Wiltshire Historical Facts

At 129 ft high (39.3 metres), Silbury Hill in Avesbury, Wiltshire, is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

Amesbury has recently been proven to be the oldest town in England, going back some 5,000 years. The town is just 2 miles from Stonehenge.

It was written in the 'History of the Kings of Britain' by Geofrey of Monmouth in 1136, that the Wizard Merlin built Stonehenge at request of Arthur as a monument to the Princes of Briton who lay buried there after they had been betrayed and slaughtered by the Saxons led by Hengist. This story was widely accepted until around the 16th century.

The Wiltshire village of Maiden Bradley was named after a leper colony for maidens, and a broad (Brad)clearing (Ley) in a wood.

The water table beneath Salisbury Cathedral is only four feet below the surface.

Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire in England at 404 feet tall.