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51-525: Trowbridge Town Hall is a municipal building in Market Street, Trowbridge , Wiltshire , England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Trowbridge Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building . After significant population growth, largely associated with the cloth industry, a local board of health was established in Trowbridge in 1864. In the 1880s, the local board decided that

102-458: A cost of £20,000, and was opened by the Duchess of Albany on 14 June 1889. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Market Street; the central bay featured an arched doorway flanked by brackets supporting a balustrade ; there was a pair of mullion windows on the first floor and a tall Italianate style clock tower with a spire above. (The clock, of 1888,

153-624: A group of residents formed the Trowbridge Town Hall Trust to help restore the building, and since then it has been used for exhibitions and community events. As of 2023–2024, work is underway to restore the structure and remodel the interior, with funding from the UK Government's Future High Streets fund. Once the works are complete, the Town Hall Trust will have a long lease of the building. Works of art in

204-523: 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. There is an annual multi-day folk music festival called Trowbridge Festival , formerly Trowbridge Village Pump Festival;

255-664: A market charter, arguably the earliest for a town in Wiltshire, and one of the earliest in England. His officials were to lay out burgage plots for traders, artisans, and shopkeepers. The outline of these plots can still be seen today in the footprints of some of the present shops in Fore Street. Within Trowbridge Castle was a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon church. Henry de Bohun turned this to secular use and instead had

306-533: A new church built outside the Castle; this was the first St James's Church. In the base of the tower of the present day church, below the subsequently added spire, can be seen the Romanesque architecture of the period. In 1200 Henry de Bohun was created Earl of Hereford by King John . Like other barons, Henry was later threatened by King John and his caput of Trowbridge was taken from him. Henry then joined with

357-481: A number of years, with Newland Homes building town centre flats incorporating the frontage of the Usher's building. In April 2009, building work started on one of the town's biggest brownfield sites, the former Usher's bottling plant. This was developed into a Sainsbury's supermarket, a public square and housing. There is much of architectural interest in Trowbridge, including many of the old buildings associated with

408-580: 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

459-659: A site adjoining the A361 on County Way, and their former site remained dormant for a decade. The building was demolished but a pile of rubble, nicknamed 'Mount Crushmore' by local media, remained. Legal & General acquired the land and construction of St Stephen's Place Leisure Park began in 2012. A seven-screen Odeon cinema and Nando's restaurant opened in October 2013. A Premier Inn and food outlets including Frankie and Benny's and Prezzo followed in 2014. The former Usher's brewery site has also undergone redevelopment over

510-605: 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

561-414: A year. Its feudal lord was an Anglo-Saxon named Brictric , who was the largest landowner in Wiltshire. The first mention of Trowbridge Castle was in 1139 when it was besieged. It was no longer in military use by the 14th century and by the 16th only ruins remained. The castle is thought to have been a motte-and-bailey castle, and its influence can still be seen in the town today. Fore Street follows

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612-563: 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

663-633: Is the county town of Lancashire , but the county council is in Preston . Due to the creation of unitary authorities , some county towns in Great Britain are administratively separate from the county. For example, Nottingham is separated from the rest of Nottinghamshire , and Brighton and Hove is separate from East Sussex . On a ceremonial level, both are in their own respective counties geographically. This list shows towns or cities which held county functions at various points in time. Following

714-614: Is within the South West Wiltshire parliamentary constituency, which has been represented by Andrew Murrison ( Conservative ) since its formation in 2010. 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

765-579: 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

816-610: 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. County town The concept of a county town is ill-defined and unofficial. Some counties in Great Britain have their administrative bodies housed elsewhere. For example, Lancaster

867-613: The Norman invasion of Wales , the Cambro-Normans created the historic shire system (also known as ancient counties). Many of these counties were named for the centre of Norman power within the new county (Caernarfonshire named for Caernarfon, Monmouthshire named for Monmouth) others were named after the previous medieval Welsh kingdoms (Ceredigon becomes Cardigan, Morgannwg becomes Glamorgan). The 1535 Laws in Wales Act established

918-562: 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. 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

969-654: The 2021 Census, the population of the "built-up area" – consisting of Trowbridge, Staverton and Hilperton parishes – was 43,744. 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

1020-480: The 2024 edition was held at Southwick , near Trowbridge. 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

1071-468: 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. Trowbridge Cottage Hospital , now Trowbridge Community Hospital

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1122-664: The Son and God the Holy Ghost, I declare this stone well and truly laid, that on it a Town Hall may be erected for the benefit of the inhabitants of Trowbridge, as a memorial of the blessings vouchsafed to us, the people of England, during the fifty years of Her Majesty’s reign, completed on this day. God Save the Queen!" The new building was designed by Alfred Samuel Goodridge of Bath in the Jacobethan style , built in ashlar stone at

1173-622: The administrative headquarters in some cases moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major boundary changes in England and Wales and administrative counties were replaced with new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties . The boundaries underwent further alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create unitary authorities , and some of the ancient counties and county towns were restored. (Note: not all headquarters are or were called County Halls or Shire Halls e.g.: Cumbria County Council's HQ up until 2016

1224-586: The area. The ballroom was used for local dances and musical events, and in the 1960s performers appearing there included the rock bands Rod Stewart and the Soul Agents , in December 1964, The Who , in April 1965, and Small Faces in August 1965. The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the urban district council for much of the 20th century, but ceased to be the local seat of government after

1275-461: 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

1326-506: The end. The last mill, Salter's Home Mill, closed in 1982 and is now the home of Boswell's Café and Trowbridge Museum and Art Gallery, integrated into the Shires Shopping Centre . The museum portrays the history of woollen cloth production in the town; the displays include a rare Spinning Jenny , one of only five remaining worldwide. There are also working looms on display. Clark's Mill is now home to offices; straddling

1377-422: The enlarged West Wiltshire District Council was formed in new offices at Bradley Road in 1974. After 1974, the town hall belonged to West Wiltshire District Council, and then from 2009 to its successor Wiltshire Council , which considered disposing of it. It continued to be used as a magistrates' court until 2003 and was also used as the venue for coroners' inquests into the deaths of military personnel. In 2011,

1428-543: The historic counties in English law , but in Wales they were later replaced with eight preserved counties for ceremonial purposes and the twenty two principal areas are used for administrative purposes. Neither of these subdivisions use official county towns, although their administrative headquarters and ceremonial centres are often located in the historic county town. With the creation of elected county councils in 1889,

1479-484: 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 . In the 10th century, written records and architectural ruins begin marking Trowbridge's existence as a village. In the 1086 Domesday Book the village of Straburg, as Trowbridge was then known, was recorded as having 24 households, well endowed with land, particularly arable ploughlands, and rendering 8 pounds sterling to its feudal lord

1530-494: The nearby River Biss is the "Handle House", formerly used for drying and storage of teazles used to raise the nap of cloth. This is one of very few such buildings still known to exist in the United Kingdom. In its place a bedding industry developed, initially using wool cast off from the mills; the company now known as Airsprung Furniture Group was started in the town in the 1870s. Food production also developed in

1581-501: The nickname "The Manchester of the West". The parish encompasses the settlements of Longfield, Lower Studley, Upper Studley, Studley Green and Trowle Common. 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 the true meaning is the bridge by Trowle ,

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1632-667: 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

1683-541: The other barons to oppose John's arbitrary rule and forced him to seal Magna Carta (the Great Charter) at Runnymede ; and was elected as one of the 25 enforcers of the charter. Some years after Runnymede, Henry regained control of Trowbridge. Trowbridge developed as a centre for woollen cloth production from the 14th century. Thus before the start of the Tudor period , the towns of south-west Wiltshire stood out from

1734-517: The path of the castle ditch, and town has a Castle Street and the Castle Place Shopping Centre. It is likely the Castle was built by Humphrey I de Bohun ; his family dominated the town for over a hundred years. The most notable member of the family was Henry de Bohun , born around 1176, who became lord of the manor when he was about 15 years of age. It was he who really began to shape the medieval town. In 1200 he obtained

1785-460: The rear of the town hall was landscaped to create a "Sensory Garden". On 6 August 1889, soon after the creation of Wiltshire County Council , one of its earliest meetings took place at Trowbridge Town Hall. In 1894, the parish of Trowbridge became an urban district , with the town hall as its headquarters, and in November 1917 King George V and Queen Mary visited the town hall on a visit to

1836-430: The rest of the county with all the signs of increasing wealth and prosperity during the period of trade recovery led by exports begun under Yorkist Edward IV and, still more, during expansion under Henry VII , when England's annual woollen exports increased from some 60,000 to some 80,000 cloths of assize. During the 17th century the production of woollen cloth became increasingly industrialised. However, mechanisation

1887-459: 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

1938-721: 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. 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

1989-534: The textile industry, and the Newtown conservation area, a protected zone of mostly Victorian houses. The town has six Grade I listed buildings , namely St James's Church , Lovemead House on Roundstone Street, and numbers 46, 64, 68 and 70 Fore Street. The latter is referred to more commonly as Parade House . Trowbridge Town Hall is in Market Street, opposite the entrance to the now-pedestrianised Fore Street. This three-storey building with an Italianate clock-tower

2040-603: The town hall include a bust by Edward Sheppard depicting the benefactor, Sir William Roger Brown, as well as portrait of him by an unknown artist. Trowbridge Trowbridge ( / ˈ t r oʊ b r ɪ dʒ / 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

2091-518: The town needed a municipal building, and a wealthy cloth merchant, Sir William Roger Brown , offered to pay for it to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria . The site the board acquired was then occupied by a large private house known as "The Limes". The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Mrs Brown on 21 June 1887, when she declared: "In the name of God the Father, God

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2142-462: The town through companies such as frozen food processor Apetito . The largest employers are Wiltshire Council and Apetito. Since 2002, there have been plans in place to redevelop significant town centre sites. Trowbridge Community Area Future (TCAF) produced a Community Area Plan in 2004, to guide future development. In the early 1990s the supermarket chain Tesco moved from St Stephen's Place to

2193-620: The town when Abraham Bowyer started his business in 1805 which eventually, as Pork Farms Bowyers , became one of the largest employers in the town until closure in April 2008 when production moved to the Shaftesbury and Nottingham factories. The town became the county town of Wiltshire in 1889 when Wiltshire County Council was formed and sought a place which representatives from Swindon and Salisbury, among others, could reach and return home from in one day. Trowbridge fulfilled this criterion by virtue of its railway connections and thus

2244-640: 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. 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

2295-476: Was called The Courts and has since moved to Cumbria House.) Before 1974, many of the county halls were in towns and cities that had the status of a county borough i.e. a borough outside the county council's jurisdiction. The follow lists the location of the administration of each of the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, with 26 of the traditional counties. Note – Despite the fact that Belfast

2346-484: Was chosen as the county town, further reinforced by the construction of the county hall in 1939. The brewing company Ushers of Trowbridge opened in 1824, and developed the brewery in the town. This was finally shut in 2000 following several changes of ownership and its equipment was sold to North Korea , where it forms the core of the Taedonggang brewery, just outside Pyongyang . Food production continues in

2397-540: Was opened in 1870. 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 ,

2448-407: Was presented to the residents of the town by a local mill-owner, Sir William Roger Brown , in 1889 to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee . The building was the seat of local government until 1974 and subsequently accommodated the magistrates' courts until 2003. More recently it has been used for exhibitions and community events. The Town Council is the first tier of local government and

2499-462: Was provided by J. W. Benson Ltd.) In the left hand bay there was a giant round headed window with tracery on the first floor and a shaped gable above, while to the right there was a large oriel window with a shaped gable above. Internally, the principal rooms were the courtroom, which was used as a venue for petty sessions , the council chamber and the ballroom. The building was also equipped with police cells for people facing trial and an area to

2550-480: Was resisted by workers in traditional trades; there were riots in 1785 and 1792, and again in the era of Luddism (1811–1816) owing to the introduction of the flying shuttle . Thomas Helliker , a shearman's apprentice, became one of the martyrs of the Industrial Revolution in 1803 when he was hanged at Fisherton Jail, Salisbury . Nevertheless, at one point in 1820, Trowbridge's scale of production

2601-434: Was such it was described as the " Manchester of the West". It had over 20 woollen cloth producing factories, making it comparable to northern industrial towns such as Rochdale . The woollen cloth industry declined in the late 19th century with the advent of ring-spinning , and this decline continued throughout the 20th century, although Trowbridge's West of England cloth maintained a reputation for excellent quality until

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