Wiltshire
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| Wiltshire | |
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| Geography | |
| Status: | Ceremonial & (smaller) Administrative County |
| Region: | South West England |
| Area: - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area | Ranked 14th 3,485 km² Ranked 13th 3,255 km² |
| Admin HQ: | Trowbridge |
| ISO 3166-2: | GB-WIL |
| ONS code: | 46 |
| NUTS 3: | UKK15 |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2003 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop. | Ranked 34th 622,021 178 / km² Ranked 30th 440,821 |
| Ethnicity: | 97.5% White |
| Politics | |
 Wiltshire County Council http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/ | |
| Executive: | Conservative |
| Members of Parliament | |
| Michael Ancram, James Gray, Robert Key, Andrew Murrison, Anne Snelgrove, Michael Wills | |
| Districts | |
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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 Template:Coor dms. 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.
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History
Main article: History of Wiltshire
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.
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 Milk Hill on Salisbury Plain, at 295m/968ft.
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-upon-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.
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. A local name for a Wiltshire native is moonraker.
Population of Wiltshire:
Politics
As of 2005, 28 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats, three Labour Party and two independent councillors sit on Wiltshire County Council. Conservatives hold most of the more rural areas while Labour have the large towns of Salisbury and Devizes. Westbury and Warminster elected independent councillors.
At the parliamentary level Wiltshire is represented entirely by Conservative MPs, except for the built up area around Swindon which is represented by Labour. Since 1992 Devizes has been represented by the front bencher Michael Ancram.
Settlements
Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:
A full list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire.
Places of interest
Stonehenge_back_wide.jpg
Wiltshire.bridge.750pix.jpg
Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:
- Avebury, neolithic stone circle
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Country park
Barbury Castle - Bentley Wood
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Historic house
Bowood House - Castle Combe
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Accessible open space
Castle Hill, Mere - Chisbury Chapel
- Crofton Pumping Station
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National Trust
Great Chalfield Manor - Missing image
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Historic house
Iford Manor and gardens - Lacock Abbey
- Old Sarum, the former cathedral
- Old Wardour Castle
- Salisbury Cathedral
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English Heritage
Silbury Hill - Missing image
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English Heritage
Stonehenge - Missing image
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Accessible open space
West Kennet Long Barrow - Missing image
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National Trust
Westwood Manor - Missing image
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Accessible open space
Woodhenge - Missing image
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Historic house
Wilton House - Wilton Windmill
Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
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Accessible open space
Cranborne Chase - Missing image
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Accessible open space
Marlborough Downs - Missing image
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Accessible open space
Salisbury Plain - Missing image
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Accessible open space
Vale of Pewsey
Notable routes through Wiltshire are:
- Kennet and Avon Canal
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Heritage Railway
Swindon and Cricklade Railway - The Thames Path, a long distance footpath
See also
External links
- Wiltshire County Council (http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk)
- John Aubrey's The Natural History of Wiltshire (http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04/nhwil10.txt)
- White horses of Wiltshire (http://www.wiltshire-web.co.uk/history/horse.htm)
- BBC Wiltshire (http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/)
References
- Office for National Statistics, 1991. Census Data (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/SearchRes.asp?term=Wiltshire).
- Geology map of Wiltshire (http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/macnn/mineralsplanfig1.pdf) (PDF)
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