Westbury, Wiltshire
| Westbury | |
| Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
 The old town hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST868511 |
| Location: | 51°15’36"N, 2°11’28"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 11,135 (2001) |
| Post town: | Westbury |
| Postcode: | BA13 |
| Dialling code: | 01373 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wiltshire |
Westbury is a small town in the west of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse. It is nestled under the north-western bluffs of Salisbury Plain, and stands about 8 miles south of Trowbridge and 18 miles south east of the city of Bath.
Nearby villages include Bratton, Chapmanslade, Dilton Marsh, Edington, North Bradley, Rudge, Standerwick, Semington, West Ashton and Upton Scudamore.
About the town
In the past, Westbury was sometimes known as Westbury-under-the-Plain to distinguish it from other towns of the same name. On Salisbury Plain beside the town is the town's most famous feature; the Westbury White Horse. It is sometimes claimed locally that the White Horse was first cut into the chalk face as long ago as the year 878, to commemorate the victory of King Alfred the Great over the Danes in the Battle of Eðandun (probably, but not certainly, at the nearby village of Edington). However, scholars believe this to be an invention of the late 18th century, and no evidence has yet been found for the existence of the Westbury White Horse before the 1720s. The form of the current White Horse dates from 1778, when it was restored. In the 1950s it was decided that the horse would be more easily maintained if it were set in concrete and painted white. In recent years, there has been a multitude of calls to clean or paint the "old grey mare" and such a renovation began in May 2006.
The horse's original form may have been quite different from the horse seen today. One 18th-century engraving shows the horse facing to the right, but in its current form it faces to the left.
Westbury centres on its historic marketplace, with the churchyard of All Saints' Church (14th century) behind it. All Saints' boasts the third heaviest ring of bells in the world, an Erasmus Bible and a 16th-century clock with no face constructed by a local blacksmith.
Until the 1940s, the Westbury Sheep Fair was an important annual event.
The town has been home to the Army Officer Selection Board and the Cadet Force Commissioning Board, located at Leighton House, since 1949.
In the early part of September 1877, there was found on Bremeridge Farm, in the parish of Dilton Marsh, Wilts, belonging to Charles Paul Phipps, esq. of Chalcot House, a hoard of 32 gold coins. They were found during repairs and improvements of the homestead, about a foot and a half below the surface, in the courtyard, piled, one above another, without any appearance of a purse or box.[1]
Sport and leisure
- Football: Westbury United FC, who play at Meadow Lane.
- Rugby: Westbury RFC, who play at White Horse Country Park.
Transport links
The A350 road passes through the town and a controversial Westbury Bypass was once proposed which would have reduced traffic in parts of the town but would have had a negative effect on the landscape on the east of the town. The eastern bypass scheme was eventually rejected after an Independent Planning Inquiry recommended against it in 2009.
The town is an important junction point on the railway network, as it lies at the point where the Reading to Taunton line, forming a link from London Paddington to Penzance, intersects the Wessex Main Line, linking Bristol and Bath Spa to Salisbury and Southampton. Westbury railway station is on the west of the town.
Media
- Newspapers:
- The White Horse News (delivered free)
- The Warminster Journal
- The Wiltshire Times
- Radio: Total Star
Outside links
References
- ↑ Record of Gold Coin find, 1877: Wiltshire Council archives. Retrieved on 4 November 2009.
Books
- {{citation|The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce, and Manufacture|publisher=British Directory Office|last1=Barfoot|first1=Peter|last2=Wilkes|first2=John|volume=4|year=1793|accessdate=9 February 2013}