Melksham
Encyclopedia
Melksham is a medium-sized English
town, lying on the River Avon. It lies in the county of Wiltshire
.
It is situated 19 km (11.8 mi) southeast of the city of Bath, 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Chippenham
, 8 miles (12.9 km) west of Devizes
and 14 miles (22.5 km) north of Warminster
on the A350 national route. The 2001 UK census cited Melksham as having 20,000 inhabitants, including sizeable environs such as Bowerhill
and Berryfield
. As such it is Wiltshire's fifth-largest town by population after Swindon
, Salisbury
, Chippenham
and Trowbridge
.
and the name is presumed to derive from "meolc", the Old English for milk, and "ham", a village. On John Speed
's map of Wiltshire
(1611), the name is spelt both Melkesam (for the hundred) and Milsham (for the town itself). Melksham was a royal estate at the time of the Norman Conquest
In 1539 the prioress and nuns of Amesbury
surrendered their Melksham estates to the king which they had held for about 250 years. This property, which consisted of the Lordship
of the Manor
and Hundred, was in 1541 granted to Sir Thomas Seymour. Seymour then sold it to Henry Brouncker, who had already made purchases of real estate in the neighbourhood. At some uncertain date, perhaps about 1550, Brouncker built a residence for himself on the site of an earlier mansion. This was known as Place House, built in a style suitable to that of a resident lord, who was also a man of considerable wealth.
Three generations of the family lived here: Henry Brouncker the founder, (d.1569), his son, Sir William, and his grandson Henry. On the death of this last Henry, about 1600, it became manifest that the Brouncker estate was heavily encumbered, and in the course of the next twenty or thirty years, all the property was alienated with the exception of Erlestoke
, where William Brouncker, the heir, retired with his wife Anne, daughter of Sir John Dauntesey. Meanwhile, Place House was occupied for ten or eleven years by Henry Brouncker’s widow and her second husband, Ambrose Dauntesey. After their death, in 1612, the house apparently was occupied by the steward, and afterwards it was conveyed to Sir John Danvers, who married into the family, in 1634. Danvers died in 1655 and the lordship of Melksham passed to his son, who then conveyed the estate to Walter Long the Younger, of Whaddon
. The lordship remained in the Long family, who were descended from the first Henry Brouncker, until the early part of the 20th century, having passed to the 1st Viscount Long
of Wraxall.
in June 1792 of the establishment of the Melksham Bank by the firm of Awdry, Long & Bruges. In November 1813 the misquoting of part of an advertisement in two London newspapers caused panic amongst the bank customers, many of whom quickly withdrew their money, reportedly causing "some bustle" among the partners of the bank. There was further trouble in 1824, when the bank was listed on a Parliamentary Paper of the House of Commons
under the title "Country Banks Becoming Bankrupt". John Long, one of the original partners, had by then become sole proprietor with the financial backing of his elder brother Richard Godolphin Long
MP. The elder Long lost a considerable amount of money, which his brother John had to repay him at the rate of £3,000 a year for the rest of his life. Later proprietors Moule, Son & Co announced a re-opening of the bank 12 January 1826.
was transferred, and the first meeting was held in Melksham at The King's Arms on 9 September that year. In 1829, because of opposition by the inhabitants of Melksham, the lodge had to move to a neighbouring village, and for nearly 70 years masonry was not practised in Melksham until the formation of the Chaloner Lodge.
The Chaloner Lodge of Freemasons (no.2644) was named after its first Worshipful Master Richard Godolphin Walmesley Chaloner, 1st Baron Gisborough, who, when not in London, resided at Melksham House
. He was the brother of the 1st Viscount Long
. The lodge was consecrated on 27 February 1897, with the first meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. March 19, held at the town hall. Writing from London while attending his Parliamentary duties as MP for Westbury
, he complained that this date was inconvenient due to his having to be at Melton Mowbray
to ride in the House of Commons Point to Point Steeplechase
the next day. Despite this, the meeting went ahead and Chaloner initiated 13 of the candidates, returning to London overnight by train, getting virtually no sleep before his ride in the steeplechase early the next morning, resulting in him twice falling heavily from his horse. Later while deciding what extra furniture the lodge required, he asked that he have a special footstool, as his chair was high and his feet "dangled unpleasantly". By November 1897 a new masonic lodge was built in Melksham at Church St.
In 1815 the Melksham Spa Company was formed by a group of 'respectable gentlemen', with names such as Methuen, Long and others, all of whom had done very well from the now declining textile industry. Their aim was to promote a spa, after abortive attempts to find coal had uncovered two springs. As a consequence they built six large three-storeyed, semi-detached
lodging houses forming a crescent, a pump room and hot and cold private baths. This suburban area at the southern end of the town is now known as The Spa, belonging to the civil parish of Melksham Without
. A plan for a similar crescent on the north side never materialised. Simultaneously an Act was obtained to 'improve the pleasing town of Melksham' by paving and improving its footways and cleansing, lighting and watching the streets. The spa was not as successful as had been hoped, due in part to the popularity of the waters at nearby Bath.
The most significant local government functions (including schools, roads, social services, recycling, emergency planning, leisure services, housing, development control and waste disposal) are carried out by Wiltshire Council
.
Melksham is a civil parish with an elected town council. This has a mostly consultative role, and the chairman of the town council has the title Mayor of Melksham. The outskirts of Melksham, and some surrounding communities, are administered by another parish council, Melksham Without
.
Local elections generally return a mixture of Labour members
, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives
and Independents
.
Melksham is in the Chippenham parliamentary constituency
, and its Member of Parliament
since 2010 has been the Liberal Democrat
Duncan Hames
.
See also
The parish of Melksham Without
includes several villages and suburbs of Melksham.
Based upon its overall road length, the shortest street in Melksham is aptly called "Short Street", this is situated at the top of Melksham Forest.
Located between Bath, Trowbridge
and Chippenham
, Melksham has many varied industries including Avon Rubber
, which previously owned the Avon Tyre plant in the town centre. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
now operates the plant, and is still a major employer in the town, producing Cooper Avon and Avon Tyres brands. In 2000, Avon Rubber plc moved to a large purpose-built facility just 3 km (1.9 mi) to the south of the town near Semington
, employing over 300 people. Melksham is also home to Knorr-Bremse
, a designer and manufacturer of railway braking systems, at a modern purpose-built facility in south Bowerhill.
The town has a thriving business district and is also close to the retail centres of Bath, Bristol
, Chippenham
, Trowbridge
and Swindon
and is surrounded by beautiful villages such as Lacock
, Holt, Seend
and Semington
. Substantial funding has allowed a variety of dynamic expansion and enhancement programmes, including improvement of the town centre. To cater for the unprecedented growth and attraction in recent years, there are new schools and improved infrastructure although small pockets of Melksham town centre, including a 1960 shopping parade, await redevelopment.
Melksham has a number of pharmacies, high street clothes shops, charity shops and privately run individual stores. It has four medium-sized supermarkets: Sainsbury's, Waitrose
, Lidl
and Aldi
, with permission for a fifth granted during 2009 by the local planning authority
on a site controlled by Asda
. Waitrose
, opened in March 2010.
, the only secondary school in the Melksham catchment area, has provided education for the people of Melksham for many decades, with several athletes graduating from its ranks, such as Fitzroy Simpson
. The town has an annual 'Party in the Park', which usually takes place in the summer in July. It includes a fair, with rides and amusements, fireworks display, a stage hosting musical and dance acts and a carnival parade through the town with floats promoting local businesses and clubs and raising money for charity.
Melksham has an Assembly Hall, The Rachel Fowler Centre and many of the surrounding villages have community halls which offer a wide variety of activities. In the town there is a swimming pool and at Bowerhill there is The Christie Miller Sports Centre and The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics. From September 2010 the newly constructed Melksham Oak Community School
will be offering a variety of sporting and cultural facilities to the community of Melksham.
The town is served by Melksham railway station
, on the branch of the Wessex Main Line
from Chippenham
to Trowbridge
, and currently it is served by two trains in either direction each weekday, operated by First Great Western
.
Melksham is on the north-south A350 main road from the M4 motorway
(Junction 17, near Chippenham) to Poole
on the south coast. It is served by bus
companies including Faresaver and FirstGroup plc
. The A350 stretch directly to the south of the town has been designed to allow for possible future expansion to dual-carriageway status if required.
There is one secondary school
in the Melksham catchment area, serving all the primary schools, which vary in size from small rural schools to those which serve Melksham Town. The George Ward Technology College
, which has been serving the community for over 50 years, will close on 25 June 2010 to be replaced by the purpose built, newly constructed Melksham Oak Community School
, in Bowerhill.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
town, lying on the River Avon. It lies in the county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
It is situated 19 km (11.8 mi) southeast of the city of Bath, 11 km (6.8 mi) south of Chippenham
Chippenham
Chippenham may be:* Chippenham, Wiltshire* Chippenham * Chippenham, Cambridgeshire-See also:* Virginia State Route 150, also known as Chippenham Parkway, USA* Cippenham, Berkshire, UK...
, 8 miles (12.9 km) west of Devizes
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
and 14 miles (22.5 km) north of Warminster
Warminster
Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...
on the A350 national route. The 2001 UK census cited Melksham as having 20,000 inhabitants, including sizeable environs such as Bowerhill
Bowerhill
Bowerhill is an outer suburb of Melksham, belonging to the civil parish of Melksham Without. Bowerhill has a sizable industrial estate to the west of its residential area; this industrial area had been developed from a former Royal Air Force military base. Bowerhill has a population of...
and Berryfield
Berryfield
Berryfield is a suburb to the south of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Melksham Without....
. As such it is Wiltshire's fifth-largest town by population after Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
, Chippenham
Chippenham
Chippenham may be:* Chippenham, Wiltshire* Chippenham * Chippenham, Cambridgeshire-See also:* Virginia State Route 150, also known as Chippenham Parkway, USA* Cippenham, Berkshire, UK...
and Trowbridge
Trowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
.
History
The town of Melksham developed at a ford across the River AvonRiver Avon, Bristol
The River Avon is an English river in the south west of the country. To distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in Britain, this river is often also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon...
and the name is presumed to derive from "meolc", the Old English for milk, and "ham", a village. On John Speed
John Speed
John Speed was an English historian and cartographer.-Life:He was born at Farndon, Cheshire, and went into his father's tailoring business where he worked until he was about 50...
's map of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
(1611), the name is spelt both Melkesam (for the hundred) and Milsham (for the town itself). Melksham was a royal estate at the time of the Norman Conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
In 1539 the prioress and nuns of Amesbury
Amesbury
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
surrendered their Melksham estates to the king which they had held for about 250 years. This property, which consisted of the Lordship
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of the Manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
and Hundred, was in 1541 granted to Sir Thomas Seymour. Seymour then sold it to Henry Brouncker, who had already made purchases of real estate in the neighbourhood. At some uncertain date, perhaps about 1550, Brouncker built a residence for himself on the site of an earlier mansion. This was known as Place House, built in a style suitable to that of a resident lord, who was also a man of considerable wealth.
Three generations of the family lived here: Henry Brouncker the founder, (d.1569), his son, Sir William, and his grandson Henry. On the death of this last Henry, about 1600, it became manifest that the Brouncker estate was heavily encumbered, and in the course of the next twenty or thirty years, all the property was alienated with the exception of Erlestoke
Erlestoke
Erlestoke is a village and civil parish about southwest of the market town of Devizes in Wiltshire.-History:The current form of the village of Erlestoke is largely due to Joshua Smith, a Member of Parliament for Devizes...
, where William Brouncker, the heir, retired with his wife Anne, daughter of Sir John Dauntesey. Meanwhile, Place House was occupied for ten or eleven years by Henry Brouncker’s widow and her second husband, Ambrose Dauntesey. After their death, in 1612, the house apparently was occupied by the steward, and afterwards it was conveyed to Sir John Danvers, who married into the family, in 1634. Danvers died in 1655 and the lordship of Melksham passed to his son, who then conveyed the estate to Walter Long the Younger, of Whaddon
Whaddon, Wiltshire
Whaddon is a hamlet in the civil parish of Hilperton, located in Wiltshire, England.- Location :The hamlet is located 2.5 miles northeast of the county town of Trowbridge. It is only accessible via Whaddon Lane that connects the hamlet to Hilperton....
. The lordship remained in the Long family, who were descended from the first Henry Brouncker, until the early part of the 20th century, having passed to the 1st Viscount Long
Viscount Long
Viscount Long, of Wraxall in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1921 for the Conservative politician Walter Long, who had previously served as Member of Parliament, President of the Board of Agriculture, President of the Local Government...
of Wraxall.
Early Melksham Bank
An announcement was made in the Bath ChronicleBath Chronicle
The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily.-Name changes:...
in June 1792 of the establishment of the Melksham Bank by the firm of Awdry, Long & Bruges. In November 1813 the misquoting of part of an advertisement in two London newspapers caused panic amongst the bank customers, many of whom quickly withdrew their money, reportedly causing "some bustle" among the partners of the bank. There was further trouble in 1824, when the bank was listed on a Parliamentary Paper of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
under the title "Country Banks Becoming Bankrupt". John Long, one of the original partners, had by then become sole proprietor with the financial backing of his elder brother Richard Godolphin Long
Richard Godolphin Long
Richard Godolphin Long was an English banker and Tory politician.-Background:Baptised at West Lavington, Wiltshire a month after his birth, he was the son of Richard Long and his wife Meliora, descendant of Sir John Lambe. Long was a partner in the Melksham Bank, together with his younger brother...
MP. The elder Long lost a considerable amount of money, which his brother John had to repay him at the rate of £3,000 a year for the rest of his life. Later proprietors Moule, Son & Co announced a re-opening of the bank 12 January 1826.
Masonic Lodge
Freemasonry first came to Melksham in 1817 , when a former Lodge of WestburyWestbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...
was transferred, and the first meeting was held in Melksham at The King's Arms on 9 September that year. In 1829, because of opposition by the inhabitants of Melksham, the lodge had to move to a neighbouring village, and for nearly 70 years masonry was not practised in Melksham until the formation of the Chaloner Lodge.
The Chaloner Lodge of Freemasons (no.2644) was named after its first Worshipful Master Richard Godolphin Walmesley Chaloner, 1st Baron Gisborough, who, when not in London, resided at Melksham House
Melksham House
Melksham House is a Grade II listed country house situated in Market Place, Melksham, Wiltshire.The house was built between the 17th and early 18th century, although records have shown a building on this site since about 1608...
. He was the brother of the 1st Viscount Long
Viscount Long
Viscount Long, of Wraxall in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1921 for the Conservative politician Walter Long, who had previously served as Member of Parliament, President of the Board of Agriculture, President of the Local Government...
. The lodge was consecrated on 27 February 1897, with the first meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. March 19, held at the town hall. Writing from London while attending his Parliamentary duties as MP for Westbury
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...
, he complained that this date was inconvenient due to his having to be at Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...
to ride in the House of Commons Point to Point Steeplechase
Steeplechase (horse racing)
The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...
the next day. Despite this, the meeting went ahead and Chaloner initiated 13 of the candidates, returning to London overnight by train, getting virtually no sleep before his ride in the steeplechase early the next morning, resulting in him twice falling heavily from his horse. Later while deciding what extra furniture the lodge required, he asked that he have a special footstool, as his chair was high and his feet "dangled unpleasantly". By November 1897 a new masonic lodge was built in Melksham at Church St.
The Spa
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
lodging houses forming a crescent, a pump room and hot and cold private baths. This suburban area at the southern end of the town is now known as The Spa, belonging to the civil parish of Melksham Without
Melksham Without
Melksham Without is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. It surrounds, but does not include, the town of Melksham and is the largest rural parish in Wiltshire, with a population of 6226 and an area of ....
. A plan for a similar crescent on the north side never materialised. Simultaneously an Act was obtained to 'improve the pleasing town of Melksham' by paving and improving its footways and cleansing, lighting and watching the streets. The spa was not as successful as had been hoped, due in part to the popularity of the waters at nearby Bath.
Governance
The most significant local government functions (including schools, roads, social services, recycling, emergency planning, leisure services, housing, development control and waste disposal) are carried out by Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were...
.
Melksham is a civil parish with an elected town council. This has a mostly consultative role, and the chairman of the town council has the title Mayor of Melksham. The outskirts of Melksham, and some surrounding communities, are administered by another parish council, Melksham Without
Melksham Without
Melksham Without is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. It surrounds, but does not include, the town of Melksham and is the largest rural parish in Wiltshire, with a population of 6226 and an area of ....
.
Local elections generally return a mixture of Labour members
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
.
Melksham is in the Chippenham parliamentary constituency
Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Chippenham is a parliamentary constituency, abolished in 1983 but recreated in 2010, and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, and its Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
since 2010 has been the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Duncan Hames
Duncan Hames
Duncan John Hames is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Chippenham constituency in Wiltshire since the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
.
See also
- West Wiltshire Council election, 1999West Wiltshire Council election, 1999Elections to West Wiltshire District Council were held on 6 May 1999. The whole council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats held their overall control, winning twenty-seven seats while the Conservatives took ten, Independents four and the Labour Party two....
- West Wiltshire Council election, 2003West Wiltshire Council election, 2003Elections to West Wiltshire District Council were held on 1 May 2003. The whole council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats lost their majority, leaving the council with no overall control....
- West Wiltshire Council election, 2007West Wiltshire Council election, 2007Elections to West Wiltshire District Council were held on 3 May 2007. The whole council was up for election and the Conservatives took control.Most wards had boundary changes or were new...
- Wiltshire Council election, 1993Wiltshire Council election, 1993Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 6 May 1993. The whole council was up for election and the result was no overall control, with the Liberal Democrats as the largest party...
- Wiltshire Council election, 1997Wiltshire Council election, 1997Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 1 May 1997. The whole council was up for election and the result was no overall control, with the Conservatives as the largest party....
- Wiltshire Council election, 2001
- Wiltshire Council election, 2005Wiltshire Council election, 2005Elections to Wiltshire County Council were held on 5 May 2005. The whole council was up for election and the Conservatives held onto control.Most electoral divisions had boundary changes, and several were new, including three new two-member divisions, in Salisbury and Trowbridge.As with other...
Geography
The parish of Melksham Without
Melksham Without
Melksham Without is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. It surrounds, but does not include, the town of Melksham and is the largest rural parish in Wiltshire, with a population of 6226 and an area of ....
includes several villages and suburbs of Melksham.
- Melksham Forest
- BowerhillBowerhillBowerhill is an outer suburb of Melksham, belonging to the civil parish of Melksham Without. Bowerhill has a sizable industrial estate to the west of its residential area; this industrial area had been developed from a former Royal Air Force military base. Bowerhill has a population of...
(a small residential community generally considered as separate from Melksham, housing a large industrial area.) - BerryfieldBerryfieldBerryfield is a suburb to the south of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Melksham Without....
(a village south of and adjacent to Melksham, often considered part of the town) - BeanacreBeanacreBeanacre is a small village in Wiltshire, England, located alongside the A350 road. The village belongs to the civil parish of Melksham Without.Beanacre tends to be a lifelong destination as people have lived in the village for decades....
(a village to the north, again often considered as a northern suburb of the town) - Hunter's Meadow (a relatively new district north of Bowerhill).
Based upon its overall road length, the shortest street in Melksham is aptly called "Short Street", this is situated at the top of Melksham Forest.
Demography
Melksham Community area has a residential population of 27,835, with slightly fewer males in the age range 5 - 24 than the Wiltshire average. Melksham North (North East) is the most deprived area of Melksham nationally it lies in the 2nd most deprived quintile (9,830th most deprived area in England out of 32,842. The pattern of deprivation varies widely with Bowerhill and Beanacre being the least deprived. Source: Melksham Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2009Economy
Located between Bath, Trowbridge
Trowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
and Chippenham
Chippenham, Wiltshire
Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located east of Bath and west of London. In the 2001 census the population of the town was recorded as 28,065....
, Melksham has many varied industries including Avon Rubber
Avon Rubber
Avon Rubber p.l.c. is a manufacturer of high technology rubber-based products for a number of manufacturing sectors. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index...
, which previously owned the Avon Tyre plant in the town centre. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a United States based company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of replacementautomobiles and truck tires, and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires...
now operates the plant, and is still a major employer in the town, producing Cooper Avon and Avon Tyres brands. In 2000, Avon Rubber plc moved to a large purpose-built facility just 3 km (1.9 mi) to the south of the town near Semington
Semington
Semington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about south of Melksham and about northeast of Trowbridge.The parish includes the hamlets of Littlemarsh and Littleton....
, employing over 300 people. Melksham is also home to Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse is a manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 100 years. The company also produces door systems for rail vehicles and torsional dampers. In 2009, the Group's workforce of over 14,000 achieved worldwide sales of EUR 2.761...
, a designer and manufacturer of railway braking systems, at a modern purpose-built facility in south Bowerhill.
The town has a thriving business district and is also close to the retail centres of Bath, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, Chippenham
Chippenham, Wiltshire
Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located east of Bath and west of London. In the 2001 census the population of the town was recorded as 28,065....
, Trowbridge
Trowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
and Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
and is surrounded by beautiful villages such as Lacock
Lacock
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles from the town of Chippenham. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust, and attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance.-History:...
, Holt, Seend
Seend
Seend is a village and civil parish about south-east of the market town of Melksham, Wiltshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Seend Cleeve, Seend Head and The Stocks.Seend village is on a hilltop more than above sea level...
and Semington
Semington
Semington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about south of Melksham and about northeast of Trowbridge.The parish includes the hamlets of Littlemarsh and Littleton....
. Substantial funding has allowed a variety of dynamic expansion and enhancement programmes, including improvement of the town centre. To cater for the unprecedented growth and attraction in recent years, there are new schools and improved infrastructure although small pockets of Melksham town centre, including a 1960 shopping parade, await redevelopment.
Melksham has a number of pharmacies, high street clothes shops, charity shops and privately run individual stores. It has four medium-sized supermarkets: Sainsbury's, Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
, Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
and Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
, with permission for a fifth granted during 2009 by the local planning authority
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were...
on a site controlled by Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
. Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
, opened in March 2010.
Culture and community
Melksham The George Ward Technology CollegeThe George Ward Technology College
The George Ward Technology College was a medium sized comprehensive school in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK, with many notable alumni.The George Ward School was maintained co-educational secondary school catering for pupils aged 11 to 18...
, the only secondary school in the Melksham catchment area, has provided education for the people of Melksham for many decades, with several athletes graduating from its ranks, such as Fitzroy Simpson
Fitzroy Simpson
Fitzroy Simpson is a former professional English-born Jamaican footballer. He was a midfielder, but also played frequently as a left back....
. The town has an annual 'Party in the Park', which usually takes place in the summer in July. It includes a fair, with rides and amusements, fireworks display, a stage hosting musical and dance acts and a carnival parade through the town with floats promoting local businesses and clubs and raising money for charity.
Melksham has an Assembly Hall, The Rachel Fowler Centre and many of the surrounding villages have community halls which offer a wide variety of activities. In the town there is a swimming pool and at Bowerhill there is The Christie Miller Sports Centre and The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics. From September 2010 the newly constructed Melksham Oak Community School
Melksham Oak Community School
Melksham Oak Community School is a state secondary comprehensive school in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK.It was created under the Building Schools for the Future programme, opening on the 12th July 2010 to replace The George Ward Technology College....
will be offering a variety of sporting and cultural facilities to the community of Melksham.
Transport
Melksham railway station
Melksham railway station serves the town of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. It is on the branch line from Chippenham to Trowbridge that was originally part of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, absorbed in 1850 by the Great Western Railway. The station opened with the original section of the...
, on the branch of the Wessex Main Line
Wessex Main Line
The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth.- Places served :The places served are listed below.*Bristol*Keynsham*Oldfield Park*Bath...
from Chippenham
Chippenham railway station
Chippenham railway station serves the market town of Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. The station is on the Great Western Main Line, in between and , and is served by First Great Western main line services between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, and a smaller First Great Western local...
to Trowbridge
Trowbridge railway station
Trowbridge railway station is a railway station on the Wessex Main Line between and . The station is south east of and is managed by First Great Western....
, and currently it is served by two trains in either direction each weekday, operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
Melksham is on the north-south A350 main road from the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
(Junction 17, near Chippenham) to Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
on the south coast. It is served by bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
companies including Faresaver and FirstGroup plc
FirstGroup plc
FirstGroup plc is a public transport company, registered in Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen, operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States...
. The A350 stretch directly to the south of the town has been designed to allow for possible future expansion to dual-carriageway status if required.
Education
There are a number of primary schools serving the Melksham area;- Aloeric Primary School
- The Manor C of E Primary School - Formerly Lowbourne Junior and St Michaels School
- King's Park Primary School - Formerly Lowbourne Infants School
- Churchfields Primary School Atworth
- Seend C of E Primary School
- Bowerhill Primary School
- Shaw C of E Primary School
- St Mary's C of E Primary School
- Forest & Sandridge C of E Primary School
- Melksham Oak Community secondary school
There is one secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in the Melksham catchment area, serving all the primary schools, which vary in size from small rural schools to those which serve Melksham Town. The George Ward Technology College
The George Ward Technology College
The George Ward Technology College was a medium sized comprehensive school in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK, with many notable alumni.The George Ward School was maintained co-educational secondary school catering for pupils aged 11 to 18...
, which has been serving the community for over 50 years, will close on 25 June 2010 to be replaced by the purpose built, newly constructed Melksham Oak Community School
Melksham Oak Community School
Melksham Oak Community School is a state secondary comprehensive school in Melksham, Wiltshire, UK.It was created under the Building Schools for the Future programme, opening on the 12th July 2010 to replace The George Ward Technology College....
, in Bowerhill.
Notable people
- Matthew BoundMatthew BoundMatthew Bound is an English football defender.-References:*...
, footballer - Edmund Wright BrooksEdmund Wright BrooksEdmund Wright Brooks was an English Quaker philanthropist and cement maker. He was active in the Anti-Slavery movement and also in famine relief in Russia and aid to Armenians...
(1834–1928), Quaker philanthropist - John FowlerJohn Fowler (agricultural engineer)John Fowler was an English agricultural engineer who was a pioneer in the use of steam engines for ploughing and digging drainage channels...
(1826–1864), agricultural engineer - James HurnJames HurnJames Hurn was an English cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman who played for Wiltshire. He was born in Melksham.Hurn, who played for Wiltshire in the Minor Counties Championship between 1952 and 1961, made his sole List A appearance for the team in the 1964 Gillette Cup, against Hampshire...
, cricketerCricketerA cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player".... - Phil McMullenPhil McMullenPhil McMullen lives in the West of England and spends his time between rearing chickens and vegetables writing about psychedelic, improvised and experimental rock & folk music...
, writer, music critic, events organiser - Ken GillKen GillKen Gill was a British trade unionist leader. He was the General Secretary of the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section , from 1974 to 1988, when it merged with ASTMS to form the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union . He was General Secretary of the MSF, 1988 - 1992, initially...
(1927–2009), trade unionTrade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader; caricaturist - Sidney Leslie GoodwinSidney Leslie GoodwinSidney Leslie Goodwin was a 19-month-old English boy who died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic. His unidentified body was recovered after the sinking by the Mackay-Bennett, and for decades referred to as the unknown child; the body was identified as that of Goodwin in 2007...
, child victim of the sinking of the RMS Titanic - Robert MartineauRobert MartineauRobert Arnold Schürhoff Martineau was a British clergyman who was the first Bishop of Huntingdon and who was later translated to Blackburn....
, Anglican bishop; curateCurateA curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
in Melksham - Henry MouleHenry MouleHenry Moule was a priest in the Church of England and inventor of the dry earth closet.-Education and priesthood:Moule, sixth son of George Moule, solicitor and banker, was born at Melksham, Wiltshire, on 27 January 1801, and educated at Marlborough grammar school. He was elected a foundation...
(1801–1880), pioneer of the earth closetComposting toiletA composting toilet is a dry toilet that using a predominantly aerobic processing system that treats excreta, typically with no water or small volumes of flush water, via composting or managed aerobic decomposition... - Andy ParkAndy Park (Mr. Christmas)Andy Park is an electrician from Melksham, Wiltshire, England, who styles himself "Mr. Christmas" after claiming to have celebrated Christmas day every day since July 1993....
, known as "Mr. Christmas" - Diana RossDiana Ross (author)Diana Patience Beverly Ross , relative of Robert Ross, was an English children's author and occasional and longtime resident of Shaw, near Melksham, in Wiltshire...
, children's author, lived at ShawShaw, WiltshireShaw is a village in Wiltshire, England; it belongs to the civil parish of Melksham Without....
for many years - John Dunlop SouthernJohn Dunlop SouthernJohn Dunlop Southern was a Royal Navy officer and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire in occasional games between 1919 and 1934....
, cricketer - George Thicknesse, 19th Baron AudleyGeorge Thicknesse, 19th Baron AudleyGeorge Thicknesse later Thicknesse-Touchet, 19th Baron Audley .George Thicknesse-Touchet was the son of Captain Philip Thicknesse and Lady Elizabeth Tuchet...
, died, and is buried, in Melksham - Ann YearsleyAnn YearsleyAnn Yearsley née Cromartie was an English poet and writer.Born in Bristol to John and Anne Cromartie , Ann married John Yearsley, a yeoman, in 1774. A decade later the family were rescued from destitution by the charity of Hannah More and others. More organized subscriptions for Yearsley to...
(ca. 1753-1806), poet; died in Melksham