Wiltshire has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than counties further east. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Although there is a marked maritime influence, this is generally rather less pronounced than it is for other south-western counties, which are closer to the sea. July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima of approximately 22 °C (71.6 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are usual and air frost is frequent. In the summer, the Azores high pressure affects south-west England; however, convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours.

In December 1998, there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton (Somerset). Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection, though a proportion is caused orographically (uplift over hills). Autumn and winter are the rainiest, caused by Atlantic depressions, which are then most active. Even so, any month can be the wettest or driest in a given year, but the wettest is much more likely to be Oct-Mar, and the driest Apr-Sept. In summer, a greater proportion of the rainfall is caused by the sun heating the ground, leading to convection and showers and thunderstorms. It is often the northern half of the county that sees most of the showers with south-westerly winds in summer, whereas in the south of the county, the proximity of a relatively cold English Channel often inhibits showers. In autumn and winter, however, the sea is often relatively warm, compared with the air passing over it, and can often lead to a higher rainfall in the south of the county (e.g., Salisbury recorded over 200mm of rain in November 2009 and January 2014). Average rainfall for the county is around 800 mm (31 in), drier parts averaging 700mm (28ins)and the wettest 900mm (around 35ins). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

Green belt

The county has a green belt mainly along its western fringes as a part of the extensive Avon Green Belt. It reaches as far as the outskirts of Rudloe/Corsham and Trowbridge, preventing urban sprawl particularly from the latter in the direction of Bradford-on-Avon, and affording further protection to surrounding villages and towns from Bath in Somerset.

Demographics

Ethnicity

The population of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire was historically ethnically homogeneous, White British, but is now becoming less homogeneous, with the largest ethnic group, White British, constituting 85.1% of the population in the 2021 census. This proportion has consistently declined in each modern census, down from 94.8% in the 2001 census.

In the 2021 census, the ethnic composition of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire comprised: 90.3% White, 5.1% Asian, 1.6% Black, 2.0% Mixed, and 0.9% Other.

• White (90.3%): English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British (85.1%), Irish (0.6%), Gypsy or Irish Traveller (0.1%), Roma (0.1%), Other White (4.4%)
• Asian (5.1%): Indian (2.7%), Pakistani (0.3%), Bangladeshi (0.3%), Chinese (0.4%), Other Asian (1.4%)
• Black (1.6%): African (1.0%), Caribbean (0.4%), Other Black (0.3%)
• Mixed (2.0%): White and Asian (0.6%), White and Black African (0.3%), White and Black Caribbean (0.6%), Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups (0.6%)
• Other (0.9%): Arab (0.1%), Any other ethnic group (0.8%)

Note: Sub-group totals may not sum exactly to the group total due to rounding. Data for the ceremonial county are aggregated from its constituent unitary authorities.

Note: The 2001 census figures for 'Asian' and 'Other' have been adjusted to reflect the 2011 reclassification of the Chinese ethnic group from 'Other' to 'Asian' to allow comparison across census years.

Religion

In the 2021 census, the religious composition of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire comprised: 49.0% Christian, 41.0% No religion, 1.3% Muslim, 1.1% Hindu, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.3% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, 0.6% Other religion, and 5.9% Not stated.

Governance

Unitary authorities

The ceremonial county of Wiltshire consists of two unitary authority areas, Wiltshire and Swindon, governed respectively by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council.

Until the 2009 structural changes to local government, Wiltshire (apart from Swindon) was a two-level county, divided into four local government districts – Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury and West Wiltshire – which existed alongside Wiltshire County Council, covering the same area and carrying out more strategic tasks, such as education and county roads. On 1 April 2009, these five local authorities were merged into a single unitary authority called Wiltshire Council. With the abolition of the District of Salisbury, a new Salisbury City Council was created at the same time to carry out several citywide functions and to hold the city's charter.

Wiltshire Council

Since the 2025 Wiltshire Council election, Wiltshire Council has been governed by a Liberal Democrat minority administration led by Councillor Ian Thorn, supported by independent members. This shift ended 25 years of Conservative majority rule, leaving the council with no overall control. The Liberal Democrats received a plurality of the vote with 33.9%, followed closely by the Conservatives on 32.1% and Reform UK on 22.2%.

Swindon Borough Council

Since the 2026 Swindon Borough Council election, Swindon Borough Council has been governed by a Conservative minority administration led by Councillor Gary Sumner. This shift ended 3 years of Labour majority rule that was preceded by 19 years of Conservative majority rule. In the 2026 Swindon Borough Council election the Conservatives received a plurality of the vote with 29.7%, followed closely by Labour on 28.0% and Reform UK on 26.5%.

Westminster Parliamentary

Wiltshire is represented by eight Parliamentary constituencies. Seven are entirely within the county, while the South Cotswolds constituency extends into southern parts of Gloucestershire.

At the 2024 general election, the Conservatives won three seats (East Wiltshire, Salisbury, and South West Wiltshire); Labour two (Swindon North and Swindon South); and the Liberal Democrats three (Chippenham, Melksham and Devizes, and South Cotswolds).

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, the electorate of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire voted in favour of Brexit, with 53.1% supporting withdrawal from the European Union and 46.9% opposing withdrawal from the European Union.

Economy

This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added (GVA) of Wiltshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.

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 Intel, Motorola, Patheon, Catalent (formerly known as Cardinal Health), Becton-Dickinson, WHSmith, Early Learning Centre and Nationwide, with Dyson located in nearby Malmesbury. 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, beverages, furniture, rubber, pharmaceuticals, and plastic goods) than the national average.

In addition, there is higher-than-average employment in public administration and defence, due to the military establishments around the county, particularly around Amesbury and Corsham. There are sizeable British Army barracks at Tidworth, Bulford and Warminster, and the Royal School of Artillery is at Larkhill. Further north, RAF Lyneham was home to the RAF's C-130 Hercules fleet until 2011; the MoD Lyneham site is now a centre for Army technical training. Wiltshire is also distinctive for the 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.

Education

Wiltshire has 30 county secondary schools, publicly funded, of which the largest is Warminster Kingdown, and eleven private secondaries, including Marlborough College, St Mary's Calne, Dauntsey's near Devizes, and Warminster School. The county schools are nearly all comprehensives, with the older pattern of education surviving only in Salisbury, which has two grammar schools (South Wilts Grammar School and Bishop Wordsworth's School) and three non-selective schools.

There are four further education colleges, which also provide some higher education: New College (Swindon); Wiltshire College (Chippenham, Trowbridge and Salisbury); Salisbury Sixth Form College; and Swindon College. Wiltshire is also home to a University Technical College, UTC Swindon, specialising in engineering. A second UTC, South Wiltshire UTC, was based in Salisbury but closed in August 2020.

Wiltshire is one of the few remaining English counties without a university or university college (though Wiltshire College does incorporate a University Centre); the closest university to the county town of Trowbridge is the University of Bath. However, Bath Spa University has a centre at Corsham Court in Corsham, and Oxford Brookes University maintains a minor campus in Swindon (almost 50 km from Oxford). Swindon is the UK's second largest centre of population (after Milton Keynes) without its own university.

Service Children's Education has its headquarters in Trenchard Lines in Upavon, Wiltshire.

Sport

The county is represented in the Football League by Swindon Town, who play at the County Ground stadium 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 and the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1970, two successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 (taking them from the Fourth Division to the Second), promotion to the Premier League as Division One play-off winners in 1993 (as inaugural members), the Division Two title in 1996, and their promotion to League One in 2007 after finishing third in League Two.

Chippenham Town is the area's highest-ranked non-league football club; they currently play in the National League South after winning the Southern Premier League in 2016/17, with a league record points tally of 103. After Salisbury City went into liquidation in 2014, a new club, Salisbury, was formed in 2015 and will play in the National League South for the 24/25 season.

Wiltshire County Cricket Club play in the Minor Counties league.

Swindon Robins Speedway team, who competed in the top national division, the SGB Premiership, had been at their track at the Blunsdon Abbey Stadium near Swindon since 1949. In 2020, they stopped racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently announced in 2022 that they would not be returning. Swindon Wildcats compete in the English Premier Ice Hockey League, the second tier of British ice hockey, and play their home games at Swindon's Link Centre.

Flags

Without consultation with the populace, Wiltshire Council formally adopted the ‘Bustard Flag’ as the flag for the area it governs on 1 December 2009 — not for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire; consequently, the flag does not represent the Borough of Swindon.

The flag features eight wavy stripes, which also alternate between green and white, symbolising Wiltshire's pasture-lands and chalk downs. These stripes were derived from the horizontal stripes on the escutcheon of the now obsolete Coat of Arms of Wiltshire County Council, as the council was abolished on 1 April 2009 and replaced with the unitary authority, Wiltshire Council. The coat of arms was officially granted on 5 April 1937. A silhouette of a male great bustard (Otis tarda), representing the bird reintroduced to Wiltshire, is centred on a green central disk, representing Wiltshire's open grassland. The silhouette is larger than the disk, overlapping with the disk's rim and the flag's stripes. Although registered as gold, the actual colour of the great bustard silhouette is alpine. The rim of the disk is divided into six alternating green and white sections, representing both the county's historic stone circles, such as Stonehenge and Avebury, and the six surrounding ceremonial counties: Berkshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Somerset. The disk's rim sections are enclosed by a thin outer green line and a thin inner white line. The flag's dimensions follow a 3:5 proportion.

The great bustard had been extinct in England since 1832, but the Wiltshire-based charity, the Great Bustard Group (GBG), imported chicks from Russia between 2004 and 2012, and then eggs from Spain between 2014 and 2019, releasing the birds onto Salisbury Plain. In the autumn of 2024, there were around 70 great bustards in south Wiltshire.

The Bustard Flag has faced criticism from vexillologists and heraldists for its irregular design and intricate details. The silhouette is too large to be contained by the disk, and along with the thin inner and outer border lines on the disk's rim, is not discernible from a distance. The stripes' wavy nature becomes indistinguishable from horizontal stripes when the flag is flying.

Notable settlements

Wiltshire has twenty-one towns and one city:

• Amesbury
• Bradford-on-Avon
• Calne
• Chippenham
• Corsham
• Cricklade
• Devizes
• Highworth (Borough of Swindon)
• Larkhill
• Ludgershall
• Malmesbury
• Marlborough
• Melksham
• Mere
• Royal Wootton Bassett
• Salisbury (city)
• Swindon (Borough of Swindon)
• Tidworth
• Trowbridge
• Warminster
• Westbury
• Wilton

A list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire.

Media

Local TV coverage is covered by BBC West and ITV West Country; however, Swindon and Salisbury receive BBC South and ITV Meridian.

The county's local radio stations are BBC Radio Wiltshire, Heart West, Greatest Hits Radio South West and Greatest Hits Radio Salisbury (covering Salisbury and surrounding areas).

County-wide local newspapers are the Gazette and Herald and Wiltshire Times.

Places of interest

Places of interest in Wiltshire include:

• Arc Theatre, at the Trowbridge campus of Wiltshire College
• Ashcombe House
• Avebury, Neolithic stone circle
• Avebury Manor and Garden
• Avon Valley Path
• Barbury Castle
• Bentley Wood
• Bowood House
• Caen Hill Locks, Devizes
• Castle Combe village
• Castle Hill, Mere
• Central Government War Headquarters, Corsham, underground nuclear bunker with accommodation for 4000
• Cherhill White Horse
• Chisbury Chapel
• Coate Water, East Swindon
• Corsham Court
• Cotswold Water Park
• The Courts Garden, Holt
• Crofton Pumping Station
• Edington Priory
• Fonthill Abbey
• Great Chalfield Manor
• Iford Manor and gardens
• Kennet and Avon Canal Museum, Devizes
• Kennet Avenue, Avebury
• King Alfred's Tower, Stourhead
• Lacock Abbey
• Lacock village, largely owned by the National Trust
• Littlecote House
• Longleat Safari Park
• Ludgershall Castle
• Lydiard Park & House, West Swindon
• Malmesbury Abbey
• Maud Heath's Causeway, near Chippenham
• Mompesson House, Salisbury
• Old Sarum, the site of the former cathedral
• Philipps House & Dinton Park
• Richard Jefferies Birthplace and Museum, near Swindon
• REME Museum
• River Thames
• Salisbury Cathedral
• The Salisbury Museum
• Science Museum library and archives, Wroughton
• Shearwater Lake
• Silbury Hill
• Stonehenge
• Stourhead
• Swindon and Cricklade Railway
• Swindon Steam Railway Museum
• Trafalgar House
• Wardour Castle
• West Kennet Long Barrow
• Westbury White Horse
• Westwood Manor
• Woodhenge
• Wilton House
• Wilton Windmill
• Wilts & Berks Canal
• Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
• Win Green Down

Areas of countryside in Wiltshire include:

• Cranborne Chase
• Marlborough Downs
• Salisbury Plain
• Vale of Pewsey

Transport

Road

Roads running through Wiltshire include The Ridgeway, an ancient route, and Roman roads, the Fosse Way, London to Bath road and Ermin Way. National Cycle Route 4 and the Thames Path, a modern long distance footpath, run through the county.

Routes through Wiltshire include:

• A4 road
• M4 motorway / M4 Corridor
• A303 trunk road
• A350 road
• A417 road

Navigable inland waterways

• River Thames
• Kennet and Avon Canal

Canals subject to restoration

• Thames and Severn Canal
• North Wilts Canal
• Wilts & Berks Canal

Rail

Three main railway routes, all of which carry passenger traffic, cross Wiltshire.

• Great Western Main Line (Swindon and Chippenham)
• Wessex Main Line (Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster, Salisbury; connects to Chippenham)
• West of England line (Salisbury and Tisbury)

Other routes include:

• Reading to Taunton Line
• Heart of Wessex Line
• Golden Valley Line
• South Wales Main Line

The major junction stations are Salisbury and Westbury, and important junctions are also found at Swindon, Chippenham and Trowbridge.

There is also the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in the Thames Valley.

In general, Wiltshire is well served by rail, with 14 stations within its boundaries, although towns not served include Calne, Marlborough and Devizes. Several destinations on bus routes, including the aforementioned three towns, have integrated through ticketing, where one ticket may be bought to cover both the bus and rail journey.

Air

Airfields in Wiltshire include Old Sarum Airfield and Clench Common Airfield. RAF Lyneham was an air transport hub for British forces until its closure in 2012. Airports with scheduled services near Wiltshire include Bournemouth Airport, Bristol Airport, Cardiff Airport, Exeter Airport, Gloucestershire Airport, Oxford Airport, Heathrow Airport and Southampton Airport.