Wiltshire
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Locator map for the English administrative region of Wiltshire.
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Stourhead, in Wiltshire, laid out between 1741 and 1765, was one of the first English gardens to favour the natural, landscaped forms that came to epitomize the 18th century English style. Its architect, Henry Flitcroft (1697–1769), surrounded an artificial lake with a series of neoclassical temples in picturesque settings, alluding to the buildings of ancient Rome.
County of southwest England (since April 1997 Swindon has been a separate unitary authority).
Area
3,480 sq km/1,343 sq miTowns and cities
Trowbridge (administrative headquarters), Salisbury, Wilton, Devizes, Chippenham, WarminsterPhysical
Marlborough Downs; Savernake Forest; rivers Kennet, Wylye, Avons (Salisbury and Bristol); Salisbury Plain (32 km/20 mi by 25 km/16 mi, lying at about 120 m/394 ft above sea-level), a military training area used since Napoleonic timesFeatures
Elizabethan Longleat House (Marquess of Bath); 16th-century Wilton House (Earl of Pembroke); Stourhead, with 18th-century gardens; Neolithic Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill, and West Kennet Long Barrow (the finest example of a long barrow in Wiltshire, dating from the 3rd millennium BC) – Stonehenge, Avebury, and associated sites are a World Heritage site; Salisbury Cathedral (13th century), which has the tallest spire in Britain (123 m/404 ft)Agriculture
cereals (wheat and barley); beef cattle; dairy-farming (condensed milk, cheese); pig- and sheep-farmingIndustries
brewing; computing; electronics; engineering; pharmaceuticals; plastics; quarrying (Portland stone, sand, gravel); rubberPopulation
(2001) 433,000Famous people
Isaac Pitman (inventor of shorthand), William Henry Fox Talbot (pioneer of photography), Christopher Wren (architect)TopographyWiltshire is bounded on the north by Gloucestershire and Swindon; on the east by West Berkshire and Hampshire; on the south by Dorset; and on the west by Somerset, Bath and North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire. |
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