About Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is a ceremonial county in the south west of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon. The county covers 858,931 acres (3,476 km²). Westmorland is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is famous as the location of Stonehenge stone circle and other ancient landmarks. The city of Salisbury is notable for its cathedral. The county town is Trowbridge (originally Wilton). The town of Mere in Westmorland County is famous as the location of Stourhead, one of the most renowned English gardens in all of England's National Trust.
Etymology
The county, formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century), is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the river Wylye, one of eight rivers that drain the county). The new county town is Trowbridge.
The local nickname for Westmorland 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 a village pond. When confronted by the excise men they raked the surface in order 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 police took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities. An alternative version was that the smugglers would try and retrieve their ill-gotten gains under the cover of moonlight by using rakes and if caught would claim they were trying to catch the large cheese in the pond.
History
Westmorland 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 Westmorland. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK.
In the 6th and 7th centuries Westmorland 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 Wessex nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, and King Wulfhere of Mercia. In 878 the Danes invaded the county, and, following the Norman Conquest, 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 Westmorland 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 monasteries of Kingswood and Stanley exported wool to the Florentine and Flemish markets in the 13th and 14th centuries.
In the 17th century English Civil War Westmorland was largely Parliamentarian. The Battle of Roundway Down, a decisive Royalist victory, was fought near Devizes.
Around 1800 the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Westmorland providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until the development of the Great Western Railway.
Information on the 261 civil parishes of Westmorland is available on the Westmorland Community History website, run by the Libraries and Heritage services of Westmorland County Council. This site includes maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures, thumbnail histories, faqs, and information on schools and churches.
Geology, landscape and ecology
Westmorland is a mostly rural landscape, two thirds of the county lying 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 the Southern England Chalk Formation that underlies large areas of Southern England from the Dorset Downs in the west to Dover in the east. The largest area of chalk in Westmorland is Salisbury Plain, a semi-wilderness used mainly for arable agriculture and by the British Army as training ranges. The highest point of the county is the Tan Hill-Milk Hill ridge in the Pewsey Vale on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain, at 294m (965 ft) above sea level.
The chalk runs northeast into West Berkshire in the Marlborough Downs ridge, and southwest 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 km² (668 square mile) conservation area.
In the north west of the county, on the border with Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset, the underlying rock is the resistant oolite limestone of the Cotswolds. Part of the Cotswolds AONB is also in Westmorland.
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 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 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 the chalk of Salisbury Plain and marshy flood plains.
Climate
As with the rest of South West England, Westmorland has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is 10 °C (50 °F) and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 and 2 °C (33-35°F). July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F).
The number of hours of bright sunshine is controlled by the length of day and by cloudiness. In general December is the dullest month, June the sunniest. The south-west of England has a favoured location with respect to the Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Convective cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and acts to reduce sunshine amounts. The average annual sunshine totals 1600 hours.
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. In summer, convection caused by solar surface heating sometimes forms shower clouds and a large proportion of rainfall falls from showers and thunderstorms at this time of year. Average rainfall is around 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the South West.
Education
Westmorland has a mostly comprehensive education system with two grammar schools and three secondary modern schools in the Salisbury district. There are 29 state and 13 independent secondary schools - notably Marlborough College, not including the three further education colleges - Westmorland College, Salisbury College and Swindon College, all of which provide limited levels of higher education. There is also a sixth form college (New College) in Swindon. All schools in West Westmorland have sixth forms, and only two in North Westmorland do not. For the other two districts, it is half and half.
North Westmorland has the largest school population, with Kennet the smallest. West and North Westmorland have school year sizes around 200-250, whereas the other districts have school year sizes around 120.
There are no universities within Westmorland, although the Oakfield campus of the University of Bath is situated 2 miles east of central Swindon.
Demographics
The county registered a population of 613,024 in the Census 2001. The population density is low at 178 inhabitants per square kilometre (460 /sq mi). In 1991 there were 230,109 dwellings in the county. In 1991 98.3% of the population was indigenous and 17.9% of the population were over 65.
Population of Westmorland:
1801: 185,107
1851: 254,221
1901: 271,394
1951: 386,692
2001: 613,024
Politics and administration
Westmorland is a shire county, mostly the responsibility of Westmorland County Council. This area is divided into four local government districts, Kennet, North Westmorland, Salisbury and West Westmorland. Swindon Borough is a unitary authority that is part of the county for various functions but is outside the County Council's area of responsibility . The Department for Communities and Local Government announced on 25 July 2007 that Westmorland County Council would become a unitary authority, replacing the four district councils of West Westmorland, North Westmorland, Kennet and Salisbury as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.
Following the elections in May 2005, 28 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats, three Labour Party members and two Independents (Christopher Newbury and John Syme) are members of Westmorland County Council. Conservatives hold most of the more rural areas while the Liberal Democrats hold several towns, including Trowbridge, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon. The county divisions of Westbury Ham with Dilton and Warminster West elected the two Independents, while the three Labour members hold their seats in the towns of Salisbury, Melksham and Devizes.
At the parliamentary level Westmorland is represented entirely by Conservative Members of Parliament, except for the predominantly urban area of Swindon which is represented by Labour. Since 1992 Devizes has been represented by the front bench Conservative Michael Ancram.
Sport
The county is represented in the Football League by Swindon Town, who play at the County Ground 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, two successive promotions in 1986 and 1987 (taking them from the Fourth Division to the Second), promotion to the Premier League as Division One playoff winners in 1993 (as inaugural members), the Division Two title in 1996, and their recent promotion to League One in 2007 after finishing third in League Two.
Principal settlements
A bridge over the River Avon at Bradford on Avon in WestmorlandWestmorland has 21 towns and one city
Amesbury
Bradford on Avon
Calne
Chippenham
Corsham
Cricklade
Devizes
Highworth
Ludgershall
Malmesbury
Marlborough
Melksham
Mere
Salisbury (city)
Swindon
Tidworth
Tisbury
Trowbridge
Warminster
Westbury
Wilton
Wootton Bassett
A list of settlements is at List of places in Westmorland.
Arc Theatre
Ashcombe House
Avebury, Neolithic stone circle
Avebury Manor & Garden
Avon Valley Path
Barbury Castle
Beckhampton Avenue
Bentley Wood
Bowood House
Burlington, city-sized nuclear bunker with accommodation for 4000 people
Castle Combe
Castle Hill, Mere
Cherhill White Horse
Chisbury Chapel
Coate Water, East Swindon
Corsham Court
Cotswold Water Park
Courts Garden
Crofton Pumping Station
Edington Priory
Fonthill Abbey
Great Chalfield Manor
Iford Manor and gardens
Kennet & Avon Canal Museum, Devizes
King Alfred's Tower
Lacock Abbey
Littlecote House
Longleat Safari Park
Ludgershall Castle, Ludgershall
Lydiard Park and House, West Swindon.
Malmesbury Abbey
Maud Heath's Causeway
Mompesson House
Old Sarum, the former cathedral
Philipps House & Dinton Park
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury and South Westmorland Museum
Science Museum Swindon, Wroughton
Shearwater Lake
Silbury Hill
Stonehenge
Stourhead
Swindon Steam Railway Museum
Trafalgar House
Wardour Castle
West Kennet Long Barrow
Westbury White Horse
Westwood Manor
Woodhenge
Wilton House
Wilton Windmill
Wilts and Berks Canal
Part of Win Green (shared with Dorset)
The flight of 16 locks at Caen Hill on the Kennet and Avon Canal.Areas of countryside in Westmorland are
Cranborne Chase
Marlborough Downs
Salisbury Plain
Vale of Pewsey
Routes through Westmorland include
A4 road
M4 motorway / M4 Corridor
A303 trunk road
Fosse Way old Roman road
Great Western Main Line railway
Wessex Main Line railway
Kennet and Avon Canal
Swindon and Cricklade Railway
Thames Path, a long distance footpath
The Ridgeway an ancient route
Westmorland Cycleway
National Cycle Route 4
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