Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/632

Rh 594 WILTS Rivers. Agricul ture. Com munica tion. Manu factures and trade. One of the most charming features of Wilts is its rich and finely wooded valleys. The three principal rivers are the Kennet, the Lower or Bristol Avon, and the Southern or Christchurch Avon. The Kennet, rising in the Marl- borough Downs, winds eastwards past Marlborough and Hungerford into Berkshire, to join the Thames at Reading. The D Lower Avon, which rises in Gloucestershire, flows southwards by Malmesbury, Chippenham, Melksham, and Bradford, where it bends north-westwards into Somerset shire. Besides several smaller streams, it receives from the south the Frome, which forms for a short distance the boundary between Wilts and Somersetshire. The Southern Avon, which rises near Bishop s Cannings in the centre of the county, flows southwards by Amesbury and Salisbury into Hants. At Salisbury it receives from the west the Nadder, after its junction with the Wily at Wilton, and from the north-east the Bourne. The Thames skirts the north-eastern border of the county. Agriculture. According to returns made on 4th June 1887, the total area of land occupied was 759,538 acres, of which 646,653 were rented and 112,885 owned and occupied ; 759,412 acres, or about seven-eighths of the whole area, were under cultivation. Of this area 395,010 acres were permanent pasture, a great portion consisting of sheep-runs on the Chalk downs. In some places, especially in Salisbury Plain, tillage was in former years extensively introduced in the Chalk districts, but much of this has again re verted to pasture. There were 174,876 acres under corn crops, 99,388 under green crops, 79,049 under rotation grasses, and 11,086 under fallow. In north-west Wilts the prevailing soil is a reddish chalky clay resting on a subsoil of broken stones, whilst on the Chalk for mation the arable land is of a lighter character. There are also extensive tracts of richer soil well adapted for wheat and beans. In 1887 wheat occupied 67,357 acres, barley 50,928, oats 44,047, rye 1728, beans 7274, and pease 3542. The bulk of the green crops are grown for the feeding of cattle and sheep, potatoes occupying only 3339 acres and carrots 237, while 54,869 acres were under turnips and swedes, 5673 mangold, 10,473 cabbage, rape, &c., and 24,527 vetches, &c. The total area under nursery grounds in 1887 was 91 acres, while market gardens occupied 3525, and orchards 3346. Woods in 1881 occupied 45,270 acres, a great part being comprised in the ancient forests, including Cranborne Chase and Savernake Forest, which contain some remarkable old oaks and beeches. The number of horses in 1887 was 23,616, of which 18,980 were used solely for purposes of agriculture. Cattle num bered 106,020, 60,113 being cows and heifers in milk or in calf. Dairy farming is the leading industry in the north-western districts, Wiltshire being famous for its cheese. Of the cattle 15,505 were two years and above, and 30,402 under two years, an indication that comparatively few cattle are kept for purposes of feeding. Sheep in 1887 numbered 643,125, and pigs 66,422. According to the latest landowners lieturn, Wiltshire was divided among 14,013 owners, possessing 828,949 acres at an annual valua tion of 1,599,239, or about 1, 18s. 7d. per acre. There were 9635 owners possessing less than one acre each, 1519 acres being divided amongst them. The estimated extent of commons or waste lands was 1931 acres. The following proprietors owned over 7000 acres each: earl of Pembroke, 39,601 acres; marquis of Ailesbury, 37,994 ; marquis of Bath, 19,978 ; earl of Radnor, 17,173 ; Simon W. Taylor, 14,960 ; R. P. Long, 13,618 ; Sir John Neeld, 13,113 ; trustees of Sir H. Meux, 11,896; marquis of Lansdowne, 11,146; earl of Suffolk, 11,098 ; earl of Normanton, 9812 ; Lord Ashburton, 9592 ; Sir E. Antrobus, 8374 ; Sir Francis D. Astley, 7888 ; Sir M. E. Hicks Beach, 7200 ; and T. Fraser Grove, 7179. Communication. A considerable amount of traffic is carried on in the northern districts by means of canals. The Thames and Severn Canal crosses the north-west corner of the county. Between Cricklade and Swindon it is joined by a branch canal to the Wilts and Berks Canal. This last has a semicircular course south- westwards by Swindon, Wootton Basset, and Melksham, 2 miles beyond which it is joined by the Kennet and Avon Canal, which crosses the centre of the county by Hungerford, Devizes, and Brad ford. The railway communication is supplied chiefly by the Great Western and the London and South Western lines. Manufactures and Trade. Wiltshire has long been celebrated for its cloths, the chief seats of the industry being Bradford and Trowbridge, while among other places Melksham and Chippenham are perhaps the most important. Wilton is still celebrated for its carpets. Haircloth weaving and the manufacture of cocoa-nut fibres are carried on at Melksham, and there are silk works at Chippen ham, Malmesbury, Mere, and Warminster. Iron-smelting from the mines of the neighbourhood is carried on at Westbury ; portable engines are made at Devizes ; and at Swindon are the engineering works of the Great Western Railway. Various towns are associated with different branches of the agricultural trade : Salisbury and Devizes have important corn markets ; Chippenham, besides a trade in cheese, has a condensed milk manufactory ; Wilton has a large sheep fair ; and Calne is the centre of the Wiltshire bacon trade. Administration and Population. Wiltshire comprises 29 hun dreds, the city of Salisbury or New Sarum (population 14,792 in 1881), and the municipal boroughs of Calne (2474), Chippenham (1352), Devizes (6645), and Marlborough (3343). The county has one court of quarter sessions and is divided into fifteen petty sessional divisions. The city of Salisbury and the borough of Devizes have commissions of the peace and separate courts of quarter sessions, and the borough of Marlborough has a commission of the peace. Previous to the Act of 1885 the county was divided for parliamentary purposes into North and South Wilts, each returning two members, and included the following parliamentary boroughs Calne, Chippenham, part of Cricklade, Devizes, Malmes bury, Marlborough, Salisbury city, part of Shaftesbury, Westbury, and Wilton. All these returned one member each, with the ex ception of Salisbury, which returned two ; by the Act of 1885 they were all merged in the county divisions, with the exception of Salisbury, which was deprived of one member. The county was re formed into five parliamentary divisions, each returning one mem ber, north (Cricklade), into which the Wiltshire portion of Crick lade is merged ; north-west (Chippenham), into which Chippenham and Malmesbury are merged ; south (Wilton), into which Wilton is merged ; east (Devizes), into which Devizes and Marlborough are merged ; and west (Westbury), into which Westbury is merged. The county contains 340 civil parishes, with parts of seven others. It is mostly in the diocese of Salisbury. From 183,820 in 1801 the population by 1821 had increased to 219,574, and by 1841 to 256,280, and, although by 1861 it had diminished to 249,311, by 1871 it had again increased to 257,177 ; in 1881 it was 258,965, of whom 128,114 were males and 130,851 females. The number of persons to an acre is 30 and of acres to a person 3 35. History and Antiquities. In the importance of its early archrco- logical remains Wilts takes a foremost place among the counties of England. In the river gravel-beds near Salisbury and else where several specimens of flint implements of the Palaeolithic age have been dug up, and the numerous barrows of the Chalk downs have yielded a great variety of stone implements of the Neolithic age, as well as of a later period. The ancient British boundary, the Wans Dyke, passed westwards across the county from Great Bedwin ; west of Marlborough it still remains for many miles in a perfect condition. Traces of several other bound aries of a somewhat similar character are met with in other parts of the county. The British &quot;ridgeway&quot; runs north-eastwards from Avebury, near the tumulus of Silbury Hill, to the ancient forts of Barbury and Bad bury ; other ancient British trackways have been converted into Roman roads. Among the principal ancient defensive works are Battlesbury and Scratchbury near War- minster ; the entrenchments of Barbury and Badbury ; Bratton, near Westbmy, defended by double ramparts, in some places 36 feet in height, to which Guthrum the Dane is said to have retreated after his defeat by King Alfred ; Casterly, on a ridgeway about 7 miles south-east of Devizes, described by Sir R. C. Hoare as &quot;one of the most original and unaltered works of the British era which our country can produce &quot; ; Figbury Ring, 3 miles north-east of Salisbury, sometimes called Chlorus s camp, from the tradition that it was made by the British general Constantine Chlorus ; Sidbury, 3 miles south-west of Collingbourne, probably an ancient British town ; Vespasian s camp, between Amesbury and Stonehenge ; and Yarnbury camp, in very perfect preservation, to the north of Wily. Ogbury camp, 6 miles north of Salisbury, is an undoubted British entrenchment, but probably a sheep-fold. The stone circles of Avebury and Stonehenge are the most remarkable megalithic struc tures in the kingdom ; but their origin and date are the subject of much dispute. Durrington &quot;walls,&quot; north of Amesbury, are prob ably the remains of a British village ; there are also traces of others at several places on the slopes of the Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain. There are no records of the Roman invasion, though many evi- derices of Roman occupation remain. The ancient Fosse Way crossed the north-west corner of the county from Bath to Cirencester. From this last town another road passed southwards to Cunetro ( Folly Farm near Marlborough), joining the Via Julia, which crossed the county from Bath to Silchester. From Salisbury one went north-cast to Silchester, another east to Winchester, and another north-west to Bath. On the line of these roads remains of Roman villages have been found at different places. After the departure of the Romans Wilts was the scene of fre quent contests, first between the Britons and the Saxons and after wards between the Saxons and the Danes. Badbury is the reputed Mons Badonicm where King Arthur defeated Cerdic in 520. In 552 Cynric inflicted a severe defeat on a large army of Britons at Old Sarum, and in 556, after a great victory over them at Barbury Hill, he incorporated the country of the AVilsaetas in the kingdom Popul tion, ^ Histo and a tiquit Ancie Britis roads and fc ficati&amp;lt; Roma roads.