Editing Wiltshire (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Wiltshire}}
[[File:Stonehenge back wide.jpg|left|thumb|[[Stonehenge]]]]
Wiltshire is notable for its pre-[[Roman Britain|Roman]] [[archaeology]]. The [[Mesolithic]], [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. [[Stonehenge]] and [[Avebury]] are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK.

In the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] Britain, as [[Cranborne Chase]] and the [[Somerset Levels]] prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of [[Bedwyn]] was fought in 675 between [[Aescwine of Wessex|Escuin]], a [[Wessex|West Saxon]] nobleman who had seized the throne of [[Seaxburh of Wessex|Queen Saxburga]], and [[King Wulfhere]] of [[Mercia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Michael |title=Kennet & Avon Middle Thames: Pearson's Canal Companion |year=2003 |publisher=Central Waterways Supplies |location=Rugby |isbn=0-907864-97-X}}</ref> In 878 the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] invaded the county. Following the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown and the church.

At the time of the [[Domesday Survey]], the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural; 390 [[mill (grinding)|mills]] are mentioned, and [[vineyards]] at Tollard and Lacock. In the succeeding centuries sheep-farming was vigorously pursued, and the Cistercian monastery of [[Stanley Abbey|Stanley]] exported wool to the [[Florence|Florentine]] and [[Flanders|Flemish]] markets in the 13th and 14th centuries.

[[File:Sc Saxton Wiltonia.jpg|thumb|Hand-drawn map of Wiltshire, 1576, by Christopher Saxton]]

In the 17th century, [[English Civil War]] Wiltshire was largely [[roundhead|Parliamentarian]]. The [[Battle of Roundway Down]], a Royalist victory, was fought near [[Devizes]].

In 1794, it was decided at a meeting at the [[Bear Hotel, Devizes|Bear Inn]] in Devizes to raise a body of ten independent troops of [[Yeomanry]] for the county of Wiltshire, which formed the basis for what would become the [[Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry]], who served with distinction both at home and abroad, during the [[Boer War]], World War I and World War II. The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry lives on as Y (RWY) Squadron, based in Swindon, and B (RWY) Squadron, based in Salisbury, of the [[Royal Wessex Yeomanry]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mod.uk/armoured/regiments/30061.aspx |title=Royal Wessex Yeomanry |last=British Army Website |work=Regimental Page |publisher=British Army |access-date=5 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065056/http://www.army.mod.uk/armoured/regiments/30061.aspx |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Around 1800, the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]] was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from [[Bristol]] to London until the development of the [[Great Western Railway]].

Information on the 261 civil parishes of Wiltshire is available at Wiltshire Council's Wiltshire Community History website which has maps, demographic data, historic and modern pictures and short histories.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Community History |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory |website=[[Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre]] |publisher=Wiltshire Council |date= |access-date=14 May 2023 |archive-date=14 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514172402/https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory |url-status=live }}</ref>

The local nickname for Wiltshire natives is "[[Moonrakers]]". This originated from a story of [[smuggler]]s who managed to foil the local [[Excise]] men by hiding their alcohol, possibly French [[brandy]] in barrels or kegs, in a village pond. When confronted by the excise men they raked the surface to conceal the submerged [[contraband]] with ripples, and claimed that they were trying to rake in a large round cheese visible in the pond, really a reflection of the full moon. The officials took them for simple yokels or mad and left them alone, allowing them to continue with their illegal activities. Many villages claim the tale for their own village pond, but the story is most commonly linked with The Crammer in [[Devizes]].<ref name="devizesheritage">{{cite web |url=http://www.devizesheritage.org.uk/the_green_devizes.html |website=Devizesheritage.org.uk |title=The Green and Crammer Pond, Devizes |access-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423070252/http://www.devizesheritage.org.uk/the_green_devizes.html |archive-date=23 April 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/moonraking/folklore_moonraking.shtml |title=Moonraking: The Folklore |work=Where I live: Wiltshire |publisher=BBC Wiltshire |access-date=1 December 2008 |archive-date=11 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111172049/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/moonraking/folklore_moonraking.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>