Wiltshire

Wiltshire covers an area of 1,345 square miles and has a population of approximately 430,000 people, in South central England. The county seat is Salisbury. Much of the county designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Industry

Swindon, the leading industrial centre, is known for its locomotive works. Textiles, metal products, processed foods, farm machinery, and electrical goods are manufactured. The main rivers are the Lower Avon, the East Avon, and the Kennet. Wiltshire is a very rural county and affords large areas for sheep grazing in the uplands, and the fertile valleys of the rivers. Pigs are also raised and grains cultivated.

Geography

It is an undulating landscape of grassy chalk hills. More than half of Wiltshire is occupied by the Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs.

History

The county is rich in historical associations going back for over 5,000 years. Avebury's stone circles lie in the centre of Wiltshire's landscape, with Europe's largest man-made prehistoric mound, Silbury Hill, and Britain's largest burial chamber, the West Kennet Long Barrow, close by. Stonehenge is known the world over as an ancient monument of huge significance. These monuments show a high degree of culture and sophistication. Wilton was once the capital of the powerful Saxon kingdom of Wessex. King Alfred’s grandson, King Athelstan, is buried at Malmesbury Abbey (famous for it’s sweet wine. Old Sarum, which sits on the hill above the later city of Salisbury, was a bishopric until the 13th century, when the office was transferred to Salisbury, famous since then for its cathedral.