Trowbridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Trowbridge |
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| County town | |
 Trowbridge Town Hall, seen from Fore Street |
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 Trowbridge
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| Population | 37,169 (2021 Census) |
| OS grid reference | ST856579 |
| Unitary authority |
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| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TROWBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | BA14 |
| Dialling code | 01225 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament |
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Trowbridge (/ˈtroʊbrɪdʒ/ TROH-brij) is the county town of Wiltshire, England; situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, close to the border with Somerset. The town lies 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Bath, 31 miles (50 km) south-west of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Bristol. The parish had a population of 37,169 in 2021.
Long a market town, the Kennet and Avon canal to the north of Trowbridge played an instrumental part in the town's development, as it allowed coal to be transported from the Somerset Coalfield; this marked the advent of steam-powered manufacturing in woollen cloth mills. The town was the foremost centre of woollen cloth production in south west England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, by which time it held the nickname "The Manchester of the West".
The parish encompasses the settlements of Longfield, Lower Studley, Upper Studley, Studley Green and Trowle Common.
Contents
History
Toponymy
The origin of the name Trowbridge is uncertain; one source claims derivation from treow-brycg, meaning "Tree Bridge", referring to the first bridge over the Biss, while another states that the true meaning is the bridge by Trowle, the name of a hamlet and a common to the west of the town. On John Speed's map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt Trubridge.
Architecture
There is much of 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. The town hall is in Market Street, opposite the entrance to the pedestrianised Fore Street. This "imposing building" was presented to the residents of the town by a local businessman, Sir William Roger Brown in 1889, to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. It is currently used for military and other inquests. The town has six Grade I listed buildings, being St James' Church, Lovemead House and numbers 46, 64, 68 and 70, Fore Street. There is also the Polebarn Hotel which is a Grade II* listed building.
Governance
The Town Council is the first tier of local government and is composed of 21 councillors.
County Hall in Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, is the administrative centre for Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority created in April 2009 which replaced both West Wiltshire District Council and the former Wiltshire County Council, also headquartered at County Hall since 1940. Trowbridge civil parish is divided into seven electoral divisions, each electing one member of Wiltshire Council.
Trowbridge is within the South West Wiltshire parliamentary constituency, which has been represented by Andrew Murrison (Conservative) since its formation in 2010.
Geography
The River Biss enters Trowbridge from the southeast, where it flows through Biss Meadows, managed as a country park. In the north of the town it is joined by the Lambrok Stream, then continues north to join the River Avon near Staverton.
Northwest of the town, part of the Avon Green Belt prevents expansion towards Bradford-on-Avon. To the north and northwest, housing areas in Staverton and Hilperton parishes are contiguous with Trowbridge's urban area; however, to the south and southeast, the villages of Southwick, North Bradley, Yarnbrook and West Ashton maintain their separate identities.
Demography
The first official census of 1801 showed Trowbridge having 5,799 inhabitants, which rose sharply to 9,545 in 1821. The population rose by less than 50% in the 130 years to 1951, compared to a considerably larger increase in the population of the country as a whole. From 1951 to 2011, the population increased by 133%. Coinciding with this increase, a considerable conversion of arable fields and some riverside meadows to residential estates took place.
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1881 | 1891 | |
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| Population | 5,799 | 6,075 | 9,545 | 10,863 | 11,050 | 11,148 | 11,040 | 11,717 | |
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
| Population | 11,526 | 11,815 | 12,130 | 12,011 | 13,859 | 15,844 | 28,163 | 32,304 | 37,169 |
According to the census in 2011, the ethnic breakdown of the population of Trowbridge parish was: White 94.8%, Mixed/multiple ethnic groups 1.9%, Asian/Asian British 1.5%, Black/African/Caribbean/Black British 1.1%, Other ethnic group 0.8%. The population of the built-up area, which includes Staverton and Hilperton parishes, was 39,409 in 2011 and was estimated to have grown to 43,719 by mid-2020.
In 2018 the Office for National Statistics estimated the population of the larger "community area" at 45,822, making Trowbridge the most populous area in Wiltshire (excluding Swindon), with Chippenham close behind in second place and Salisbury third. At the 2021 Census, the population of the "built-up area" – consisting of Trowbridge, Staverton and Hilperton parishes – was 43,744.
Transport
Trowbridge railway station was opened in 1848 on the Westbury–Bradford-on-Avon section of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. Today this line forms part of both the Wessex Main Line (Bristol–Westbury–Southampton) and the Heart of Wessex Line (Bristol–Westbury–Weymouth), while the original route to Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon is used by the TransWilts service. Other services from Trowbridge join the Great Western Main Line at Bath and Chippenham, or join the Reading to Taunton line at Westbury.
Trowbridge is about 18 miles (29 km) from junction 17 of the M4 motorway at Chippenham. The A361 runs through the town, connecting it to Swindon to the north-east and Barnstaple to the south-west, while the north–south A350 primary route to Poole passes close to the town.
The nearest airport is Bristol Airport, which is 30 miles (48 km) west.
Education
Primary schools in the town include Bellefield Primary School, The Grove Primary School, Holbrook Primary School, Oasis Academy Longmeadow, Paxcroft Primary School, The Mead Community Primary School, Newtown Primary School, Castle Mead School, St John's Catholic Primary School, Studley Green Primary School and Walwayne Court Primary School. Children may also attend schools in adjacent parishes including North Bradley CE Primary School, Hilperton CE Primary School and Staverton CE Primary School.
Secondary schools in Trowbridge are the Clarendon Academy, the John of Gaunt School and St Augustine's Catholic College. All of the secondary schools also operate their own sixth forms. Larkrise School is a special school for children aged 3 to 19.
Wiltshire College has one of its four campuses in Trowbridge offering a range of vocational courses for school-leavers.
Healthcare
Trowbridge Cottage Hospital, now Trowbridge Community Hospital was opened in 1870.
Shopping and entertainment
The town centre is compact, and the focus for shops is the ancient Fore Street; the more modern Shires, Shires Gateway and Castle Place shopping centres provide a variety of outlets.
The civic centre, opened in 2011 and next to the town's central park, is a conference and entertainment venue and is home to the town's information centre as well as Trowbridge Town Council. A nearby leisure development includes an Odeon cinema and several food vendors (Wagamama, Nando's etc.).
The former Town Hall, a large Victorian building, is a performance and exhibition venue and is also used by community groups. At Wiltshire College the Arc Theatre is used by students and local groups. There is a concert hall at Wiltshire Music Centre in neighbouring Bradford-on-Avon.
Trowbridge is part of the historic West Country Carnival circuit, and has also given its name to the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. The festival was held in the old stablehouse of the Lamb Inn public house on Mortimer Street in Trowbridge, and was founded by Alan Briars and Dave Newman. Currently the event, renamed Trowbridge Festival, takes place at Stowford Manor Farm between Wingfield near Trowbridge and Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset.
Notable people
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Methodism was introduced to the town by local evangelist Joanna Turner in the 18th century. Trowbridge was the birthplace of Sir Isaac Pitman in 1813, developer of the Pitman system of shorthand writing, who has several memorial plaques. Matthew Hutton (later archbishop of Canterbury) was the town's rector from 1726 to 1730. The poet George Crabbe held the same position from 1814 until his death in 1832.
Mary Mortimer, born in Trowbridge in 1816, became an American educator. Sir William Cook, born in Trowbridge in 1905, was involved with the development of the British nuclear bomb at Aldermaston in the 1950s, becoming the establishment's deputy director.
Sir William Roger Brown (1831–1902), a Trowbridge mill-owner, employed more than a thousand people and donated a school, almshouses, and the Trowbridge Town Hall to the town.
David Stratton, the film critic was born in Trowbridge in 1939. He founded the Melksham and District Film Society before emigrating to Australia in 1963, where he ran the Sydney Film Festival for 17 years, as well as presenting the film review shows The Movie Show on SBS and At The Movies on the ABC.
Nick Blackwell, professional boxer and former British middleweight champion, is from Trowbridge, as are footballer Nathan Dyer (who played for Leicester City in the 2015-16 season when they won the Premier League), disgraced snooker player Stephen Lee, and Daniel Talbot, winner of the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in a time of 37.47sec – the third fastest time in history.
The Oliver Twins, who created the Dizzy series of games amongst others, and in 1990 founded Interactive Studios (later Blitz Games), grew up in Trowbridge. A building at the Clarendon Academy is named after the brothers.
Dick Lucas, founding member and main vocalist of punk rock band Subhumans was born in Trowbridge.
Tom Gale, high jumper who represented Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; went to school in Trowbridge.
Sport and leisure
The town has a non-league football club, Trowbridge Town F.C., who play at Woodmarsh to the south of the town, near North Bradley.
Trowbridge Cricket Club play at Trowbridge Cricket Club Ground which is also used by Wiltshire County. The town's 1st XI play in the Wiltshire division of the West of England Premier League.
Trowbridge Rugby Football Club, whose ground is at Hilperton to the northeast of the town, play in Southern Counties South.
Trowbridge Sports Centre, on the same site as The Clarendon Academy, has the town's only indoor swimming pool.
A greyhound racing track was opened around the Frome Road ground used by Trowbridge Town F.C. from 3 July 1976 until July 1979. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. A series of meetings were also held during 1953.
Town twinning
Trowbridge is twinned with four towns: Oujda, the area of Morocco where most of the town's immigrant population originate, since 2006; Leer in Germany, since 1989; Charenton-le-Pont in France since 1996; and Elbląg in Poland, as part of West Wiltshire district twinning, since 2000. The town was the first in England to twin with an Arab Muslim country.
See also
In Spanish: Trowbridge para niños
