Wiltshire is ahistoric county located in theSouth West England region. Wiltshire is landlocked and is in the east of the region.
The English conquest of the district now known as Wiltshire began in 552 AD with the victory ofSaxonCynric over the nativeBritons atOld Sarum, by which the way was opened toSalisbury Plain. Four years later, pushing his way through theVale of Pewsey, Cynric extended the limits of theWest Saxon kingdom to theMarlborough Downs by a victory atBarbury Hill. At that period the district south of theRiver Avon and theRiver Nadder was occupied by dense woodland, the relics of which survive inCranborne Chase, and the first wave ofWest Saxon colonisation was chiefly confined to the valleys of the River Avon and theRiver Wylye. The little township ofWilton which arose in the latter valley gave the name of Wilsætan to the new settlers.[1]
By the 9th century the district had acquired a definite administrative and territorial organization.Weohstan,ealdorman of the Wilsætan, was mentioned as early as 800/802 as repelling an attempted invasion by theMercians. Moreover, Wiltunshire is mentioned byAsser in 878, in which year theDanes established their headquarters atChippenham and remained there a year, plundering the surrounding country. In the time ofAthelstan there weremints at Old Sarum,Malmesbury, Wilton,Cricklade andMarlborough. Wilton andSalisbury were destroyed by the Danish invaders underSweyn I of Denmark in 1003, and in 1015 the district was harried byCanute.[1]
With the redistribution of estates after theNorman Conquest more than two-fifths of the county fell into the hands of thechurch; the possessions ofthe Crown covered one-fifth; while among the chieflay proprietors wereEdward of Salisbury, William, Count of Eu,Ralf de Mortimer,Aubrey de Vere II, Robert Fitzgerald, Miles Crispin, Robert d'Oily andOsbern Giffard. The firstEarl of Wiltshire after the Conquest wasWilliam le Scrope, who received the honour in 1397. The title subsequently passed to Sir James Butler in 1449,Sir John Stafford in 1470,Thomas Boleyn in 1529, and in 1550 to thePaulet family.[1]
TheBenedictine foundations at Wilton, Malmesbury andAmesbury existed before the Conquest; theAugustinianBradenstoke Priory was founded by Walter d'Évreux in 1142; that atLacock by Ela, countess of Salisbury, in 1232; that atLongleat by Sir John Vernon before 1272. TheCluniacpriory ofMonkton Farleigh was founded byHumphrey II de Bohun in 1125; theCistercian house atKingswood, Gloucestershire by William de Berkeley in 1139; and that ofStanley by theEmpress Matilda in 1154.[1]
Of the forty Wiltshirehundreds mentioned in theDomesday Survey, Selkley,Ramsbury,Bradford,Melksham,Calne,Whorwellsdown,Westbury,Warminster,Heytesbury, Kinwardstone, Ambresbury, Underditch, Furstfield,Alderbury andDownton remain to the present day practically unaltered in name and extent; Thorngrave, Dunelawe and Cepeham hundreds form the modern hundred of Chippenham;Malmesbury hundred represents the parishes that were within the Domesday hundreds of Cicemethorn[2] and Sterchelee,[3] which were held at farm by the Abbot of Malmesbury; Highworth represents the Domesday hundreds of Crechelade, Scipe, Wurde and Staple; Kingbridge the hundreds of Chingbridge, Blachegrave and Thornhylle; Swanborough the hundreds of Rugeberge, Stodfold[clarification needed] and Swaneberg; Branch the hundreds of Branchesberge and Dolesfeld; Cawden the hundreds of Cawdon and Cadworth.[1]
A noticeable feature in the 14th century is the aggregation ofchurchmanors into distinct hundreds, at the court of which their ecclesiastical owners required their tenants to do suit and service. Thus thebishop of Winchester had a separate hundred called Kurwel Bishop, afterwards absorbed in Downton hundred; the abbot of Damerham had that ofDamerham; and theprior ofSt. Swithins that ofElstub, under each of which were included manors situated in other parts of the county.[1]
The meeting-place (ormoot) of SwanboroughHundred was at Swanborough Tump,[4] a hillock in the parish ofManningford Abbots identified as the moot-place mentioned in the will ofKing Alfred; that of Malmesbury was atColepark; that ofBradford-upon-Avon atBradford Leigh; that ofWarminster at Iley Oak, about three kilometres (1.9 miles) south of Warminster, near Southleigh Wood. Theshire court for Wiltshire was held atWilton, and until 1446 the shrievalty was enjoyedex officio by thecastellans ofOld Sarum.Edward of Salisbury wassheriff at the time of theDomesday Survey, and the office remained hereditary in his family, descending toWilliam Longespee by his marriage with Ela, great-granddaughter of Edward. In the 13th century theassizes were held at Wilton, Malmesbury andNew Sarum (Salisbury).[1]
On the division of theWest Saxonsee in 703, Wiltshire was included in thediocese of Sherborne, but in 905 a separatediocese of Ramsbury was founded,[5] the see being fixed alternately at Ramsbury, Wilton andSonning in Berkshire. Shortly before the Conquest, Ramsbury was reunited to the Sherborne diocese, and thesee was transferred toSalisbury. Thearchdeaconries of Wiltshire and Salisbury are mentioned in 1180; in 1291 the former included thedeaneries of Avebury, Malmesbury, Marlborough and Cricklade within this county, and the latter the deaneries of Amesbury, Potterne, Wilton, Chalke and Wylye. In 1535 the archdeaconry of Salisbury included the additional deanery of Salisbury, while Potterne deanery had been transferred to the archdeaconry of Wiltshire. The deaneries of the archdeaconry of Salisbury have remained unaltered; Wiltshire archdeaconry now includes the deaneries of Avebury, Marlborough and Potterne; and the deaneries of Chippenham, Cricklade and Malmesbury form part of the archdeaconry anddiocese of Bristol.[1]
Wiltshire has traditionally been a peaceful county, with little impact on national political history. In 1086, after the completion of theDomesday Survey, Salisbury was the scene of a great council, in which all the landholders tookoaths of allegiance to the king. A council for the same purpose assembled at Salisbury in 1116. Nearby atClarendon, theassize which remodelled the provincial administration of justice was drawn up in 1166.Parliaments were held at Marlborough in 1267 and at Salisbury in 1328 and 1384.[1]
During the wars ofStephen's reign, Salisbury,Devizes and Malmesbury weregarrisoned byRoger, Bishop of Salisbury, for the Empress, but in 1138 Stephen seized the bishop and capturedDevizes Castle. In 1216,Marlborough Castle was surrendered to Louis byHugh de Neville.Hubert de Burgh escaped in 1233 from Devizes Castle, where he had been imprisoned in the previous year.[1]
In theCivil War of the 17th century, Wiltshire actively supported theparliamentary cause, displaying a spirit of violentanti-Catholicism. The efforts of theMarquess of Hertford and of Lord Seymour to raise a party for the king met with vigorous resistance from the inhabitants. However, theRoyalists made some progress in the early stage of the struggle against theRoundheads, withMarlborough being captured for the king in 1642, while in 1643 the forces of theEarl of Essex were routed byCharles I andPrince Rupert at theBattle of Aldbourne Chase. In the same year SirWilliam Waller, after failing to captureDevizes, was defeated in theBattle of Roundway Down nearby.[1]
In 1645, theClubmen of Dorset and Wiltshire, whose sole object was peace, systematically punished any member of either party discovered in acts of plunder. Devizes, the last stronghold of the Royalists, was captured byOliver Cromwell in 1645. In 1655, a rising organised on behalf of the exiledCharles II at Salisbury was dispersed in the same year.[1]
At the time of theGlorious Revolution,King James II gathered his main forces, altogether about 19,000 men, at Salisbury, James himself arriving there on 19 November 1688. His troops were not keen to fightWilliam andMary, and the loyalty of many was in doubt. The first blood was shed at theWincanton Skirmish inSomerset. In Salisbury, James heard that some of his officers, such asEdward Hyde, had deserted, and he broke out in a nose-bleed which he took as a bad omen. His commander in chief, theEarl of Feversham, advised retreat on 23 November, and the next dayJohn Churchill deserted to William. On 26 November, James's daughterPrincess Anne did the same, and James returned to London the same day, never again to be at the head of a serious military force in England.[6]
At the time of the Domesday Survey the industrial pursuits of Wiltshire were almost exclusively agricultural; 390mills are mentioned, andvineyards atTollard Royal andLacock. In the succeeding centuries sheep farming was vigorously pursued, and theCistercianmonastery of both Kingswood and Stanley exportedwool to theFlorentine andFlemish markets in the 13th century and 14th century. Wiltshire at this time was already reckoned among the chief of the clothing counties, the principal centres of the industry being Bradford-upon-Avon, Malmesbury,Trowbridge, Devizes and Chippenham.[1]
In the 16th century Devizes was noted for its blankets, Warminster had a famous corn-market, and cheese was extensively made in north Wiltshire. Amesbury was famous for its tobacco pipe manufacture in the 16th century. The clothing trade went through a period of great depression in the 17th century, partly owing to the constant outbreaks ofplague.Linen, cotton, gloves andcutlery were also manufactured in the county, silk at Malmesbury and carpets at Wilton.[7]
TheSwindon Works of theGreat Western Railway (1841–1986) was one of the largest covered areas in the world, and its remains are amongst the most significant of Victorian engineering works in the world. Together with the housing and amenities provided by the company and its workforce, it has been proposed to UNESCO as the centre of a World Heritage Site.[8] Swindon has also been significant in other manufacturing, such as the car industry: seeHistory of Swindon.
In 1295 Wiltshire was represented by twenty-eightmembers in parliament: theshire returning twoknights, and theboroughs ofBedwyn,Bradford,Calne,Chippenham,Cricklade,Devizes,Downton,Ludgershall,Malmesbury,Marlborough,Old Sarum,Salisbury andWilton, twoburgesses each, but the boroughs for the most part made irregular returns.Hindon,Heytesbury andWootton Bassett were enfranchised in the 15th century, and at the time of theReform Act 1832 the county with sixteen boroughs returned a total of thirty-four members. Under the latteract Great Bedwyn, Downton, Heytesbury, Hindon, Ludgershall, Old Sarum and Wootton Bassett weredisfranchised, and Calne, Malmesbury,Westbury and Wilton lost one member each. Under theBoundary Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 46) the county returned two members in two divisions, and Chippenham, Devizes and Marlborough lost one member each. Under the act of 1885 the county returned five members in five divisions; Cricklade, Calne, Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Westbury and Wilton were disfranchised; and Salisbury lost one member.[9]
Wiltshire is rich inprehistoricantiquities. TheStone Age is represented by a number offlint and stone implements, preserved in the unsurpassed collection atSalisbury Museum.Stonehenge, with its circles of giant stones, andAvebury, with its avenues ofmonoliths leading to what was once astone circle, surrounded by an earthwork and enclosing two lesser circles, are the largest and best knownmegalithic works in England.[9]
A valley near Avebury is filled with immensesarsen blocks, resembling a 'river of stone', and perhaps laid there by prehistoric architects. There are alsomenhirs,dolmens andcromlechs. Surrounded as they were by forests and marshy hollows, it is clear that the downs were densely peopled at a very early period. Circles, formed by a ditch within a bank, are common, as are grave-mounds orbarrows. These have been classified according to their shape asbell barrows,bowl barrows andlong barrows. Bones, ash, tools, weapons and ornaments have been dug up from such mounds, many of which containkistvaens or chambers of stone. Thelynchets or terraces which score some of the hillsides are said to be the work of primitive early farmers and agriculturists.[9]
Ancient strongholds are scattered over the county. Among the most remarkable areVespasian's Camp, near Amesbury;Silbury Hill, the largest artificial mound in Europe, near Avebury; the mounds ofMarlborough andOld Sarum; the "camps" ofBattlesbury andScratchbury, near Warminster;Yarnbury, to the north of Wylye, in good preservation;Casterley, on a ridgeway near Devizes;White Sheet hill;Chisbury, near Savernake;Sidbury, near Ludgershall; andFigsbury Ring, northeast of Salisbury. Ogbury, ten kilometres (6.2 miles) north of Salisbury, is an undoubted British enclosure.Durrington Walls, north of Amesbury, are probably the remains of a British village, and there are vestiges of others onSalisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs.[9]
There are many signs ofRoman rule.Wansdyke orWodensDyke, one of the largest extant entrenchments, runs west for about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from a point east of Savernake, nearly as far as theBristol Channel, and is almost unaltered for several kilometres along the Marlborough Downs. Its date is uncertain; but the work has been proved, wherever excavated, to be Roman orRomano-British. It consists of a bank, with a trench on the north side, and was clearly meant for defence, not as a boundary. Forts strengthened it at intervals.Bokerley Dyke, which forms a part of the boundary between Wiltshire and Dorset, is the largest among several similar entrenchments, and has also aditch north of therampart.[9]
In April 2022, metal detectorists announced the discovery of two 4000 year-oldBronze Ageaxe heads on land owned by a farmer. The remains are being stored inBristol Museum.[10]
Chief among the fewmonastic buildings of which any vestiges remain are the ruinedabbeys ofMalmesbury (still in use as the parish church) and ofLacock. Amesbury'sChurch of St Mary and St Melor may have been linked to the 10th-centuryAmesbury Priory or its 12th-century successor,Amesbury Abbey.Monkton Farleigh had itsCluniacpriory, founded as a cell ofLewes in the 13th century, and represented by some outbuildings of themanor house. A college for adean and 12 prebendaries, afterwards amonastery ofBonhommes, was founded in 1347 atEdington; the church,Decorated andPerpendicular, resembles a cathedral in size and stately beauty and is now the parish church. The 14th-century buildings ofBradenstoke Priory or Clack Abbey, founded near Chippenham forAugustiniancanons, were incorporated in a farmhouse.[9]
The finest churches of Wiltshire, generallyPerpendicular in style, were built in the districts where good stone could be obtained, while the architecture is simpler in the chalk region where flint was used. Small woodensteeples and pyramidal bell-turrets are not uncommon; and the churches ofPurton, five kilometres (3 1/8 mi) northwest of Swindon, andWanborough, five kilometres (3.1 miles) southeast, are unusual in having a central steeple as well as a west tower.[9]
St. Lawrence's church at Bradford on Avon is one of the most completeSaxonecclesiastical buildings in England; and elsewhere there are fragments ofSaxon work imbedded in later masonry. Examples are three arches in thenave ofBritford church, within a mile of Salisbury; the east end of thechancel atBurcombe, near Wilton; and parts of the churches atAvebury,Bremhill, andManningford Bruce.St John's at Devizes retains its originalNorman tower and has Norman masonry in its chancel; while the chancel of St Mary in the same town, is also Norman, and the porch has characteristic Norman stone mouldings.[9] The churches ofPreshute,Ditteridge andNetheravon also preserve some Norman features.
Early English architecture is illustrated bySalisbury Cathedral, its purest and most beautiful example; and, on a smaller scale, atAmesbury,Bishops Cannings,Boyton,Collingbourne Kingston,Downton andPotterne.[9]
Bishopstone has the finestDecorated church in the county, with a curious externalcloister and unique south chancel doorway, recessed beneath a stone canopy.Mere, close to the borders of Dorset and Somerset, is interesting not only for its Perpendicular church, but also for amedievalchantry, used as a schoolhouse byWilliam Barnes, the Dorset poet.[9]
Thecastles of Wiltshire have been almost entirely swept away. AtOld Sarum,Marlborough andDevizes only a few vestiges are left in remnant walls and vaults.Castle Combe andTrowbridge castles have long been demolished, and ofLudgershall castle only a small fragment survives. The ruins ofWardour castle, standing in a richly wooded park nearTisbury, date from the 14th century, and consist of a hexagonal outer wall of great height, enclosing an open court; two towers overlook the entrance.[9]
The number ofmansions, old country houses and stately homes is a marked feature in Wiltshire. Few parishes, especially in the north west of the county, are without their old manor house, usually converted into a farm, but preserving itsflagged floor, stone-mullioned windows, gabled front, sometimes two-storeyed porch and oak-panelled interior. Place House inTisbury, andBarton Farm, at Bradford-upon-Avon, date from the 14th century. The best examples of 15th-century work are the manor houses ofNorrington, in the vale of Chalk;Teffont Evias, in the vale of theRiver Nadder; Potterne; andGreat Chalfield, nearMonkton Farleigh. AtSouth Wraxall the hall of a house of the same period is said in local tradition to be the spot where tobacco was first smoked in England by SirWalter Raleigh and his host,Sir Walter Long.[9]
Later styles are represented byLongford Castle, near Salisbury, where the picture galleries are of great interest;Heytesbury House;Wilton House at Wilton, Kingston House at Bradford-upon-Avon,Bowood House nearCalne,Longleat near Warminster,Corsham Court atCorsham,Littlecote near Ramsbury,Charlton Park House near Malmesbury,Compton Chamberlayne in the Nadder valley,Grittleton House and the modernCastle Combe, both near Chippenham, andStourhead, on the borders of Dorset and Somerset. Each of these is noteworthy for its architecture, its art treasures, the care lavished upon it or the beauty of its surroundings.[9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wiltshire".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 697–700.