Article revised January 2009. Please note prices and statistics were accurate at this time.

Malmesbury is fortunate enough to be one of those communities which has always been close, and the people are always willing to club together to help out the town, or their neighbours. If you want a taste of UK history you don't just have to look at the buildings in Malmesbury - the way of life in the town is also, in it's way, historical - in a similar way to rural locations across the UK, the North Wiltshire region isn't caught up in a losing battle against gang culture, binge drinking and whichever other buzzwords-of-the-moment the media pick up on. Here's a look at life in Malmesbury in 2009.

WHERE ARE WE, AND WHY ARE WE HERE?

Malmesbury is in a fantastically formed part of England. More than

2,500 years ago, settlers chose this spot to build their community.

Before any development took place here the landscape would hav

contained all the key features you needed in those times.

For starters, there is what's known as a knoll hill... a bump in the

ground. In fact, if you look at Malmesbury's contours, the ground forms

a kind of a raised figure '8'. In one circle you have the Abbey, High

Street and town centre, in the other circle you have The Triangle, and

some of the town's post-war housing estates. Abbey Row is the thinnest

part of this hill at just seventy metres across, the Abbey is perched on

one of the higher points which, when it was built, would have had views

for miles around in every direction.

Hills were important to Iron Age man as it meant houses could be

built up with panoramic views to see if any enemies were planning on invading. Secondly, this knoll had it's own natural moat.

The waters of the Avon and the Ingleburn surround 90% of Malmesbury, the only way in without crossing water is from the North West (or Sherston Road). This is also the highest and flattest way into Malmesbury... another advantage when spotting oncoming threats.

Of course, water is also an essential part of any community. If there were no rivers near a plot of land, it would be impossible for anyone in 500BC to stay there. Vegetation is also a key issue, and there would have been fantastic ground for growing fruit and vegetables, as well as good grazing land for livestock. This was all available thanks to the waterways and rich landscape.

Wiltshire and Somerset together make an extremely mystical part of England. The site for Malmesbury is less than 40 miles north of Stonehenge; it's also only about an hour's drive from Glastonbury... a town with one of the most strangest and secret histories in the whole country. So, even before Malmesbury left it's mark on history there was already plenty of activity in this area.

Nowadays none of these survival factors apply thanks to infrastructures of power, sewer systems and international trade. To get to Malmesbury in this day and age it can be reached in less than 10 minutes from the M4 (Chippenham junction) or half an hour from the M5 (from Cirencester, Stroud or Gloucester). The hills and topography are still very noticeable, despite the fact that developments now surround the scenery, and the rivers pose no threat to modern day visitors thanks to improved bridges (although we do get floods from time to time such as January 2007 and October 2001).

In the last couple of years Malmesbury's dignitaries have been doing their best to promote the history of our town by high-lighting our very own Saint's Day. St Athelstan lived in Malmesbury around 1,400 years ago. It's thanks to Athelstan and Aldhelm that Malmesbury and English Catholicism are what they are today.

WHAT IS THE M4 CORRIDOR?

It seems that since Day 1 Malmesbury has always been in a prime location to be an advantage to whoever lived there. When the Romans built the Fosseway (the longest surviving road of that time which ran from the Cornish ports of the South West right up into the East Midlands) was just a couple of miles away from Malmesbury. It was only 10 miles away from the then capital of England, Cirencester.

In later years Malmesbury found itself as a central point, close to many key roads of the time. In today's time of big industry and commuting, Malmesbury is still in a prime location. Geographically it's in an area known as the M4 Corridor, a band of wealth that runs from London to the Bristol Channel. It is named after the M4 motorway, which was built more than forty years ago.

Back in the Sixties this three lane superhighway (as the name suggests, the fourth in the country) gave large companies a chance to finally get out of expensive London to find a new site for their offices and factories, without losing the easy access into our capital. This sprawl started with London's outskirts, then onto Reading, and finally reached Swindon and Bristol.

Before this there was a similar sprawl of companies heading north on the M1. Both of these 'bands' suddenly started seeing the wealth of industry which, until now had been mostly set in London's boundaries. If you look back at Malmesbury's industry over the past 50 years you'll see companies such as Linolite (this no longer exists but was a London firm which mass produced fluorescent tubes and shaving lights. They moved to Malmesbury after their London factory was bombed during the Blitz.)

Until 2004 there was a factory on the Swindon Road with a very interesting past: During the Second World War, Cowbridge House was allegedly used by the Ministry of Defence along with a building in the High Street to develop radar. The factory was originally used to make Ekco radios. After the war, it was bought by Pye, then Philips, followed by Cable and Wireless, which became AT&T, and finally Lucent before they moved to Swindon. The site is currently being developed.

You may not have heard of Lux Traffic Controls, but next time you get stuck in roadworks look for their logo on the lights or signs. George Lux started the company thirty years ago in Malmesbury and they still have a depot in the town - although they have now been taken over by A-Plant.

Malmesbury continues to grow entrepreneurs, such as James Murray Wells, the young man who started selling prescription glasses over the Internet for a fraction of the price of High Street opticians. Glasses Direct (and Contacts Direct) quickly expanded and the company was forced to find larger premises in 2008.

The town's biggest homegrown business is without question Dyson

Technologies. James Dyson created the multi-coloured, bagless vacuum

cleaner, contra-rotating washing machine and jet-powered hand dryers.

In the late nineties his factory on Tetbury Hill produced every Dyson

throughout Europe. Sadly, most of the production has now moved to Asia.

The move was put down to cheaper production costs.

As you can see from the companies listed above, there is a running

theme of companies either moving away or shutting down...  the

majority of people in Malmesbury now have to travel to Chippenham or

Swindon to find work. It seems strange that just 15 years ago there were

more people employed in Malmesbury than actually lived there! The

biggest development centre to us is Swindon. Just seventy years ago it

was a village smaller than Malmesbury, now it is a town with a higher

population than most small cities!

Swindon remains one of the largest growing industry centres in the country... good news not just for the people of Swindon, but also for people living nearby. Companies based there include car manufacturers Honda, telecommunications firm Motorola and the Nationwide Building Society.

Despite recessions and relocations, this area is still seen as vibrant and healthy with fairly low unemployment, relatively high wages and a reasonable living cost, especially in places such as Malmesbury - although higher bills and astronomical house prices are having a serious impact.

PROPERTY AND WEALTH

OK, so parking is no longer free in Malmesbury unless you use side streets, but you can still get a pint for £2.40 and you can still go for a walk around the countryside and the Abbey without feeling obliged to pay for the privilege but when you come to look at property prices, you know you're in a wealthy area. The latest figures have fallen in line with the current global downturn, that said the average house being sold in Malmesbury at the end of 2008 was fetching £340,000... more than 50% above the current national average of £222,200

If you wanted to buy a detached house anywhere in the UK the

average price would be a 350 thousand pounds, the average detached

home in Malmesbury and the rest of the SN16 area (covering villages

such as Sherston, Charlton, Lea and Crudwell) is more like 450

thousand, that's 28% higher than the national average. A terraced house

would set you back nearly 290 grand (65% higher than the national

average) and a semi is 250 thousand. It's a completely different picture

when you look at flats - Malmesbury's average is £145,000 compared to a

UK average of £205,000. This is because there are very few flats in

Malmesbury, the majority of them are small dwellings above shops.

Average prices in Malmesbury have fallen compared to 12 months ago.

Because of these prices the only type of person who can easily afford

to buy a home in Malmesbury is somebody with property to start with,

people on very high salaries, or those who're looking to spend their

retirement money. It's a sad fact that families who have lived in Malmesbury

for generations are being forced out simply because the young people of the

town can't afford to buy a starter home here.

Aside from the prices of homes being too high, there is also a problem with the style of home being built. When developers get a plot of land, they will apply to build, for example, thirty small starter homes, these plans always go down like lead balloons and an agreement is reached for developers to build a smaller number of houses, with a certain type of slate and a certain type of stone so that it blends in with the surroundings. This means the size of the houses is bigger, which means the finished price is going to be higher. In effect, what starts as an idea to build first-time homes is inadvertently being transformed into another cul-de-sac for retired stockbrokers by our district council.

Current demographic figures show Malmesbury has a higher than average population aged between 30 and 55, and a lower than average population aged 15 to 30.

This trend has been buckled slightly with two large developments currently ongoing at both ends of Malmesbury to provide cheaper homes. Unfortunately the current recession means people are unable to afford these homes as well.

At the moment younger people are being forced to move away and older, richer people are moving in. But Malmesbury has a reputation which seems to far outstretch the realism... one of the worst offenders seems to be North Wiltshire District Council (responsible for the town's housing needs, but not actually based in Malmesbury) which seems to take the attitude that if something needs doing in Malmesbury, the residents can afford to pay for it themselves.

In January 2004, more than a million pounds of cash from the council didn't materialise after they decided not to renovate the Town Hall. Instead, they told the Town Council to raise the money to BUY the building off them or they'd sell it within three months to a private buyer. An agreement was made and the town council bought the building for one pound... on the understanding that they would spend an extra £750,000 to pay for the renoavtion work... which is a fair whack of money for a town council to raise. Also, in 2003 Malmesbury's public loos appeared on a BBC documentary about the ten worst WC's throughout the United Kingdom, again nobody from NWDC came forward with any kind of renovation plans and the ugly annex to the Town Hall building still stands today. Luckily for all concerned, the townsfolk and traders manahed to get enough pennies together to see the development through.

Attitudes like this have given Malmesbury a real kicking over the past years, residents are fed up with being told to buy their own improvements after all, isn't that why we pay tax in the first place?

DISTRICTS

Just like every town and city in the United Kingdom, Malmesbury is divided up into smaller wards, or parishes. These separate communities would have once looked after themselves, but in the past few centuries with the birth of nationalised politics, Malmesbury Town Council now looks after the whole town. Above them it gets a bit messy - there is currently North Wiltshire District Council which helps in the management of towns like Chippenham and Calne, and higher up the chain is Wiltshire County Council, which makes day-to-day decisions on the ruling of all parts of the county; including areas like Salisbury and Stonehenge. Wiltshire politics is currently changing frmo a county council to a unitary authority, which will shake-up where decisions are made and which department is responsible for each service. This process isn't going to happen overnight, so we'll hang fire on this fact until we know ourselves exactly what is happening.

It was much easier in days past when this town was made up of

separate parishes, all within the natural moat and all watched over

by the monks of the monastery, here's a quick run down of the

town's old-fashioned, and brand new districts. Think back to the

figure '8' shape knoll which Malmesbury is based on.

The centre itself, including the High Street, the Abbey and part

of Holloway come under the Malmesbury heading. The part of town

on top of the other part of the hill, which includes  Gloucester Road

and The Triangle, is known as Westport. (This name most likely

stems from a delivery site in the area, on the west side of town

where tradesmen and merchants would come to sell their goods and

services.)

Another old part of Malmesbury is the area that falls outside

the Roman Wall, but inside the River Avon. This outer circle of

homes was referred to as Netherwalle, but this name has now changed to St Pauls Without. Houses living on the Swindon Road come under the name Cowbridge, homes to the north and north east are called Filands, and homes to the north west were once called Twatley, in Olde English that translates to 'fields of foxes', although it's understandable why this name is no longer used and only appears on detailed maps.

Malmesbury also has two modern-day extensions to add to this list of names. White Lion, Parklands and The Gastons make up one large housing estate from the 1950's on the north west of town, and Reeds Farm is a 1980's estate on the east side. Unlike the older parts of Malmesbury these new estates consist of nothing but houses.

There are no shops, no facilities and no pubs in these new developments, and this flaw in planning is a constant pain to the majority of Malmesbury's residents who want more convenient places for their children to play, or a place they can pop to for a quick pint. Despite living in a town the size of Malmesbury, people living in Rongolding Close for example, or Silverston Way on the Sherston Road, have to walk for more than half a mile through the town to the nearest pub.

It's the same scenario for the thousands who live in Malmesbury's surrounding villages. Very few of them have more than one pub (which is usually targeted at customers looking for meals and special occasions rather than local drinkers) and no shops. It's nearly impossible to believe that Malmesbury; with it's limited shops and even more limited nightlife, is the best and biggest in a ten mile radius.

Malmesbury's current population, according to the 2001 UK census is 7,673. That includes the hamlets of Foxley, Perry Green, Easton Grey and Norton, and the villages of Milbourne, Brokenborough, Sherston, Charlton and Garsdon. There are around four and a half thousand people currently living in Malmesbury itself. The nearest town to Malmesbury is Tetbury, over the Gloucestershire border. It's slightly smaller but has more housing estates and a very poor shopping centre.

Chippenham is the nearest 'big town' which is around four times the size of Malmesbury. It's a Viking town that is also set on the Avon. Cirencester is the closest place to go to for nightclubs, fast food and larger shops. However, travelling to nearby towns costs money... and if you're planning a decent night out, somebody has to stay sober to drive, as there are no night-time bus services and very limited taxi services in the area.

DEVELOPMENT

You can divide Malmesbury's development into three sections, but wherever you look in town there's always the one thing in common... the ridiculous price tag. In the heart of town you have the original buildings, some of which date back centuries.

Another section is the west side of town including the White Lion and Parklands estates. This is the cheapest area in town. The third section is Reeds Farm, Malmesbury's largest housing estate which was established in the mid eighties. There are currently two new major developments taking place in Malmesbury. The first is on the northern tip of the town at what was the Filands Lower Secondary School. Both schools were merged onto one site which left the Filands buildings redundant. Work has been started on the Filands estate, but completion has been postponed given the current financial markets, which means some people are now living in the middle of a building site with no fixed date for when their neighbours will be able to move in. Slowness seems to be a running theme with this site - Filands School stood derelict at the top of Tetbury Hill for more than four years, because nobody could decide what to do with it. Even local Royal, Prince Charles himself spoke out and demanded that somebody make their mind up about what to do with the eyesore. 180 or so homes are scheduled to be completed on the site.

Just a few buildings down from Filands was the Suffolk Arms pub. Despite being a successful business it was shut down by Lord Suffolk in 2003 and the building was eventually flattened for housing. Countless plans were submitted to the council, they eventually decided on passing a plan for 17 homes.

At the opposite end of town is the Cowbridge site. There is a large development of 170 flats and houses taking place here which may contain some amenities but plans are still going through the system. Either way, this site is at a disadvantage because it is one of the first places in Malmesbury to flood.

Whichever way you look at it, it's fair to say that North Wiltshire and Cotswold Districts are pricey wherever you look as this area is well known for it's natural beauty, peaceful living and good connections to the cities.

There is a common theme with these new developments regardless of location in the town... there are no shops, no facilities and no pubs - in some cases these new homes are a good half hours walk from the nearest shop or inn. This surely means people are going to be more encouraged to drive into town which means spaces are being used up unecessarily.

Parking is another hot topic in Malmesbury, especially since the town centre Short Stay Car Park has recently been resurfaced... when the white lines were put down, around 20% of the original spaces were lost. Shopkeepers and shoppers alike have been querying this with the council (North Wilts again, by the way, not the Town Council). There was talk of Malmesbury having a Park and Ride system introduced, or a third car park somewhere on the outskirts, but we are still waiting to hear confirmation on any of these plans.

The problem we're facing now is that Malmesbury is fast running out of places to develop within it's greenbelt... you might think that would be a good situation to be in, but in effect this will make homes in Malmesbury more desirable which will bump prices up yet again.

So on the negative side we have a lack of parking, we have developments with no amenities, we have three playgrounds to cover the entire town and we have two new major developments - one of which has been partially built and now postponed, the other is on a floodplain.

However, a lot has been done in recent years to provide for

Malmesbury's growing community. The town has a relatively new sports

centre and a new secondary school. The site of the old secondary school

was sold off for housing in order to pay for a new primary school.

The town's council chambers, museum and Tourist Information centre

have just had a facelift, thanks to donations by the townsfolk. In the

last two years Malmesbury has also been given a new youth club

building, and work is just being completed on a new health care centre.

The people of Malmesbury appear to be in two minds about the new

health centre. Malmesbury Hospital was a Victorian building,

demolished under strong protest in 2006. The town centre doctor's

surgery was closed down in 2008 and moved to this new location on

the outskrits of the town. The new centre is not described as a Hospital - more of a cross between a care home, doctor's surgery and nursing accommodation. We have heard positive feedback about the service, but the location has been mentioned as a concern, particular for the elderly who face a hilly trek to get there.

CULTURE

Malmesbury has taken a sudden leap from being nowhere on the UK cultural calendar, to being the home of World Music after organisers of the world-renowned WOMAD festival confirmed the weekend festival of world music was going to relocate to Malmesbury in 2007 from his original site near Reading. Owner of the festival, Peter Gebriel, said the move to Charlton Park came about because the festival had outgrown the other site, plus he wanted to relocate to Wiltshire - the musician lives in the county.

Aside of the international face of Malmebury, there isn't a great deal to write home about, but I suppose it all depnds on how you define 'culture'.

There are plenty of talented artists and sculptists living in and around Malmesbury, and yet you rarely hear about them on a local level - our museum is dedicated to the town's history, and not it's current trends, our independent art gallery closed in 2004 due to a lack of business... Malmesbury Library does have an exhibition room, but as far as a proper 'gallery' is concerned, the town is sadly missing.

Malmesbury does have a number of volunteer-run groups, such as the town's Film Society which plays films in one of our town halls (Malmebury does not have a cinema). The 4014 Project and MEMM bring live music to the town (Malmesbury does not have a dedicated music venue or nightclub), the Athelstan Players take to the stage (Malmesbury does not have a theatre)... but aside from the Town's Carnival celebrations through August, there is very little in the way of activities for people in the town to really get their support behind.

Town councillors and Carnival organisers spend a good part of their year putting together the Malmesbury Carnival calendar, which stretches over three weeks. Highlights include the main carnival procession, the annual town pillow-fight and the lazy Sunday evening of live music in the Cloister Gardens.

CRIME AND POLICE

Wiltshire Constabulary came under a lot of stick in the early part of the noughties after Malmesbury saw a sharp increase in the number of petty crime reports, such as vandalism and graffiti. This was being blamed on a group of 'bad apples' which was thought to be behind a number of smashed windows and spray paint tags, not just in the town centre but also on our cherished abbey remains.

Since this public outcry in 2004, the force increased police patrols at night, CCTV has been introduced and landlords have been tightening up on who they are serving... it is pleasing to see that this has made a visible difference.

The figures speak for themselves, here are the stats from 2006/2007 for North Wilts, compared to the UK average: (all figures based on per 1000 people in the population:

Violence / Assault / Abuse: 10.4 compared to 16.7Robbery: 0.3 compared to 1.2

Theft from car: 3.6 compared to 7.6Car Theft: 1.3 compared to 2.9

Burglary (Residential): 2.0 compared to 4.3Sexual offences: 0.7 compared to 0.9

By far, the majority of crimes reported in Malmesbury seem to circle around the theme of young gangs, underage drinking or regular drug-users, this is a problem for Malmesbury, in the same way that it is a problem for every town in the country.

Questions were raised following one evening in the winter of 2003 when police stormed into a town centre pub at 23:20 on the dot (at the time the law stated that pubs in England must close at 23:00 but can allow 20 minutes 'drinking up' time) and threw everybody out even though nobody was being rowdy and no complaints had been registered. Meanwhile, so the story goes, there was a group of teens aged as young as fifteen, in public,  just a few hundred yards from the pub in question, with enough booze to feed an army.

As well as other crime-cutting measures, Malmesbury has introduced it's own alcohol-free by-law - giving the police the power to confiscate any alcohol from people drinking in public places. There was a lot of worry at the time as there are a few dates in Malmesbury's calendar when it's traditional to have street parties. Happily the police are using common sense about this and are only using the law to target under-age teens and drunks.

Malmesbury has dozens of back roads and dark corners so it's impossible for the police to get everywhere at once. Also, because of cut-backs and centralization of the force, officers have to drive over from Chippenham on some occasions. Even in an emergency it can take officers fifteen minutes to get into town.

To give the police in Malmesbury credit where it's due, the town is a very safe place to live or visit, and it's a reputation we, as the community, are very proud of.

SPORT & EVENTS

Malmesbury has homes for all the main sports: The Flying Monk football ground is at the base of Tetbury Hill, and home to the Malmesbury Vics football team in the Hellenic League, as well as the town's boxing club. A new clubhouse is being built alongside the Cricket Club to house the town's rugby players. There is also a Bowls (lawn bowling) Club in the town, plus a sports centre, and a couple of gyms.

The most popular played sports in Malmesbury are the ones which happen in the safe surroundings of a pub: Pool, Skittles and Darts - Approximately 1,200 people in the area play Skittles, an old-fashioned game which spawned America's ten-pin bowling.

The Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border is best known nationally for it's strong connection to all things equestrian, particularly horse events such as the Badminton eventing, Gatcombe Park and the Beaufort Polo Club.

So as you can see, Malmesbury is a very closeknit community which guarantees visitors will be in for a peaceful, friendly visit to our town. We might have one or two ongoing issues politically, but who doesn't? Our pubs, cafés, restaurants and attractions always offer a warm welcome, whatever time of year you choose to pay us a visit

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2009 - The Town of Malmesbury