Wiltshire

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County of southwest England (since April 1997 Swindon has been a separate unitary authority).

Area
3,480 sq km/1,343 sq mi

Towns and cities
Trowbridge (administrative headquarters), Salisbury, Wilton, Devizes, Chippenham, Warminster

Physical
Marlborough Downs; Savernake Forest; rivers Kennet, Wylye, Avons (Salisbury and Bristol); Salisbury Plain (32 km/20 mi by 25 km/16 mi, lying at about 120 m/394 ft above sea-level), a military training area used since Napoleonic times

Features
Elizabethan Longleat House (Marquess of Bath); 16th-century Wilton House (Earl of Pembroke); Stourhead, with 18th-century gardens; Neolithic Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury Hill, and West Kennet Long Barrow (the finest example of a long barrow in Wiltshire, dating from the 3rd millennium BC) – Stonehenge, Avebury, and associated sites are a World Heritage site; Salisbury Cathedral (13th century), which has the tallest spire in Britain (123 m/404 ft)

Agriculture
cereals (wheat and barley); beef cattle; dairy-farming (condensed milk, cheese); pig- and sheep-farming

Industries
brewing; computing; electronics; engineering; pharmaceuticals; plastics; quarrying (Portland stone, sand, gravel); rubber

Population
(2001) 433,000

Famous people
Isaac Pitman (inventor of shorthand), William Henry Fox Talbot (pioneer of photography), Christopher Wren (architect)

The flag's colours date back to the 14th century. The bicolour is identical to that of Indonesia except in its ratio. Effective date: 4 April 1881. >>