Malmesbury
Malmesbury is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham and 5 miles south of Tetbury. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upper waters of the Bristol Avon and one of its tributaries.
Once the site of an Iron Age fort, in the early medieval period Malmesbury became the site of Malmesbury Abbey, a monastery famed for its learning. It was later home to one of Alfred the Great's fortified burhs for defence against the Vikings. Æthelstan, the first king of all England, was buried in the abbey when he died in 939. As a market town, it became prominent in the Middle Ages as a centre for learning, focused on and around the abbey.
In modern times, Malmesbury is best known for its abbey, the bulk of which forms a rare survival of the dissolution of the monasteries. The economy benefits mostly from agriculture, as well as tourism to the Cotswolds; Dyson is the town's main employer. At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was almost 6,000.
Geography
Malmesbury sits on a flat Cotswolds hilltop at the convergence of two rivers. The town has a maximum elevation of and a minimum of ; the average elevation is above sea level. From the west, the infant Avon flows from Sherston, and from the north west, a tributary either known as the Tetbury Avon, River Avon, or—locally—The Ingleburn. They flow within of each other but are separated by a narrow and high isthmus which forces the Bristol Avon south and the Tetbury Avon east. This creates a rocky outcrop as a south-facing, gently sloping hilltop, until the two rivers meet on the southern edge of the town. With steep sides, in places cliff-like, the town was described by Sir William Waller as the best naturally defended inland location he had seen.In the 19th and 20th centuries the town expanded to the northwest, occupying land between the two rivers which was formerly in Westport and Brokenborough parishes. In the later 20th and early 21st, development was to the north, as far as the area known as Filands which is bounded by the B4014 road.
History
The hilltop contains several freshwater springs, which helped early settlements. It was the site of an Iron Age fort, and in the Anglo-Saxon period it had a monastery famed as a centre of learning. The town is listed in the Burghal Hidage as one of Alfred the Great's defended burhs assessed at 1200 hides, its Iron Age defences helping to provide protection against Viking attack. The town was described in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a borough. Also within the Domesday Book it is reported to be within the Hundred of Cicementone. Alfred's grandson, Æthelstan, the first king of England, was buried in Malmesbury Abbey in 939.Malmesbury Abbey
The Abbey was founded in 675 by Maildubh, Mailduf or Maelduib, an Irishman. The town came to be named after Maildubh; the name Malmesbury is a combination of Maildubh and burh, meaning Maildubh's fortification. After his death around 700, St Aldhelm became the first abbot and built the first church organ in England, which was described as a "mighty instrument with innumerable tones, blown with bellows, and enclosed in a gilded case." Having founded other churches in the area, including at Bradford on Avon, he died in 709 and was canonised. The Abbey's architecture is listed in the highest category and it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.Across the River Avon's Sherston branch via the footpath by 18 Gloucester Street is a depression called Daniels Well, and a farm beyond it is named after this. This derives from a monk called Daniel named after an earlier Daniel of Winchester. This former bishop, on losing his sight, lived at the abbey briefly until death in 745 and was educated there. The later monk is said to have submerged himself in the cold water every day for decades to quell fiery passions.
The Abbey was the site of an early attempt at human flight in 1010, when, as noted by historian William of Malmesbury, the monk Eilmer of Malmesbury flew a primitive hang glider from a tower. Eilmer flew over 180 metres before landing, breaking both his legs.
By the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, Malmesbury was one of the most significant towns in England. It is listed first in the Wiltshire section of the Domesday Book. King Henry I's chancellor, Roger of Salisbury, seized the monastery under his bishopric in 1118, and held it for 20 years. Renowned as a great builder, he rebuilt the wooden town walls wholly in stone rather than wood, constructing the short-lived Malmesbury Castle at the same time.
By the Middle Ages, the north of the town was heavily developed as a religious centre, resulting in the construction of the third Abbey on the site, the 12th-century Malmesbury Abbey, which had a spire taller than the one of Salisbury Cathedral. In 1220 this resulted in the construction of the Abbey guest house, which is now The Old Bell hotel and claims to be the oldest hotel in England. The Abbey's spire collapsed in either the late 15th or early 16th century. Under his English Reformation, King Henry VIII, sold the substantial land, but retaining a minor choice portion, to a local clothier William Stumpe. The extant part of the Abbey is now the parish church; the remains containing a parvise which still holds some fine examples of books from the former Abbey library.
Malmesbury natives are sometimes nicknamed Jackdaws, originating from the avian colony of these that inhabit the Abbey walls and roof.
Battles
The community was the ancient frontier of two kingdoms—Tetbury to the north was in Mercia, while Malmesbury was in the West Saxon Kingdom—resulting in centuries of animosity between the two towns. The location and defensive position of Malmesbury on the latterly important Oxford to Bristol route made it a strategic military point. During the 12th century civil war between Stephen of England and his cousin the Empress Matilda, the succession agreement between Stephen and Henry of Anjou was reached after their armies faced each other across the impassable River Avon at Malmesbury in the winter of 1153, with Stephen losing by refusing battle.During the Civil War the town changed hands seven times; the south face of Malmesbury Abbey still today bears pock-marks from cannon and gunshot. In 1646 Parliament ordered that the town walls be destroyed. As peace came to inland England, and the need to defend the developing coastal port towns became more important, Malmesbury, without its Abbey, lost its importance. As developing transport and trade routes passed it by, it regressed to a regional market town.
Malmesbury Commoners
At the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, King Æthelstan of Wessex defeated an army of northern English and Scots and made a claim to become the first 'King of All England'. Helped by many men from Malmesbury, in gratitude he gave the townsfolk their freedom, along with 600 hides of land to the south of the town. The status of freemen of Malmesbury was passed down through the generations and remains to this day. Since at least the 17th century, the right has been only handed down from father to son or son-in-law. There is a maximum of 280 commoners. To be a commoner, one has to be born to a freeman or marry the daughter of one. Since 2000, women were admitted for the first time—the daughters of freemen. The organisation, The Warden and Freemen of Malmesbury, still owns the land to the south of the town, along with dozens of properties, pubs and shops within the town itself, providing affordable housing to townsfolk.Westport St Mary
Westport, sometimes called Westport St. Mary, was a village and civil parish immediately west of Malmesbury, outside the confines of the hilltop. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes was born in Westport in 1588; his father, also Thomas, lived at Westport while serving as curate of Brokenborough.Westport no longer exists as a separate village and is not named on modern maps. The built-up area was incorporated in the borough of Malmesbury in 1934, and the rural parts of the parish were incorporated in 1896 into the parish of St Paul Malmesbury Without.
Government
Malmesbury was a municipal borough until 1974, when Malmesbury Town Council was formed as a successor to it. The council is made up of sixteen councillors, who annually elect a town mayor and deputy town mayor from their number. The town council meets at Malmesbury Town Hall.Malmesbury was in the area of Wiltshire County Council from its creation in 1889 until it was disbanded in 2009. In 1974, the municipal borough was merged into the North Wiltshire district.
In 2009, Wiltshire Council succeeded the county council and district council as a unitary authority. For elections to Wiltshire Council, Malmesbury forms one electoral division, returning a single unitary councillor. Gavin Grant, a Liberal Democrat, was re-elected in 2021, following his initial election in 2017.
At UK Government level in the House of Commons, Malmesbury is part of the South Cotswolds constituency, represented since 2024 by Roz Savage for the Liberal Democrats.
Public services
Malmesbury is policed by the Wiltshire Police force and is in the Royal Wootton Bassett Community Policing Team area. Fire services are provided by the Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, and ambulance services by the South Western Ambulance Service. Malmesbury is also served by the charity-funded Wiltshire Air Ambulance.A GP surgery—Malmesbury Primary Care Centre—is located in the town and is overseen by the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board. The NHS hospitals overseen by the board are Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Royal United Hospital in Bath, and Salisbury Hospital. There are also nearby minor injuries units in Tetbury and Chippenham.
Waste management services are overseen by Wiltshire Council, which provides recycling, refuse and garden waste collection.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the electricity distribution network operator which supplies the area.
Wessex Water is responsible for the provision of drinking water and sewerage in the area.