90-673: The River Sem is a natural waterway that flows through the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in England. It flows approximately 4 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (7 km) from its source near East Knoyle to join the River Nadder near Wardour . The source is Summerleaze Pond near East Knoyle, just east of the A350 . The river flows southeast to Pondhead Copse, below which it flows through two large ponds: Brach Pond and Eeelstage Pond. It then turns east and flows under Savage Bridge and Share Lane before reaching
180-605: A Ramsar Site ; it also has its own Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). The New Forest itself gives its name to the New Forest district of Hampshire , and the National Park area, of which it forms the core. The Forest itself is dominated by four larger 'defined' villages, Sway , Brockenhurst , Lyndhurst and Ashurst , with several smaller villages such as Burley , Beaulieu , Godshill , Fritham , Nomansland , and Minstead also lying within or immediately adjacent. Outside of
270-470: A safari park , and the National Trust 's Stourhead . The county, in the 9th century written as Wiltunscir , is named after the former county town of Wilton . Wiltshire is notable for its pre- Roman archaeology . The Mesolithic , Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps
360-408: A Commoner qualifying for both schemes would receive over £8,000 a year, and more if they also put out pigs: net of marking fees, feed and veterinary costs this part-time level of involvement across a family is calculated to give an annual income in the thousands of pounds in most years. Whether those subsidies will survive Brexit is unclear. The BPS payment was based on the number of animals marked for
450-406: A benefiting house with paddock or farm. The Verderers and Commoners' Defence Association has fought back against these allied economic threats. The EU Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) helped some Commoners significantly. Commoners marking animals for grazing can claim about £200 per cow per year, and about £160 for a pony, and more if participating in the stewardship scheme. With 10 cattle and 40 ponies,
540-652: A centre at Corsham Court in Corsham , and Oxford Brookes University maintains a minor campus in Swindon (almost 50 km from Oxford). Swindon is the UK's second largest centre of population (after Milton Keynes ) without its own university. Service Children's Education has its headquarters in Trenchard Lines in Upavon , Wiltshire. The county registered a population of 680,137 in
630-461: A fixed number of animals, as is often the case on other commons. Instead a "marking fee" is paid for each animal each year by the owner. The marked animal's tail is trimmed by the local agister (verderers' official), with each of the four or five forest agisters using a different trimming pattern. Ponies are branded with the owner's brand mark; cattle may be branded, or nowadays may have the brand mark on an ear tag. Grazing of Commoners' ponies and cattle
720-423: A flourishing district to a wasteland; this account is thought dubious by most historians, as the poor soil in much of the area is believed to have been incapable of supporting large-scale agriculture, and significant areas appear to have always been uninhabited. Two of William's sons died in the forest: Prince Richard sometime between 1069 and 1075, and King William II (William Rufus) in 1100. Though many claim
810-411: A golden great bustard , which had been extinct in England since 1832 but is now the subject of a breeding programme on Salisbury Plain . It is surrounded by a green and white circle, representing the stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury and also the six surrounding counties. The field consists of alternating green and white stripes, which reference the banner of arms of the council but also represent
900-727: A league record points tally of 103. After Salisbury City went into liquidation in 2014, a new club, Salisbury , was formed in 2015 and will play in the National League South for the 24/25 season. Wiltshire County Cricket Club play in the Minor Counties league. Swindon Robins Speedway team, who competed in the top national division, the SGB Premiership , had been at their track at the Blunsdon Abbey Stadium near Swindon since 1949. In 2020 they stopped racing due to
990-505: A number of Nature Conservation Review sites. It is a Special Area of Conservation , a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area . Copythorne Common is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust , Kingston Great Common is a national nature reserve and New Forest Northern Commons is managed by the National Trust . Like much of England, the site of the New Forest
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#17328553499771080-544: A problem. During the Second World War, an area of the forest, Ashley Range , was used as a bombing range. The Beaulieu, Hampshire estate of Lord Montagu in the New Forest was the site of group B finishing schools for agents operated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) between 1941 and 1945. (One of the trainers was Kim Philby who was later found to be part of a spy ring passing information to
1170-497: A profusion of rare wildlife, including the New Forest cicada Cicadetta montana , the only cicada native to Great Britain, although the last unconfirmed sighting was in 2000. The wet heaths are important for rare plants, such as marsh gentian ( Gentiana pneumonanthe ) and marsh clubmoss ( Lycopodiella inundata ) and other important species include the wild gladiolus ( Gladiolus illyricus ). Several species of sundew are found, as well as many unusual insect species, including
1260-433: A proportion is caused orographically (uplift over hills). Autumn and winter are rainiest, caused by Atlantic depressions, which are then most active. Even so, any month can be the wettest or driest in a given year but the wettest is much more likely to be Oct-Mar, and the driest Apr-Sept. In summer, a greater proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. It
1350-521: A result of elections held in 2021, Wiltshire Council comprises 61 Conservatives , 27 Liberal Democrats , seven Independents and three Labour members. Swindon Borough Council has 34 Conservative councillors and 23 Labour members. Until the 2009 structural changes to local government , Wiltshire (apart from Swindon) was a two-level county, divided into four local government districts – Kennet , North Wiltshire , Salisbury and West Wiltshire – which existed alongside Wiltshire County Council , covering
1440-456: A single compact area. The New Forest was first recorded as Nova Foresta in Domesday Book in 1086, where a section devoted to it is interpolated between lands of the king's thegns and the town of Southampton ; it is the only forest that the book describes in detail. Twelfth-century chroniclers alleged that William had created the forest by evicting the inhabitants of 36 parishes, reducing
1530-437: A village pond. When confronted by the excise men they raked the surface to conceal the submerged contraband with ripples, and claimed that they were trying to rake in a large round cheese visible in the pond, really a reflection of the full moon. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities. Many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but
1620-554: Is also home to a University Technical College , UTC Swindon , specialising in engineering. A second UTC, South Wiltshire UTC , was based in Salisbury but closed in August 2020. Wiltshire is one of the few remaining English counties without a university or university college; the closest university to the county town of Trowbridge is the University of Bath . However, Bath Spa University has
1710-425: Is an essential part of the management of the forest, helping to maintain the heathland, bog, grassland and wood-pasture habitats and their associated wildlife. Recently this ancient practice has come under pressure as houses that benefit from forest rights pass to owners with no interest in commoning. Existing families with a new generation heavily rely on inheritance of, rather than the (mostly expensive) purchase of,
1800-643: Is bounded by the Dorset Heaths and Dorset Downs to the west, the West Wiltshire Downs to the north and the South Hampshire Lowlands and South Coast Plain to the east. The New Forest is drained to the south by three rivers, Lymington River , Beaulieu River and Avon Water , and to the west by the Latchmore Brook , Dockens Water, Linford Brook and other streams. The highest point in
1890-403: Is distinctive in having a significantly higher number of people in various forms of manufacturing (especially electrical equipment and apparatus, food products, and beverages, furniture, rubber, pharmaceuticals , and plastic goods) than the national average. In addition, there is higher-than-average employment in public administration and defence , due to the military establishments around
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#17328553499771980-493: Is frequent. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects south-west England; however, convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998, there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton (Somerset). Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection , though
2070-546: Is named The Snakecatcher in his memory. All British snakes are now legally protected , and so the New Forest snakes are no longer caught. A programme to reintroduce the sand lizard ( Lacerta agilis ) started in 1989 and the great crested newt ( Triturus cristatus ) already breeds in many locations. Sand lizards in a captive breeding and reintroduction programme together with adders, grass snakes, smooth snakes , frogs and toads can be seen at The New Forest Reptile Centre about two miles east of Lyndhurst . The centre
2160-532: Is often the northern half of the county that sees most of the showers with south-westerly winds in summer, whereas in the south of the county, the proximity of a relatively cold English Channel often inhibits showers. In autumn and winter, however, the sea is often relatively warm, compared with the air passing over it and can often lead to a higher rainfall in the south of the county (e.g. Salisbury recorded over 200mm of rain in Nov 2009 and January 2014). Average rainfall for
2250-556: Is one of the indigenous horse breeds of the British Isles, and is one of the New Forest's most famous attractions – most of the Forest ponies are of this breed, but there are also some Shetlands and their crossbreeds . Cattle are of various breeds, most commonly Galloways and their crossbreeds, but also various other hardy types such as Highlands , Herefords , Dexters , Kerries and British whites . The pigs used for pannage , during
2340-618: Is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England , covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire . It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror , featuring in the Domesday Book . It is the home of the New Forest Commoners , whose ancient rights of common pasture are still recognised and exercised, enforced by official verderers and agisters . In
2430-721: Is represented in the Football League by Swindon Town , who play at the County Ground stadium near Swindon town centre. They joined the Football League on the creation of the Third Division in 1920, and have remained in the league ever since. Their most notable achievements include winning the Football League Cup in 1969 and the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1970, two successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 (taking them from
2520-412: Is still an important part of the Forest's ecology. Pigs can eat acorns without problem, but for ponies and cattle, large quantities of acorns can be poisonous. Pannage always lasts at least 60 days, but the start date varies according to the weather – and when the acorns fall. The verderers decide when pannage will start each year. At other times the pigs must be taken in and kept on the owner's land, with
2610-408: The 2011 Census . Wiltshire (outside Swindon) has a low population density of 1.4 persons per hectare, when compared against 4.1 for England as a whole. Historical population of Wiltshire county: At the 2016 European Union membership referendum , Wiltshire voted in favour of Brexit . Wiltshire is represented by eight Parliamentary constituencies . Seven are entirely within the county, while
2700-700: The Countryside Agency in 1999. An order to create the park was made by the Agency on 24 January 2002 and submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation in February 2002. Following objections from seven local authorities and others, a public inquiry was held from 8 October 2002 to 10 April 2003, and concluded by endorsing the proposal with some detailed changes to the boundary of the area to be designated. On 28 June 2004, Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael confirmed
2790-704: The Dorset Downs in the west to Dover in the east. The largest area of chalk in Wiltshire is Salisbury Plain , which is used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point in the county is the Tan Hill – Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale , just to the north of Salisbury Plain, at 295 m (968 ft) above sea level. The chalk uplands run north-east into West Berkshire in
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2880-581: The Florentine and Flemish markets in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 17th century, English Civil War Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian . The Battle of Roundway Down , a Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes . In 1794, it was decided at a meeting at the Bear Inn in Devizes to raise a body of ten independent troops of Yeomanry for the county of Wiltshire, which formed the basis for what would become
2970-838: The Fourth Division to the Second ), promotion to the Premier League as Division One play-off winners in 1993 (as inaugural members), the Division Two title in 1996, and their promotion to League One in 2007 after finishing third in League Two . Chippenham Town is the area's highest-ranked non-league football club; they currently play in the National League South after winning the Southern Premier League in 2016/17, with
3060-663: The Gazette and Herald and Wiltshire Times . Places of interest in Wiltshire include: Areas of countryside in Wiltshire include: Roads running through Wiltshire include The Ridgeway , an ancient route, and Roman roads the Fosse Way , London to Bath road and Ermin Way . National Cycle Route 4 and the Thames Path , a modern long distance footpath , run through the county. Routes through Wiltshire include: New Forest The New Forest
3150-598: The Marlborough Downs ridge, and south-west into Dorset as Cranborne Chase . Cranborne Chase, which straddles the border, has, like Salisbury Plain, yielded much Stone Age and Bronze Age archaeology . The Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), a 1,730 km (670-square-mile) conservation area. In the north-west of the county, on the border with South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset ,
3240-712: The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry , who served with distinction both at home and abroad, during the Boer War , World War I and World War II. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry lives on as Y (RWY) Squadron, based in Swindon, and B (RWY) Squadron, based in Salisbury, of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry . Around 1800, the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until
3330-709: The South Cotswolds constituency extends into southern parts of Gloucestershire. At the 2024 general election , the Conservatives won three seats ( East Wiltshire , Salisbury , and South West Wiltshire ); Labour two ( Swindon North and Swindon South ); and the Liberal Democrats three ( Chippenham , Melksham and Devizes , and South Cotswolds). The ceremonial county of Wiltshire consists of two unitary authority areas, Wiltshire and Swindon, governed respectively by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council . As
3420-500: The " M4 corridor effect", which attracts business, and the attractiveness of its countryside, towns and villages. The northern part of the county is richer than the southern part, particularly since Swindon is home to national and international corporations such as Intel , Motorola , Patheon , Catalent (formerly known as Cardinal Health ), Becton-Dickinson , WHSmith , Early Learning Centre and Nationwide , with Dyson located in nearby Malmesbury . Wiltshire's employment structure
3510-559: The 18th century, the New Forest became a source of timber for the Royal Navy . It remains a habitat for many rare birds and mammals . The boundaries of the forest have varied over time and depend on the purpose of delimiting them. It is a 28,924.5-hectare (71,474-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest . Several areas are Geological Conservation Review sites, including Mark Ash Wood, Shepherd’s Gutter, Cranes Moor, Studley Wood, and Wood Green. There are also
3600-540: The Covid-19 Pandemic and subsequently announced in 2022 that they would not be returning. Swindon Wildcats compete in the English Premier Ice Hockey League , the second tier of British ice hockey, and play their home games at Swindon's Link Centre . A flag to represent Wiltshire, the "Bustard Flag", was approved by a full meeting of Wiltshire Council on 1 December 2009. It depicts in the centre
3690-663: The Forest they still also breed in many of the bogs and heaths respectively. Woodland birds include wood warbler ( Phylloscopus sibilatrix ), stock dove ( Columba oenas ), European honey buzzard ( Pernis apivorus ) and northern goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis ). Common buzzard ( Buteo buteo ) is very common and common raven ( Corvus corax ) is spreading. Birds seen more rarely include red kite ( Milvus milvus ), wintering great grey shrike ( Lanius exubitor ) and hen harrier ( Circus cyaneus ) and migrating ring ouzel ( Turdus torquatus ) and northern wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ). All three British native species of snake inhabit
River Sem - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-402: The Forest to graze ( common pasture ), to gather fuel wood ( estovers ), to cut peat for fuel ( turbary ), to dig clay ( marl ), and to turn out pigs between September and November to eat fallen acorns and beechnuts ( pannage or mast ). There were also licences granted to gather bracken after Michaelmas Day (29 September) as litter for animals ( fern ). Along with grazing, pannage
3870-628: The Forest, whether or not these are actually turned out. The livestock actually grazing the Forest are therefore considerably fewer than those marked. The New Forest National Park area covers 566 km (219 sq mi), and the New Forest SSSI covers almost 300 km (120 sq mi), making it the largest contiguous area of unsown vegetation in lowland Britain. It includes roughly: The New Forest has also been classed as National Character Area No. 131 by Natural England . The NCA covers an area of 738 km (285 sq mi) and
3960-573: The Forest. The adder ( Vipera berus ) is the most common, being found on open heath and grassland. The grass snake ( Natrix natrix ) prefers the damper environment of the valley mires. The rare smooth snake ( Coronella austriaca ) occurs on sandy hillsides with heather and gorse . It was mainly adders which were caught by Brusher Mills (1840–1905), the "New Forest Snake Catcher". He caught many thousands in his lifetime, sending some to London Zoo as food for their animals. A pub in Brockenhurst
4050-516: The Jutes". The Jutes were one of the early Anglo-Saxon tribal groups who colonised this area of southern Hampshire. Following the Norman Conquest , the New Forest was proclaimed a royal forest , in about 1079, by William the Conqueror . It was used for royal hunts, mainly of deer . It was created at the expense of more than 20 small hamlets and isolated farmsteads ; hence it was then 'new' as
4140-539: The King in chase Pursues the hart, just vengeance comes apace, And King pursues. Tirrell him seing not, Unwares him flew with dint of arrow shot. The common rights were confirmed by statute in 1698. The New Forest became a source of timber for the Royal Navy , and plantations were created in the 18th century for this purpose. During the Great Storm of 1703 , about 4,000 oak trees were lost. The naval plantations encroached on
4230-645: The Nadder, northwest of Wardour. The river is fed by several small waterways. On its south bank, a stream with a source near Whitebridge Farm southeast of Sedgehill , again close to the A350, flows east to join the Sem near Billhay Farm, above Pondhead Copse. Also on the south bank, it is fed by a stream that has its source in Bennet's Copse near Hart Hill Stud Farm; this stream flows northeast through Sem Hill and Billhay Pond before joining
4320-735: The National Park Area in New Forest District, several clusters of larger towns frame the area – Totton and the Waterside settlements ( Marchwood , Dibden , Hythe , Fawley ) to the East, Christchurch , New Milton , Milford on Sea , and Lymington to the South, and Fordingbridge and Ringwood to the West. Consultations on the possible designation of a National Park in the New Forest were commenced by
4410-459: The New Forest Acts also retain their responsibilities, and the park authority is expected to co-operate with these bodies, the local authorities, English Nature and other interested parties. The designated area of the National Park covers 566 km (219 sq mi) and includes many existing SSSIs . It has a population of about 38,000 (it excludes most of the 170,256 people who live in
4500-604: The New Forest is Pipers Wait, near Nomansland . Its summit is 129 metres (423 feet) above sea level . The geology of the New Forest consists mainly of sedimentary rock, in the centre of a sedimentary basin known as the Hampshire Basin. The ecological value of the New Forest is enhanced by the relatively large areas of lowland habitats, lost elsewhere, which have survived. There are several kinds of important lowland habitat including valley bogs , alder carr , wet heaths , dry heaths and deciduous woodland . The area contains
4590-455: The New Forest is a national park . Salisbury Plain is noted for the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles , which together are a UNESCO World Heritage Site , and other ancient landmarks. Much of the plain is a training area for the British Army . The city of Salisbury is notable for its medieval cathedral . Large country houses open to the public include Longleat , where there is also
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#17328553499774680-629: The New Forest is still owned by the Crown. The Crown lands have been managed by Forestry England since 1923 and most of the Crown lands now fall inside the new National Park. Felling of broadleaved trees, and their replacement by conifers , began during the First World War to meet the wartime demand for wood. Further encroachments were made during the Second World War. This process is today being reversed in places, with some plantations being returned to heathland or broadleaved woodland. Rhododendron remains
4770-525: The Sem at Pondhead Copse. The underlying geology is that of Kimmeridge Clay overlaying Limestone . Faults between the two layers give rise to the springs that provide the source of the water for the river catchment. The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at
4860-568: The Soviets.) In 2005, a special exhibition was mounted at the estate, with a video showing photographs from that era as well as voice recordings of former SOE trainers and agents. Further New Forest Acts followed in 1949, 1964 and 1970. The New Forest became a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971, and was granted special status as the New Forest Heritage Area in 1985, with additional planning controls added in 1992. The New Forest
4950-874: The UK average in 1998, and was only marginally above the rate for South West England. Wiltshire has 30 county secondary schools, publicly funded, of which the largest is Warminster Kingdown , and eleven private secondaries, including Marlborough College , St Mary's Calne , Dauntsey's near Devizes , and Warminster School . The county schools are nearly all comprehensives , with the older pattern of education surviving only in Salisbury , which has two grammar schools ( South Wilts Grammar School and Bishop Wordsworth's School ) and three non-selective schools. There are four further education colleges, which also provide some higher education: New College (Swindon); Wiltshire College (Chippenham, Trowbridge and Salisbury); Salisbury Sixth Form College ; and Swindon College . Wiltshire
5040-599: The autumn months, are now of various breeds, but the New Forest was the original home of the Wessex Saddleback , now extinct in Britain. Numerous deer live in the Forest; they are usually rather shy and tend to stay out of sight when people are around, but are surprisingly bold at night, even when a car drives past. Fallow deer ( Dama dama ) are the most common, followed by roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) and red deer ( Cervus elaphus ). There are also smaller populations of
5130-405: The carbon dioxide emissions of the New Forest District Council area were recorded as 928,000 tonnes. Forest laws were enacted to preserve the New Forest as a location for royal deer hunting , and interference with the king's deer and its forage was punished. The inhabitants of the area ( commoners ) had pre-existing rights of common : to turn horses and cattle (but only rarely sheep) out into
5220-705: The chalk and grass of the county's downlands. The white can also represent peace, and the green joy, hope or safety. The flag has been registered in the flag registry of the vexillological charity the Flag Institute . Wiltshire has twenty-one towns and one city : A list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire . Local TV coverage is covered by BBC West and ITV West Country ; however, Swindon and Salisbury receive BBC South and ITV Meridian . The county's local radio stations are BBC Radio Wiltshire , Heart West , Greatest Hits Radio South West and Greatest Hits Radio South (covering Salisbury and surrounding areas). County-wide local newspapers are
5310-416: The chalk into Greensand and Oxford Clay in the centre of the county. In the south west of the county is the Vale of Wardour . The south-east of the county lies on the sandy soils of the northernmost area of the New Forest . Chalk is a porous rock, so the chalk hills have little surface water. The main settlements in the county are therefore situated at wet points. Notably, Salisbury is situated between
5400-433: The chalk of Salisbury Plain and marshy flood plains. The county has a green belt mainly along its western fringes as a part of the extensive Avon Green Belt . It reaches as far as the outskirts of Rudloe/ Corsham and Trowbridge, preventing urban sprawl particularly from the latter in the direction of Bradford-on-Avon , and affording further protection to surrounding villages and towns from Bath in Somerset. Along with
5490-506: The county is around 800 mm (31 in), drier parts averaging 700mm (28ins)and the wettest 900mm (around 35ins). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added (GVA) of Wiltshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. The Wiltshire economy benefits from
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#17328553499775580-579: The county, particularly around Amesbury and Corsham . There are sizeable British Army barracks at Tidworth , Bulford and Warminster , and the Royal School of Artillery is at Larkhill. Further north, RAF Lyneham was home to the RAF's Hercules C130 fleet until 2011; the MoD Lyneham site is now a centre for Army technical training. Wiltshire is also distinctive for the high proportion of its working-age population who are economically active (86.6% in 1999–2000) and its low unemployment rates . The gross domestic product (GDP) level in Wiltshire did not reach
5670-416: The county. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown and the church. At the time of the Domesday Survey , the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural; 390 mills are mentioned, and vineyards at Tollard and Lacock. In the succeeding centuries sheep-farming was vigorously pursued, and the Cistercian monastery of Stanley exported wool to
5760-479: The development of the Great Western Railway . Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available at Wiltshire Council's Wiltshire Community History website which has maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures and short histories. The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is " Moonrakers ". This originated from a story of smugglers who managed to foil the local Excise men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French brandy in barrels or kegs, in
5850-406: The downs from Salisbury Plain in the centre of the county. The south-west is also downland, and contains the West Wiltshire Downs , the Vale of Wardour to their south, and part of Cranborne Chase in the far south of the county. The north-west of Wiltshire is part of the Cotswolds , a limestone area. The county's two major rivers are both called the Avon; the northern Avon enters the county in
5940-411: The exception that pregnant sows, known as privileged sows , are always allowed out providing they are not a nuisance and return to the Commoner's holding at night (they must not be " levant and couchant " in the Forest, that is, they may not consecutively feed and sleep there). This last is an established practice rather than a formal right. The principle of levancy and couchancy applies generally to
6030-408: The government's intention to designate the area as a National Park, with further detailed boundary adjustments. The area was formally designated as such on 1 March 2005. A national park authority for the New Forest was established on 1 April 2005 and assumed its full statutory powers on 1 April 2006. Forestry England retain their powers to manage the Crown land within the Park. The Verderers under
6120-464: The introduced sika deer ( Cervus nippon ) and muntjac ( Muntiacus reevesii ). The red squirrel ( Sciurus vulgaris ) survived in the Forest until the 1970s – longer than most places in lowland Britain (though it still occurs on the Isle of Wight and the nearby Brownsea Island ). It is now fully supplanted in the Forest by the introduced North American grey squirrel ( Sciurus carolinensis ). The European polecat ( Mustela putorius ) has recolonised
6210-424: The largest settlements are the city of Salisbury (41,820) and the towns of Chippenham (37,548) and Trowbridge (37,169). For local government purposes the county comprises two unitary authority areas, Swindon and Wiltshire . Undulating chalk downlands characterize much of the county. In the east are Marlborough Downs , which contain Savernake Forest . To the south is the Vale of Pewsey , which separates
6300-404: The latter is due to an inaccurate arrow shot from his hunting companion, local folklore asserted that this was punishment for the crimes committed by William when he created his New Forest; 17th-century writer Richard Blome provides detail: In this County [Hantshire] is New-Forest, formerly called Ytene, being about 30 miles in compass; in which said tract William the Conqueror (for the making of
6390-400: The most famous Neolithic sites in the UK. In the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and the Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of Bedwyn was fought in 675 between Escuin , a West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga , and King Wulfhere of Mercia . In 878 the Danes invaded
6480-426: The north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon , and Trowbridge is the county town . The county has an area of 3,485 km (1,346 square miles) and a population of 720,060. The county is mostly rural, and the centre and south-west are sparsely populated. After Swindon (183,638),
6570-551: The north-west and flows in a south-westerly direction before leaving it near Bradford-on-Avon , and the southern Avon rises on Salisbury Plain and flows through Salisbury, then into Hampshire. The far south-east contains part of the New Forest . Much of the county is protected: the Marlborough Downs; West Wiltshire Downs, Vale of Wardour, and Cranbourne Chase; and the Cotswolds are all part of designated national landscapes , and
6660-528: The only known inhumation site of the Early Iron Age and the only known Hallstatt culture burial place in Britain, though any bodies are likely decomposed beyond detection by the acidic soil. Following Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain, according to Florence of Worcester (d. 1118), the area became the site of the Jutish kingdom of Ytene ; this name was the genitive plural of Yt meaning "Jute", i.e. "of
6750-626: The past, there are control measures now in place to manage this. Specialist heathland birds are widespread, including Dartford warbler ( Curruca undata ), woodlark ( Lullula arborea ), northern lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus ), Eurasian curlew ( Numenius arquata ), European nightjar ( Caprimulgus europaeus ), Eurasian hobby ( Falco subbuteo ), European stonechat ( Saxicola rubecola ), common redstart ( Phoenicurus phoenicurus ) and tree pipit ( Anthus sylvestris ). As in much of Britain common snipe ( Gallinago gallinago ) and meadow pipit ( Anthus trivialis ) are common as wintering birds, but in
6840-542: The quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. Water quality of the River Sem in 2019: Wiltshire Wiltshire ( / ˈ w ɪ l t . ʃ ər , - ʃ ɪr / ; abbreviated to Wilts ) is a ceremonial county in South West England . It borders Gloucestershire to
6930-590: The rest of South West England , Wiltshire has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than counties further east. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Although there is a marked maritime influence, this is generally rather less pronounced than it is for other south-western counties, which are closer to the sea. July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima of approximately 22 °C (71.6 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are usual and air frost
7020-451: The right of pasture. Commoners must have backup land, outside the Forest, to accommodate these depastured animals when necessary, for example during a foot-and-mouth disease epidemic. Commons rights are attached to particular plots of land (or in the case of turbary, to particular hearths ), and different land has different rights – and some of this land is some distance from the Forest itself. Rights to graze ponies and cattle are not for
7110-609: The rights of the Commoners, but the Forest gained new protection under the New Forest Act 1877, which confirmed the historic rights of the Commoners and entrenched that the total of enclosures was henceforth not to exceed 65 km (25 sq mi) at any time. It also reconstituted the Court of Verderers as representatives of the Commoners (rather than the Crown). As of 2005 , roughly 90% of
7200-489: The said Forest a harbour for Wild-beasts for his Game) caused 36 Parish Churches, with all the Houses thereto belonging, to be pulled down, and the poor Inhabitants left succourless of house or home. But this wicked act did not long go unpunished, for his Sons felt the smart thereof; Richard being blasted with a pestilent Air; Rufus shot through with an Arrow; and Henry his Grand-child, by Robert his eldest son, as he pursued his Game,
7290-459: The same area and carrying out more strategic tasks, such as education and county roads. However, on 1 April 2009 these five local authorities were merged into a single unitary authority called Wiltshire Council. With the abolition of the District of Salisbury, a new Salisbury City Council was created at the same time to carry out several citywide functions and to hold the city's charter. The county
7380-627: The southern damselfly ( Coenagrion mercuriale ), large marsh grasshopper ( Stethophyma grossum ) and the mole cricket ( Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa ), all rare in Britain. In 2009, 500 adult southern damselflies were captured and released in the Venn Ottery nature reserve in Devon , which is owned and managed by the Devon Wildlife Trust . The Forest is an important stronghold for a rich variety of fungi , and although these have been heavily gathered in
7470-503: The story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in Devizes . Two-thirds of Wiltshire, a mostly rural county, lies on chalk , a kind of soft, white, porous limestone that is resistant to erosion, giving it a high chalk downland landscape. This chalk is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and stretching from
7560-620: The underlying rock is the resistant oolite limestone of the Cotswolds . Part of the Cotswolds AONB is also in Wiltshire, in the county's north-western corner. Between the areas of chalk and limestone downland are clay valleys and vales . The largest of these vales is the Avon Vale . The Avon cuts diagonally through the north of the county, flowing through Bradford-on-Avon and into Bath and Bristol . The Vale of Pewsey has been cut through
7650-414: The western edge of the Forest in recent years. European otter ( Lutra lutra ) occurs along watercourses, as well as the introduced American mink ( Neogale vison ). In 2021 a population of Pine Martens was confirmed to be present. The New Forest is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), an EU Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Special Protection Area for birds (SPA), and
7740-498: Was established in 1969 by Derek Thomson MBE , a Forestry England keeper, who was also involved in establishing the deer viewing platform at nearby Bolderwood . Commoners' cattle, ponies and donkeys roam throughout the open heath and much of the woodland, and it is largely their grazing that maintains the open character of the Forest. They are also frequently seen in the Forest villages, where home and shop owners must take care to keep them out of gardens and shops. The New Forest pony
7830-536: Was hanged among the boughs, and so dyed. This Forest at present affordeth great variety of Game, where his Majesty oft-times withdraws himself for his divertisement. The reputed spot of Rufus's death is marked with a stone known as the Rufus Stone . John White , Bishop of Winchester , said of the forest: From God and Saint King Rufus did Churches take, From Citizens town-court, and mercate place, From Farmer lands: New Forrest for to make, In Beaulew tract, where whiles
7920-461: Was once deciduous woodland, recolonised by birch and eventually beech and oak after the withdrawal of the ice sheets starting around 12,000 years ago. Some areas were cleared for cultivation from the Bronze Age onwards; the poor quality of the soil in the New Forest meant that the cleared areas turned into heathland "waste", which may have been used even then as grazing land for horses. There
8010-583: Was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 1999, but UNESCO did not take up the nomination. It became a National Park on 1 March 2005, transferring a wide variety of planning and control decisions to the New Forest National Park Authority, who work alongside the local authorities, land owners and crown estates in managing the New Forest. A report in 2023 stated that the region will face hotter, drier summers and wetter winters. In 2019,
8100-510: Was still a significant amount of woodland in this part of Britain, but this was gradually reduced, particularly towards the end of the Middle Iron Age around 250–100 BC, and most importantly the 12th and 13th centuries , and of this essentially all that remains today is the New Forest. There are around 250 round barrows within its boundaries, and scattered boiling mounds , and it also includes about 150 scheduled monuments . One may be
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