Wiltshire

Wiltshire
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 (2002 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 34th 616,907 177 / km² Ranked 30th 436,349
Ethnicity:	97.5% White
Politics
Wiltshire County Council http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/
Executive:	Conservative
Members of Parliament
Michael Ancram, Julia Drown, James Gray, Robert Key, Andrew Murrison, Michael Wills
Districts
Salisbury West Wiltshire Kennet North Wiltshire Swindon (Unitary)

A bridge over the river Avon at Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire

Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. Considered as a ceremonial county it borders those of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and contains the unitary authority of Swindon.

Wiltshire is a mostly rural landscape with large areas of rolling chalk downland and grazing farmland. A large part of the county is taken up by Salisbury Plain, a vast expanse of semi-wilderness used mainly by farmers and the British Army. The county had a population of 564,000 in 1991 and a size of 858,931 acres (3475.97 km²). A local name for a Wiltshire native is moonraker.

Wiltshire's most famous landmark being Stonehenge

Places in Wiltshire

Main article: List of places in Wiltshire

Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:

• Chippenham
• Devizes
• Marlborough
• Salisbury
• Swindon
• Trowbridge

Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:

• Avebury, neolithic stone circle
• Barbury Castle
• Bowood House
• Castle Combe
• Castle Hill, Mere
• Chisbury Chapel
• Crofton Pumping Station
• Great Chalfield Manor
• Iford Manor and gardens
• Lacock Abbey
• Old Sarum, the former cathedral
• Old Wardour Castle
• Stonehenge
• Westwood Manor
• Woodhenge
• Wilton House
• Wilton Windmill

Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:

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

Notable routes through Wiltshire are:

• Kennet and Avon Canal
• Swindon and Cricklade Railway, a heritage railway
• The Thames Path , a long distance footpath

External links

• John Aubrey's The Natural History of Wiltshire
• White horses of Wiltshire
• swuklink.com - Wiltshire Pages