WILTSHIRE, a county (inland), bounded on the
north and north-west by Gloucestershire, on the west
by Somersetshire, on the south-west and south by
Dorsetshire, on' the south-east and east by Hampshire,
and on the north-east by .Berkshire. It extends
from 50° 55' to 51° 42' (N. Lat.), and from 1° 50' to
2° 22' (W. Lon.), and comprises an area of eight hun-,
dred and eighty-two thousand five hundred and sixty
statute acres, or aboutone thousand three hundred and
seventy-nine square miles. The. population, in 1821, was
222,157. A large portion of this county was occupied,
in the time of Csesar, by the Belgse: the Hedui inhabited
the north-western parts of it, and the Carvilii
another district -, the Cangi are also supposed, either
at this period or soon;after, to have possessed some
territory within its northern limits. On the second invasion
of the Romans, during the reign of the: Emperor
Claudius, in the year 44, the Belgae were foundto have
subdued nearly, the whole, which they occupied as far
north as the rude barrier of the Wansdyke, beyond
which the Cangi are, by some writers, supposed to have
preserved their dominion. Under the Roman government,
Wiltshire was comprised in the division called
Britannia Prima. After the withdrawal of the Roman
forces, Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of the West
Saxons, who had been engaged in an arduous warfare,
for upwards of twenty years, with the Romanized Britons
near the place of his landing, on the coast of
Hampshire, at last penetrated into this territory, in the
year 520, but was defeated in a great battle by the
British hero Arthur, and the Saxons did not return
hither for upwards of thirty years. In 554, Cynric,
son of Cerdic, and his successor in the sovereignty of
Wessex, advanced with his army towards Sorbiodunum,
or Old Sarum, and. defeated a British army opposed
to. his progress near that place, of which he immediately
after took possession. Four years afterwards
another decisive battle was fought, at "Beranbyrig
or Barbury Castle, near Marlborough, in which the
Britons were again routed, and Wiltshire shortly became
incorporated in the kingdom of Wessex. Ceola,
or Ceolric, nephew to Ceawlin, Cynric's successor, rebelled
against his uncle; and being aided by a party
of the Saxons and by some British tribes, defeated him
in a pitched battle at Wednesbury, on the Wansdyke:
Ceawlin fled, and Ceolric usurped the crown. In the
wars maintained against each other by the different
kingdoms of the Octarchy, Wessex took an active
part, and several, times suffered severely in contests
with Mercia, which bounded it on the north. In a
great battle, however, fought at Great Bedwin in this
county, between Wulfhere, King of Mercia, and Eswin,
leader of the West Saxon forces, the slaughter was
dreadful;on both sides, and Wulfhere returned to his
own dominions, but Eswin was unable to follow him.
In the reign of Ina, an indecisive, but sanguinary,
battle was fought at Wednesbury, in this county (the
precise situation of which place has not been ascertained),
between that monarch and Ceolred, King of
Mercia. At Wilton, in 823, Egbert, the active and
warlike king of Wessex, who afterwards subdued the
rest of England, signally defeated the Mercian army
under Beornwulf, which had invaded his dominions.
Wiltshire suffered very severely from the ravages of
the Danes, who, during the reign of the last-mentioned
West Saxon prince, having defeated the Saxon forces
at Basingstoke, and at Merantune, supposed to have
been Marden, to the south-east. of Devizes, in this
county, wasted the greater part of it with fire and
sword. The illustrious Alfred, in 871, attacked the
Danes at Wilton, but was defeated, after an obstinate
and doubtful conflict. An invading Danish force, which
had surprised Exeter, in 877, advanced to Chippenham,
then a royal residence, where they established their
winter quarters, and received such numerous reinforcements,
that the Saxons ceased to. resist, and Alfred
himself fled to the Isle of Athelney, in Somersetshire.
In 878, having at length mustered a considerable army,
near, the forest of Selwood, on the western confines of
the county, Alfred suddenly and unexpectedly attacked
the Danish forces encamped at Ethandune, supposed
to be Eddington in this county, under their chief
Guthrum, and gained. that decisive, victory by whiqh
he liberated his country, In 1003, Sweyn, King of
Denmark, invading England in revenge for the massacre
of the Danes, landed on the coast of Devonshire,
and, advancing into the interior, laid waste this county,
and destroyed the towns of Wilton and Sarum. In
1006, another army of Danes, having ravaged Hampshire
and Berkshire, entered Wiltshire; on the borders
of the river Kennet, it was opposed by the men of
the county, who, however, were totally defeated. Wiltshire
was again visited by a Danish army, in 1011,
under Sweyn and his son Canute, who imposed very
heavy contributions upon its inhabitants, but were soon
after compelled to retire to their ships, by Edmund,
surnamed Ironside, who shortly after succeeded to
the throne of England, by the death of his father
Ethelred, who then lay ill at Corsham, in this county.
The Danes then sailed eastward to the mouth of the
Thames, which river they entered, and advanced inland
to Cricklade, on the northern border of Wiltshire; and
though defeated, by Edmund, at Pen in Somersetshire,
yet having received powerful reinforcements, they were
enabled to besiege Sarum, and to advance to Scearstan,
orSherston, on the north-western confines of the county,
where they were again opposed by Edmund, who, after
an obstinate battle, which lasted two days, compelled
Canute to retire towards the eastern shores of England.
After the Norman Conquest, William I., on the completion
of the general survey,. held a great council at
Sarum, in 1086, at which all the principal landholders
did homage; at this city also William's successors
held various other important councils.
Wiltshire was the scene of much warfare during the
sanguinary disputes between King Stephen and the Empress
Matilda. In 1139, Stephen forcibly seized the castles
of Salisbury, Devizes, arid Malmesbury, held by
Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, and his partisans; in 1151,
Devizes castle was taken by Robert Fitzherbert, who,
having shown himself faithless to both parties, was at
last seized and hanged by one of Matilda's commanders.
The empress herself, on her escape from Winchester in
the same year, fled to Ludgershall castle, in this county t
in 1142, Old Sarum was taken possession of by her forces.
In the course of this war also, Stephen, having marched
to Wilton with the design of there raising a fortress
to check the garrisons of Wareham and Salisbury, was
attacked by Matilda's forces, under the command of
the Earl of Gloucester, and his army routed with great
slaughter, while he himself narrowly escaped being
taken prisoner: the town was then plundered and
burned by the victors. In 1150, Trowbridge castle was
besieged and taken by Stephen; and in 1152, Henry
of Anjou, shortly after his lauding in England, besieged
and captured Malmesbury, together with its castle.
Malmesbury was one of the places seized upon by
Prince John, during the foreign imprisonment of his
elder brother, Richard I., but was reduced soon after
Richard's return to England. In 1450, at the period
of Cade's rebellion, the Bishop of Salisbury's tenants
rose in insurrection, and barbarously murdered that
prelate. In 1471, Edward IV. passed through Malmes-
bury, on his road to meet the forces of Margaret, in the
decisive battle of Tewkesbury, in which many Wiltshire
men fell in the ranks of the Lancastrians. In the great
civil war of the seventeenth century, numerous engagements
occurred in this county. In May 1643, Wardour
castle was besieged and taken by a body of one
thousand three hundred parliamentarians, under the
command of Sir Edward Hungerford; in September
of the same year, the Earl of Essex, with the parliamentarian
army, marching towards London from the
siege of Gloucester, was unexpectedly attacked at Albourne,
by Charles I., aided by Prince Rupert, when
the former was defeated and driven as far as Hungerford,
with great loss. In this year also, Sir William
Waller, after possessing himself of Chichester,
marched with a strong force to Mahnesbury, which had
been garrisoned. for the Icing, but which immediately
surrendered to him j it was, however, shortly after retaken
by the royalists. In 1644, Woodhouse, which
had been garrisoned by a party of parliamentarians
under Major Wansey, was closely besieged by Lord
Inchiquin, with his Irish forces; a small body of parliamentarians
advanced to Warminster, with an intent
to raise the siege, but was compelled to retreat towards
Salisbury with great loss. From the celebrated
battle of Lansdown, near Bath, the royalist forces retired
to Chippenham, and thence to Devizes, where they
were closely besieged by the parliamentarians under
Sir William Waller, who, however, were soon obliged to
withdraw from before the town, to oppose a body of
fifteen hundred horse, under Lord Wilmot, sent by the
king from Oxford to its relief. In the action which ensued
on Roundaway hill, the parliamentarians were totally
defeated, with the loss of two thousand men, and
all their cannon, ammunition, baggage, and stores, In
1645, Cromwell took Devizes; and Malmesbury was
stormed and taken by a parliamentary brigade under
Col. Massie. The general rising of the royalists, which
was planned to take place on the llth of March, 1655,
broke out only at Salisbury. Several gentlemen of the
west marched into that city, with a body of two hundred
horse, seized the sheriff and judges, who were
then present at the assize, and proclaimed Charles II.;
but having wandered about for some time without receiving
any accession of force, the insurrection was
suppressed by a single troop of horse, the leaders
taken and executed, and their followers sold for the
plantations. In 1688, on the landing of the Prince of
Orange, James II. established the head-quarters of his
army at Salisbury} but as his affairs became more desperate,
he privately withdrew to London.
This county is in the diocese of Salisbury (excepting
only the parish of Kingswood, which is in that of
Gloucester, and the parish of Whitchbury, in that of
Winchester), and province of Canterbury: it forms
the two archdeaconries of Sarum and Wilts, the for?
mer comprising the deaneries of Amesbury, Chalk, Potterhe,
Salisbury, Wilton, and Wily; the latter, those of
Avebury, Cricklade, Malmesbury, and Maryborough. The
total number of parishes is two hundred and ninetyfive,
of which one hundred and forty-three are rectories,
one hundred and four vicarages, and forty-eight perpetual
curacies. For purposes of civil government it is
divided into the following hundreds, viz., Alderbury;
Amesbury; Bradford; Branch and Dole; Calne; CaWr
den and Cadworth; Chalk; Chippenham; Damerham
(North and South); Down ton; Dunworth; Elstub and
Everley; Frustfield; Heytesbury; Highworth, Cricklade,
and Staple; Kingsbridge; Kinwardstone; Malmesbury;
Melksham; Mere; Potterne and Cannings>;
Ramsbury; Selkley, Swanborough; Underditch; War-
minster; Westbury; and Whorwelsdown. It contains
the city of Salisbury, or New Sarum; the borough and
market-towns of Calne, Ghippenham, Cricklade, Devizes,
Hindon, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Westbury,
and Wootton-Bassett; the boroughs of Great Bedwin'
Downton, Heytesbury, Ludgershall, Old Sarum, and
Wilton; and the market-towns of Amesbury, Great
Bradford, Market-Lavington, Melksham, Mere,- Swindon,
Trowbridge, and Warminster. Two knights are
returned to parliament for the shire, two citizens for
the city of Salisbury, and two burgesses for each of
the boroughs: the county members are nominated at
Devizes, and elected at Wilton. This county is included
in- the Western circuit: the assizes are held at Salisbury,
and the quarter sessions at Devizes in the winter,
at Salisbury in the spring, at Warminster in the summer,
and at Marlborough in the autumn: the county gaol
is at Fisherton-Anger, the county house of correction
at Devizes, and the bridewells at Devizes and Marlborough;
there are upwards of one hundred acting
magistrates. The parochial rates raised in the county,
for the year ending March 25th, 1827, amounted to
£192,914. 17., and the expenditure to £190,043. 2.,
of which £165,443. 2. was applied to the relief of the poor.
Wiltshire derives its name from Wilton, which for a
long period anterior to the Norman Conquest, and for
a considerable time subsequent to that event, was its
principal town, and still continues the county town.
This county, which, in the early period of Christianity
among the West Saxons, was included in the diocese of
Winchester, was afterwards, in the reign of Ina, annexed
to that of Sherborne, and so remained for a long succession
of years. Soon after the year 905, however, a
bishoprick was erected co-extensive with the county,
the seat of which was placed successively at Ramsbttry
and at Wilton. Hermannus, who held it at the Conquest,
and who had obtained the bishoprick of Sherborne
to be united with it, soon after fixed, the seat of
his diocese at Old Sarum; whence, in the early part of
the thirteenth century, it was removed to its present
situation at New Sarum, or Salisbury.
The form of the county is nearly an ellipse, the
transverse diameter of which bears north and south: a
little beyond its north-western border is a small de-
tached portion, containing the village of Kingswood,
and surrounded by Gloucestershire: another detached
portion is situated at and near Oakingham,in Berkshire,
at the distance of almost thirty miles beyond it's eastern
confines. A detached portion of the county of Glou-
cester, containing the principal part of the parish of
Minety, is locally in Wiltshire. It is common to consider
it as divided into North Wiltshire and South
Wiltshire, by a line passing through it from east to
west, at or near Devizes; but the natural division is
into South-east Wiltshire and North-west Wiltshire, by
an irregular line passing from the confines of Berkshire,
near Bishopston, south-westward to those of Somersetshire,
near Maiden-Bradley. South-east Wiltshire, containing
nearly five hundred thousand acres, thus com--
prehends, and is almost entirely occupied by, the whole
of the Wiltshire Downs, with their intersecting rallies;
forming the western division of the ranges of chalk hills
which occupy so great a portion of Hampshire, and a
Smaller extent of Berkshire, A't a distance, this portion
of the county presents the appearance of one large
elevated plain; but on a nearer approach its surface is
found to be broken by numerous and frequently extensive'
vallies, and to possess an almost constant series of
gentle eminences, but no where a mountainous elevation;
the declivities on one side of some of the ridges
are very abrupt, while on the other they sink gently, in
irregular gradation, sometimes into a perfect flat. The
two grand divisions of the chalk hills are into Marlborough
Downs, being those to the north of the Kennet
and Avon canal, and Salisbury Downs, or Plain, oc-.
cupying nearly all the county southward of that line:
these great districts are separated by the vale of Pewsey,
and the only difference in their general appearance
is, that the eminences of the former are more
abrupt and elevated than those of the latter. The most
extensive level prevails around Stonehenge, where the
scenery is peculiarly tame. On Marlborough Downs are
scattered many of the singular masses of stone, called
" grey wethers/' and, when broken, " Sarsden-stones,"
or, by contraction, "Sarsons." The principal vallies,
which display scenes of rich meadow and arable lands,
adorned with seats, villages, and occasionally woods,
are traversed by streams of excellent water: those descending
from Salisbury Plain take a direction towards
Wilton and Salisbury. The north-western division of
the county presents a remarkably different appearance,
being a rich tract of vale land, extending from the base
of the Downs to the northern and western confines of
the county, and generally so flat that few deviations
from the 6rdinary level are perceptible; approaching
the Cotswold hills of Gloucestershire, however, the surface
becomes gradually more elevated. This low plain
is so well wooded, that, when viewed from any of the
surrounding hills, it appears like one vast plantation.
The most remarkable eminences in the county, and some
of those which command the finest prospects, are, Beacon
hill, near Amesbury, which rises to the height of
six hundred and ninety feet above the level of the sea j
Bidcombe hill, near Maiden-Bradley; Codford hill;
the high grounds near Staodlinch House; Old Sarum
hill, three hundred and thirty-nine feet high; and
Westbury Down, seven hundred and seventy-five feet high.
With regard to the climate, it may be observed,
that thfe cold sharp air of the Downs is almost proverbial
but it is also healthy. Although that of the
north-western district is somewhat milder, vegetation
is there very late, owing chiefly to the cold retentive
quality of the soil. The corn harvest is generally as
early in the Down district, and ia a tract bordering on
Gloucestershire, as in any other part of the kingdom;
but on the low cold lands it is frequently a month later.
The soil of the downs, though varying considerably in
quality, is uniformly calcareous; the hills consist of
chalk, with its usual accompaniment of flint; and the
soil on their sides, where hardly any flints are found,
consists of a chalky loam, or rather decomposed chalk,
called ?' white land." The flatter parts have a flinty
loam; and in the centre of the principal vallies is a
bed of broken flints, covered with black vegetable earth,
washed from the hills above: in some of the more extensive
vallies are beds' of black peat. These hills are
bordered at their base by narrow tracts of very fertile
soil called by geologists green sand, from its contain-
ing little round masses of a green substance, frequently
prevailing to such an extent as to give a green hue to
the. aggregate of which they form a part. One of these
lines, entering the county at Mere, on the borders of.
Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, proceeds by Maiden-
Bradley, Warminster, Westbury, and Lavington, to the
vicinity of Devizes, where it joins the broader one
occupying the Vale of Pewsey, and is afterwards again
found to the north-west of the Marlborough Downs.
Another enters from Shaftesbury in Dorsetshire, and
proceeds eastward, by Donhead, Anstey, Swallowcliffe,
Fovant, &c., to the high ground at Burcomb-field, near
Wilton; this tract is also joined, near Fovant, by a
ridge of sand hills, which extends towards it from West
Knoyle, by Stop-Beacon and Ridge. The substratum of
the north-westernmost part of the county, separated
from the rest of it by a line passing from the. border of
Somersetshire, near Bradford, through the neighbourhood
of Malmesbury, to the confines of Gloucestershire,
near Cirencester, consists of, a loose irregular mass of
the broken strata of a light-coloured, calcareous, and
sandy stone, provincially called corn-grate, the soil resting
upon which is chiefly a reddish calcareous loam,
mixed with flat stones, and is called stonebrash. The
quality of this soil varies much, according to its depth
above the stone rock, and the absence or presence of an
occasional intervening stratum of blue clay> which has
the appearance of marl, but is devoid of its good qualities;
its presence is denoted by a spontaneous growth
of oak, and that of the drier substratum by a. natural
and luxuriant growth of elm. About Chippenbam, and
thence southward by Melksham and Trowbridge, is a
much more fertile district, having a greater depth of
soil without any of the clay. From'Melksham, by Chippenham,
to Cricklade, runs a stratum of gravel, in general
covered to a good depth with a rich loam; the
greatest extent of it is, however, from Tytherton,
through Christian-Malford andDauntsey, to Somerford:
this is considered to be the richest soil in the county.
In the north-western district are also two tracts of sand
of a sharp, loose, gravelly nature, one of which runs
from Rodborne, by Seagry, Draycot, and Sutton-Benger,
to Langley-Burrel, near Chippenham; the other from
Charlcot, through Bremhill, to Bromham: of the latter
there are also detached parts at Rowde and Seend, and
the stratum of sand appearing in different places to the
north of it is supposed to be the same. The remaining
parts of North-west Wiltshire, particularly those extending
from Highworth, by Wootton-Bassett, to Clack,
have a cold retentive soil on, a hard, close, rough kind
of limestone. Braden Forest, between Cricklade and
Malmesbury, has a soil peculiar to itself, being a cold
iron clay, proverbially sterile. Strong clays and clayey
loams, of'a tolerably rich quality, are found to a small
extent in various places on the skirts of the south-eastcrn
district. South-eastern Wiltshire is chiefly appropriated
to tillage and to sheep-walks; the north-western
district comprises a very rich and extensive tract of
grazing and dairy land, on the borders of the Thames
and the Lower' Avon, while the rest of it is chiefly arable.
The courses of crops are very various; in the Southeastern
district the red wheat is most commonly
sown. Barley is a favourite crop in the chalk district,
but hardly in any other part of the county: oats are no
where sown to a great extent: a few peas and beans
are grown in the north-western parts of the county: rye
is often sown as spring food for sheep, but is seldom
suffered to stand for a corn crop. Turnips are extensively
cultivated on the chalky and stonebrash soils;
rape, or coleseed, is grown to a great extent on the
Downs; as also are vetches in this and in the North-/
western district. Potatoes are much cultivated, particularly
on the rich sands adjoining the chalk. The,
principal artificial grasses are, ray-grass, broad clover,
marl-grass, or Dutch clover, and trefoil; and the chief
object of their cultivation is the maintenance of the
sheep for a certain period in the spring. The grass
lands of the North-eastern district are of the richest
quality, and are partly occupied by dairies, and partly
employed in the fattening of cattle. The cheese, which
is the only produce of the numerous dairies, excepting
the poor kind of butter made from the whey, was,
for many years, sold in the London market as Gloucestershire
cheese; but it is now well known and much
esteemed there under the name of " North Wiltshire."
It is customary to; graze and mow the meadow land
alternately. Many of the numerous cattle fattened in
these rich pastures, are taken to Bath, while some are
sold at Salisbury, for the supply of the adjoining southern
counties,-but the greatest number are driven to
London. In South Wiltshire are some dairy lands on
cold clay soils, from Sedghill and Semley to Wardour
Castle, adjoining Dorsetshire; and from Dilton's Marsh,
by Westbury and Steeple-Ashton, towards Lavington'
and Potterne, being on the southern boundary of the
North-west district: these assist in supplying the cities
of Bath and Salisbury, and other places, with butter:
there are also various small tracts of pasture near the
towns. Bordering on the streams of the downs are
continued narrow tracts of meadow laud, under an
excellent system of irrigation, which became general
about  the commencement of the last century: the
quantity is estimated at about twenty thousand acres.
In the low northern districts there are very few watermeadows;
on some small tracts in the vicinity of Hungerford,
however, many lambs-are bred and fattened
for the London market.
With the grass lands of Wiltshire maybe classed
its, spacious downs, which are unenclosed and subject
to common rights; and though a portion of them is
always under tillage, yet by far the most extensive tracts
are covered with a fine native sward, affording food to
no less than five hundred thousand sheep and lambs
during the summer and autumn. To find winter food
for the sheep is one of the principal objects of the farmers,
who, nevertheless, are obliged to send great numbers
to be wintered in the contiguous enclosed- districts
of this and the adjoining counties. Besides the
common sheep downs, the unsown common fields adjoining
are open to the flocks until they are ploughed
and sown with wheat; as also are other similar corn
lands,-after the harvest. Several parts of the downs,
usually the most level and valuable, are pastured with
common herds of cattle, which are brought upon them
early in May/and remain until the end of harvest, when
they are taken to the stubble-fields, and the down then
becomes common to the sheep. These lands derive
almost their only manure from having the sheep folded
upon them, which practice also bestows upon the arabel
lands in every other part of the county the chief part of
that which they receive: the other manures most frequently
employed, besides the ordinary ones/ are chalk.,
lime burned from chalk, soot, coal-ashes, peat-ashes,
woollen rags, and soap-ashes. The dairy cows of the1
northern parts of the county are nearly all of the longhorned
breed, and are chiefly obtained from' the more
northern counties of England  some Devonshire cattle
have also been introduced; great numbers of calves are
annually sent for the supply of the Bath and London
markets with veal. The principal breeds of sheep are
the native Wiltshire and the South-Down; the former,
however,on the downs, has been much intermixed with
a larger breed, and is now, in its pure state,-only occasionally
seen in the northern districts. It is computed
that not less than one hundred and fifty thousand
lambs are- annually reared on the downs; great
numbers of sheep are also bred in the North-western
district, and some of them fattened there. The
native hog is large, white, and long-eared; but the prevailing
kind is a mixed breed between this and a small
black species: the county is famous for its .'excellent
bacon, which is prepared in very large quantities in the
dairy districts. Much land on the rich sands adjoining
the chalk, in the vicinities of Devizes, Lavington,
Warminster, Westbury, &c., is devoted to horticulture,
and supplies the neighbouring towns in this county,
and Frome and Bath in Somersetshire, with great quantities
of vegetables j near Wootton-Bassett some' small
tracts are similarly occupied, and supply the markets
of that town, Cricklade, Cirencester, &c. Orchards are
common in most parts of the county, and a little cider
is, in some places, made for home consumption.;
Wiltshire was anciently well-wooded, but its present
woodlands are of comparatively small extent.
Different parts near its border are occupied by valuable
woods, generally in a thriving condition, though
much injured by cattle., to which they are common.
The only forest still remaining in a well-wooded
state is Savernake forest, the property of the Earl of
Ailesbury, which is about sixteen miles in circumference,
and is situated to the south-east of Marlborough
it contains many majestic oaks, and exhibits
some fine and interesting scenery; it is also well
stocked with deer. Cranborrie Chase occupied a long
narrow tract on the extreme southern verge' of the
county, and contained six lodges, with walks appropriated
to each, the whole under the care of a  ranger
deputed by Lord Rivers, as lord of the chase; but
it has lately been disfranchised, his lordship. receiving
an annual payment from the owners of the woods in it,
and the lands adjoining. Verhditch Chase, belonging
to the Earl of Pembroke, adjoins the latter on the east,
and is now nearly all under cultivation. Grovely Forest,
now generally called Grovely woods, also belongs
to Lord Pembroke; it occupies a long narrowtract
of the high ground between the vallies of the Nadder
and the Wily. The ancient forest of Penchett,
or Ponsett> near Salisbury, is now better known as
Clarendon park and woods, the property of Sir F. H.
Bathurst. Small patches of woodland frequently occur
in the vallies, and are more particularly abundant
in the North-western district. The cold soils on the
western side of "the county are peculiarly favourable
to the growth of oak; the sands of the southern parts
of it to that of ash, and the gravelly vallies and deep
loams of various parts to that of elm; so that; although
many districts are entirely bare of timber, sufficient
for the consumption of the county is produced
within it. . The wastes are comparatively trifling, and
consist chiefly of small marshy commons, most of them
in the North-western part of the county, where there
are also a few small heaths. Fuel, is dear and scarce,
being partly coal and partly wood; the former is obtained,
by means of the canals, chiefly from the Mendip
collieries in Somersetshire.
The mineral productions are of little importance.
The chalk, forming the substratum of nearly all the
extensive South-eastern district is, in some places, extremely
hard, though more frequently of a spft marly
texture; the finest Idnd is found at Sidbury hill, which
furnishes a supply to several' of the western qounties.
Sandstone is obtained in the low grounds both of North
and South Wiltshire; the " corn-grate ". is frequently
found in masses so thin as-to be employed in the roofing
of houses; it is also used for building and paving;
a more regular stratified, sandstone is found under the
sandy surface at Swindon, and is in much request for
paving, for. cisterns, and for tombstones. The inferior
kind of limestone, found' in the country between Highworth
and Clack, is used only for the making and repairing
of roads.; On the western side of the county,
bordering on Somersetshire, are numerous and extensive
quarries of a fine kind of freestone; those at Box,
near Bath,'are among the most celebrated in the vicinity
of that city, and produce a great variety of fossil shells
and other, marine exuviae. Near Wootton-Bassett, in the
blue clay, andnear Grittleton, in the freestone strata,
other singular fossil remains are found. The freestone
quarries at. Chilmark, Tisbury, and that neighbourhood;
are extensive, and the stone of a very superior quality.
The manufactures are of considerable extent and
importance, particularly that of woollen goods. At Salisbury
great quantities of flannel were made till within
the last twenty' years, and also fancy woollens; but
the manufacture has gradually declined, and a very
small quantity of flannel and linsey is now made:
this city has also a manufacture. of cutlery and steel
goods of great excellence.  Wilton has a manufacture
of carpets and of kerseymere and linsey. Bradford,
Trowbridge, Westbury, and all the adjacent towns
and villages, from Chippenham to Heytesbury inclusive,
carry on extensive woollen manufactures, chiefly of
superfine broad cloth, kerseymere, and fancy cloths.
At Mere and in its vicinity is a manufacture of. linen,
chiefly dowlas and bed-ticking; and at Aldbourn
is one of cotton goods, chiefly fustians and thicksets.
The parishes of Stourton and Maiden-Bradley, and
others in their vicinity, participate to a small extent in
the neighbouring linen-manufacture of Dorsetshire, and
the silk-manufacture of Bruton in Somersetshire. . Ale
of a superior quality is brewed in some parts of the
county and a considerable quantity of it is sold in
London, under the names of 'Wiltshire" and "Kennet"
ale. .The commerce consists chiefly in the exportation
of the agricultural and manufacturing produce; of the
former there is a considerable surplus, principally wheat,
barley, fat cattle, calves, sheep, hogs, and cheese, part
of which is taken to the London markets, and the rest
to Bath, Bristol, and the eastern parts of Somersetshire.
Great numbers of store sheep bred here are
annually sold off to be fattened elsewhere, chiefly in
the more eastern counties. Wiltshire, besides supplying
its own woollen manufactures with the raw material,
also sends a considerable quantity to other counties.
The principal imports are the ordinary articles of merchandise,
coal, and cows for the supply of the dairy districts.
The rivers and streams are very numerous, and all of
them rise either within the county, or near its borders;
the principal are the Isis, or Thames, the Lower
Avon, the Kennet, and the Salisbury, or Wiltshire and
Hampshire Avon, not one of which is navigable within
its limits. The Isis, rising among the Cotswold hills
in Gloucestershire, enters the county on its northern
confines, near Ewen, and winds, first south-eastward,
and then eastward, to Gricklade, which town it reaches
after having formed the northern boundary of the
county for a short distance; below Cricklade it winds
east by north, and soon again becomes the boundary,
which it continues to be until it  finally quits Wiltshire
at its north-eastern extremity: it is joined from
the northern part of the county by the streams of
the Swill-brook, the Key, the Ray, and the Churn. The
Lower Avon, rising on the confines of Wiltshire and
Gloucestershire, proceeds eastward to Malmesbury, and
thence southward, by Great Somerford and Dauntsey,
to Chippenham: from the latter place it takes a winding
course, by Melksham and Bradford, to the border
of Somersetshire, a little to the west of the latter town,
where it makes a bold sweep to the north, and enters
that county a little below Winsley. The Kennet
is formed by the streams which issue from Marlborough
Downs; it is considered to have its principal
source close to the village of Uffcott, Whence it flows,
first south-westward, and then southward, to West Kennet,
thence taking an easterly course by the town of
Maryborough and the villages of Ramsbury and Chiltbn,
and across the eastern confines of the county to
Hungerford in Berkshire; this river is noted for its
trout, and for a peculiar species of eels. The Wiltshire
and Hampshire Avon is formed by the junction of several
small streams in the Vale of Pewsey, whence it
flows southward by Amesbury, Old Sarum, Salisbury,
and Downton, and enters Hampshire about a mile
below the last-mentioned town; its principal tributaries
are, the Wily, which rises at the foot of the Clay
hills, and flows east-south-easterly, by Warminster,
Heytesbury, and Wilton, below which it unites
with the Nadder, and runs to Salisbury, where it
discharges its waters into the Avon by two channels.
The Nadder, which rises at the southern extremity of
the county, near Shaftesbury in Dorsetshire, and flows
eastward, by Wardour Castle and the village of Hatch,
to the Wily, near Wilton; and the Bourne, which rises
near the village of Easton, about five miles to the
south-west of Great Bedwin, and then takes a southerly
course through a small portion of Hampshire, but
re-entering this county near Cholderton, it proceeds
soxith-south-eastward, by Newton-Toney and the three
Winterbournes, to the Avon, a little to the southeast
of the city of Salisbury: the bed of this river is
remarkable for being entirely dry during the whole of the summer.
Wiltshire is traversed by four lines of artificial inland
navigation. The Kennet and Avon canal, which
crosses the centre of it from west to east, and connects
the navigation of the Lower Avon with that of
the Kennet and the Thames, enters from Bath, near
Winsley, where it crosses the Avon, and passes to
Bradford, where it again crosses that river, and then
proceeds by Trowbridge and Poulshot to Devizes, a
little to the north-west of which latter town it makes
a considerable ascent, by means of lockage; it then
passes through the parishes of Bishops-Cannings, All-'
Cannings, Stanton St. Bernard, Alton - Barnes, Wilcot;
and Wootton - Rivers; and near Burbage is carried
through a tunnel to the valley in which Great Bed-;
win is situated, and down which it proceeds to the
banks of the Kennet, near Hungerford, with which river
it quits the county. The first act of parliament for
its formation was obtained in 1794, and several other
acts,'for the alteration of the course originally designed
for it, and for the raising of additional funds, were
afterwards passed: the whole line, however, was not
completed and opened until the end of the year 1809.
The Wilts and Berks canal, branching from the Kennet
and Avon at Semington, about two miles to the west
of Devizes, passes northward, by Melksham, to the vicinities
of Chippenham and Calne, to each of which
towns it has a short branch: it thence proceeds northeastward
to Wootton-Bassett, from that town eastward
to Swindon, and then, again north-eastward, to
within three miles of Highworth, where it enters Berkshire,
in its further course to the navigable channel of
the Thames, a short distance below Abingdon: the
first act for its formation was obtained in 1795, but
the work experienced many delays. The Salisbury and
Southampton canal was designed to have commenced
at Salisbury, and to have proceeded, first south-eastward
and then eastward, into Hampshire; but after a
considerable portion of the work had been completed,
it was at last abandoned, on encountering an extensive
quicksand. The Thames and Severn canal crosses only
the northern extremity of the county, passing the northern
bank of the Isis, and near the town of Cricklade.
Few counties in the kingdom have such numerous
and excellent turnpike-roads as Wiltshire, the great
western road from London to Exeter and the Land's
End enters it in two branches, one from Andover, and
the other from Stockbridge, and passes through Salisbury
to Blandford in Dorsetshire: the road from London
to Exeter, by Shaftesbury, branches from this near
Salisbury. The road from London to Bath, by Chippenham,
enters from Hungerford in Berkshire, and
passes through Marlbofough, Calne, and Chippenham>
to Bath; that to Bath, by Devizes, branches from the
last-mentioned at Beckhampton, through Devizes and
Melksham, to Bath-Ford in Somersetshire; that to
Bath, by Sandy Lane, branches off at a short distance
from Beckhampton, by Laycock, Corsham, and Box, to
Bath-Easton in Somersetshire; the road from London
to Bath, by Andover, enters from that town in Hamp-:
shire, and passes through Ludgershall to Devizes, where
it joins the road to Bath passing through that town.
The road from London to Bristol branches from the
first-mentioned Bath road at Chippenham, and passes
by Wraxhall into Gloucestershire; that to Wells, at
Beckhampton, through Devizes and Trowbridge. The
road from London to Barnstaple, entering from Andover
in Hampshire, passes through Amesbury, Wily, and
Chicklade, to Bruton in Somersetshire: the road from
London to Frome branches from this a little beyond
Amesbury, through Heytesbury and Warminster, to
that town in Somersetshire; and a branch from this
again, at Warminster, passes through Maiden-Bradley
to Bruton. The road from London to Bruton,
by Salisbury, branches from the great western road
at that city, through Wilton and Hjndon. This county
contained the Roman stations of SorUodunum, at
OldSarum; Verludo, in the vicinity of Heddingtonj
and Cunetio, a little to the east of Marlborough: this
people had also several other permanent' settlements
in Wiltshire, particularly at Eastpn-Grey, Wanborough,
near Heytesbury, and Littlecot. The principal of
the Roman roads which traversed it was a; continuation
of the Julia, Strata, which, entering from Bath,
proceeded north-eastward, by Medley and Spye Park,
to the station of Verludo, and thence by Colston and
across the river Kennet to that of Cunetio, beyond which
it stretched across the eastern confines, of the county.
The Fosse-way branched from the. Julia Strata at .Bath-
Ford, and passed by Banner Down, Easton-Grey, and
across the turnpike-road between Tetbury and Malmesbury,
to Cirencester in Gloucestershire; another great
road entered from Cirencester, and passed south-eastward
by Cricklade to Wanborough, at which latter place
it separated into two branches, one proceeding by Baydon
towards Speen in Berkshire, and the other, by
Ogbourne, Mildenhall, Manton, and Chute Park, towards
Winchester. Sorbiodunum was connected with other stations
by three roads, one of which passed by Bemerton,
Stratford St. Anthony, and Woodyates - Inn, towards
Dorchester; another, by Ford, Winterslow, Buckhold
Farm, and Bossington, towards Winchester; and the
third, by Porton and Idmiston, towards Silchester, in the
north of Hampshire. The Ridge-way, extending northeastward
from Avebury into the adjoining county of
Berks, is also mentioned by Whitaker as a Roman road.
Wiltshire is distinguished for remarkably numerous
traces (chiefly in its south-eastern districts) of the nations
which successively occupied it during the earlier
periods of our history. Of these, the stupendous monument
of Stonehenge, two miles westward of Amesbury,
and that of Avebury, about five, miles to the west of
Marlborough, are entitled to primary notice. The vast
earthwork of the Wansdyke is conjectured by some
to. have been the northern boundary of the Belgee, and
supposed to have intersected the. whole county, from
the north of Somersetshire to the north of Hampshire;
though in the greater part of its course it can be distinctly
traced only in detached spots, yet throughout the
range of hills to the south and west of Marlborough,
it is still tolerably entire, and in one place is conspicuous,
in a bold and connected line, for the distance
of ten or twelve miles, The sepulchral mounds,
called barrows, or tumuli, are abundant, more particularly
around Stonehenge and Avebury; the most
remarkable is Silbury hill, near Avebury. There is
a cromlech at Clatford Bottom, near the village of
Clatford, and another at Littleton-Drew. The Roman
joads may yet be distinctly traced in several places;
and the Ridge-way is clearly visible on the high cnalie
ridge extending north-eastward from Avebury into
Berkshire.
The encampments, which are so numerous, vary in
the period of their formation, in their size, shape
and mode of construction, and in the peculiarities of
their situations. Some of these are undoubtedly the
work' of British tribes and of the Belgm; other's
of successive invaders, the Romans, the Saxons, and
the.Danes. The largest and most noted are, the vast
fortifications of Old Sarum, enclosing ah area of nearly
thirty acres, the foundations of the walls of which are
still visible; Chidbury Camp, to the north-west of Tid-
worth, comprising an area of seventeen acres; and Vespasian's
Camp, as it is commonly called, to the westward
of Amesbury, enclosing an area of thirty-nine acres.
There are many others nearly equal in extent, and
scarcely less interesting to the antiquary: the principal
are situated atWhitesheet hill, to the north-west of
Mere; Clay hill, near Warminster; Warminster down;
Whiten hill, near Longbridge-Deverill; Cottley hill, to
the north-west of Heytesbury; Knighton down; Pewsey
heath; Oldbury hill, near Calne-; Roundway hill,
near Devizes; Martinsall hill, near Marlborough; Chidbury
hill; Blunsden hill, near Highworth; Beacon hill,
near Amesbury; Southley wood, to the south of Warminster;
Barberry Castle, near Marlborough; Liddington
Castle; Hays, on the western border of the county,
near the Lower Avon; Bratton, two miles from Ed-
dirigton; Battlesbury, near Warminster; Scratchbury,
near Cottley; Yarnborough, at an angle formed by the
old trackway from Salisbury to Bath and the present
turnpike-road from Amesbury to Mere; Badbury, near
Wilyj Groveley Castle, Rolston j Casterley, near Shrewton
the vicinity of Berwick St. John; Haydon hill>
near Chute; Ogbury, near Great Durnford; Newton-
Toney; Alderbury; Whitchbury 5 Clearbury, near
Downton; Broad-Chalk; Chiselbury, nearFovant; Old
Camp, on Boreham Down, near Warminster; Dinton,
and Little Path hill. These intrenchments were
evidently formed for purposes of military defence,
but there is a variety of other earthworks spread
over; Salisbury Plain and Marlborough Downs, the
uses of which are unknown; some of them are considered
the sites of British villages, others as denoting
places consecrated to religion. Many less vestiges of
antiquity, such as tesselated pavements, coins, urns, &c,
of the Romans, and fragments of sculpture, daggers,
shields, gold and silver ornaments, and a great variety
of other articles of British, Saxon, Danish, or Nor-
man manufacture, have been discovered at different periods.
The number of religious houses, including colleges
and hospitals, was about fifty-seven. There are remains
of the abbeys of Kingswood, Laycock, and Malmesbury;
of the priory of Bradenstoke; and of the nunnery of
Kington St. Michael. The most remarkable' specimens
of ecclesiastical architecture are the magnificent cathedral
of Salisbury, and the churches of Amesbury, Anstey,
Avebury, Bishops-Cannings, Boyton, Calne, Chippenham,
St. John at Devizes, Great Bedwin, Kington St.
Michael, Malmesbury, Mere,0aksey, and Steeple-Ashton.
There are ancient and curious fonts in several of the
churches, more particularly those of Great Durnford and
Preshute. There-yet exist extensive remains of the
ancient castles of Castle-Combe, Devizes, Farley, Ludgershall,
Malmesbury, Marlborough, and Wardour.
Amongst the principal of the numerous seats of the
nobility and gentry, the most splendid are Bowood, the
residence of the Marquis of Lansdowne, lord lieutenant
of the county; Charlton House, that of the Earl of Suffolk
Stowerhead, that of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bartj
Longleat, that of the Marquis of.Bath; Tottenham
Park, that of the Earl of Ailesbury; Wardour Castle,
that of Lord Arundelj Wilton House, that of the Earl
of Pembroke; Longford .Castle, that of the Earl of
Radnor; and Corsham House, that of Paul Methuen,
Esq. There is a chalybeate spring at Chippenham, also
a chalybeate and a saline aperient spring near Melksham,
and mineral springs of different other qualities
at Heywood, Holt, and Middle Hill Spa, near Box.
Wiltshire gives the inferior title of earl to the Marquis
of Winchester.