Around and About Wiltshire HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND LANDMARKS

WE ARE HERE IN TROWBRIDGE GREATER LONDON

This is Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire and where we live.

Trowbridge, set next to the little river Biss, the town is the county town of Wiltshire Wiltshire

Trowbridge grew into a big town because of the wool trade. The town had a castle here in the 12th century. The town has continued to grow with more housing estates added on the outside of town.

Trowbridge has a population of just over 40,000.

Trowbridge Town Centre

Trowbridge is the first town in Britain to be twinned with a town in a Muslim country. Trowbridge has officially been twinned with the Moroccan city of Oujda.

4 miles from Trowbridge is the beautiful ancient town of Bradford on Avon.

In Bradford on Avon there is a bridge over the River Avon which dates back to the 17th Century. The bridge incorporates a blind house. The Blind House used to be a chapel but was turned into a small prison where Bradford-on- Avon drunks and troublemakers were left overnight to cool off !

This is the Kennet and Avon Canal lock at Bradford on Avon and is always a busy interesting place to visit.

Holy Trinity Church, Bradford on Avon

This is the amazing Tithe Barn. It was used by wealthy landowners to collect "tythes" or taxes from the people of Bradford-on-Avon. These would be paid in the form of produce and livestock. The building has been restored and has one of the largest stone roofs in Europe. Some of the scenes from the movie version of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were shot here.

The stone circle of Avebury is about 20 miles away from Trowbridge. Avebury is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe and was built around 2600BC.

This is Castle Combe which has been called 'The Prettiest Village in England‘.

Castle Combe

There are many ‘thatched’ houses in Wiltshire. Here are a few.

This is a thatched English pub

This is the last remaining thatched building in Trowbridge

Not far from Trowbridge is Longleat, an English country house, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. It is known for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park.

This is Longleat House

Lots of people enjoy driving through the first ever safari park outside of Africa. Only cars with hard tops are allowed to drive through.

One of the rooms

One of the many attractions which surround the house of Longleat is the world’s longest hedge maze. Mazes were popular forms of amusement for kings and princes; they were found only at the wealthiest palaces throughout Europe. It’s made of more than 16,000 English Yews, and covers an area of around 1.48 acres with a total pathway length of 1.69 miles. The average time taken to reach the center is 90 minutes!

This is Stonehenge in Wiltshire

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument which was built between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC by three different cultures.

Summer Solstice Every year on the 21 st of June visitors from around the world gather at Stonehenge overnight to mark the summer solstice and to see the sunrise above the stones.

The Wiltshire Countryside is famous for its white horse chalk hill figures. There used to be 13 horses, but only 8 are still visible today. Here are some of them. Westbury White Horse, about 5 miles from Trowbridge.

The Uffington Horse

Devizes Horse taken from space

This is Lacock. The village, dates from the 13th century and has many limewashed half-timbered and stone houses. Lots of historical films have been shot here.

Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen was filmed here in Lacock.

Some of the scenes in the Harry Potter films were shot in Lacock.

This is Salisbury’s 800 year old cathedral, which has the tallest church spire in England.

This is Glastonbury town. Hundreds of visitors visit Galstonbury every year. Glastonbury is famous for its strong Christian connections, as well as its New Age pagan culture, spiritual beliefs, mythological stories, and of course, its very famous Glastonbury Music Festival.

Glastonbury is probably the world's most famous rock festival having started in Lots of famous artists have performed here including: U2, Black Eyed Peas, Paul McCartney,Lady Ga Ga,Bruce Springstein, David Bowie and lots more.

This is the famous Georgian city of Bath.

The population for of the city is 83,992. It was granted city status by Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590.

Lots of visitors come to the Roman Baths in Bath. This great bath is filled with hot spa water that was thought to cure illness.

Another view of the Roman Baths

Pultney Bridge in Bath is a bridge that crosses the River Avon. The bridge was built in 1773.

Bath is also famous for its Rugby Club.

We are back in Trowbridge. This is the cricket club. We hope that you have enjoyed this presentation.