Trowbridge

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For other places with the same name, see Trowbridge (disambiguation).

Map sources for Trowbridge at grid reference ST8557

Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England. The civil parish of Trowbridge had a population of 28,148 according to the 2001 census.

1 Location
2 History
3 "Ibiza"
4 Architecture
5 Entertainment and Pubs
6 Individuals associated with Trowbridge
- 6.1 Other famous Trowbridge residents
7 Town Development
8 Increase in Violent Crime
9 Town twinning
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Location

Trowbridge is situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, about ten miles South East of Bath. Neighbouring towns and villages include Bradford on Avon, Westbury, Melksham, Devizes, Hilperton and Semington. The name of the town comes from a root meaning 'Tree Bridge', referring to the first bridge over the River Biss. The Kennet and Avon canal runs to the north of the town. This played a large part in the development of the town as it allowed coal to be transported from the Somerset coal fields. Trowbridge has a railway station on the Wessex Main Line.

[edit] History

There is evidence that the land on which Trowbridge is built was being farmed more than 3,000 years ago. In the 10th century there is clear evidence of Trowbridge's existence and in the Domesday Book the village of Straburg, as Trowbridge was then known, was recorded as having 100 residents.

From the 13th century onwards Trowbridge developed a clothing industry, increasingly becoming industrialised from the 17th century onwards; at one point in 1820 it was being described as the "Manchester of the West" as it had 15 factories, comparable to Northern industrial towns such as Rochdale. The wool industry went into decline in the late 19th century and continued to decline throughout the 20th century — the last mill closed in 1982 and is now the home of a museum dedicated to the history of the town and its former industry. In its place a bedding industry developed, initially using wool cast off from the mills — the company now known as Airsprung Furniture Group PLC was started in the town in the 1870s. Food production also developed in the town when Abraham Bowyer started his business which eventually, as Bowyers, became one of the largest employers in the town. The brewing company Ushers opened in Trowbridge in 1824 and developed the brewery in the town — this was finally shut in 2000 following several changes of ownership.

[edit] "Ibiza"

In 2000 a local district councillor, Mr. Osborn, famously claimed that Trowbridge 'was just like Ibiza'. This comment drew widespread surprise as Mr. Osborn had never visited Ibiza, and caused some residents to suspect he had never visited Trowbridge either^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Architecture

Trowbridge Town Hall, as seen from Fore Street

There is much architectural interest in Trowbridge, including many of the old buildings associated with the textile industry, and the Newtown conservation area, a protected zone of mostly Victorian houses. In the churchyard of St James one can see the memorial tombstone of Thomas Helliker. The main street is Fore Street, which has a variety of shops, and there are also the Shires and Castle Place shopping centres. The Civic Hall is adjacent to the town park, where the tourist information kiosk can be found.

[edit] Entertainment and Pubs

The town is home to many pubs, several music venues, and two leisure centres.

Trowbridge is part of the historic West Country Carnival circuit.

Trowbridge has given its name to the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival although the event is actually held at Stowford Manor farm between Wingfield near Trowbridge and Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset.

[edit] Individuals associated with Trowbridge

Trowbridge was the birthplace of Sir Isaac Pitman, developer of the Pitman system of shorthand writing. He is remembered in the town through several memorial plaques, and his name has been taken by a pub in the town centre - "The Isaac Pitman"

The poet George Crabbe was Rector of Trowbridge from 1814 until his death in 1832

Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been the town's Rector in the 18th century.

Professional snooker player Stephen Lee developed whilst playing snooker in Trowbridge's snooker club.

The town also boasts world champion town crier Trevor Heeks among its residents.

[edit] Other famous Trowbridge residents

[edit] Town Development

Since 2002, there have been plans in place^[1] to redevelop the town.

In the early 1990s the supermarket chain Tesco changed location from their site near to the Civic Hall to a site adjoining the A361 on County Way. The previous site has been in development since. Trowbridge residents have frequently voiced their desire for new leisure facilities to be built on the site, with reference often made to Trowbridge's lack of a cinema.

The former Ushers brewery site has also been in the process of redevelopment for a number of years. A development of new apartments and a supermarket are planned for the site. ^[2]

Near to the new Tesco site, on the Longfield roundabout, a former scrapyard has been redeveloped into office blocks.^[3]

[edit] Increase in Violent Crime

The town has recently had a series of high profile violent crimes that have reached national attention - one of which being the murder of Hayley Richards in 2005.^[4]

Another crime to reach national attention was the shooting of three people by a 15 year old boy in 2006.^[5]