, on a low plateau draining into the basins of the Bristol
Channel , the English Channel , and the eastward-flowing Thames
. Oh, and home . It is surrounded by the counties of
Gloucestershire Trowbridge is the administrative centre of
Wiltshire for reasons that seem to escape pretty much all of the
local inabitants. Trowbridge is, after all, a nasty little hole
full of 1970s council buildings and a sausage factory. Surely
Salisbury or even Swindon would have been a much better choice?
The administrative, geographic, and historic counties occupy
slightly different areas. The administrative county of Wiltshire
comprises four districts—Salisbury (in the south), West
Wiltshire, Kennet in the east, named for the river Kennet and
North Wiltshire. The geographic county encompasses the entire
administrative county together with the unitary authority of
Swindon. The historic county of Wiltshire is nearly the same as
the geographic county but also includes a small area north of
Sherston in the Cotswolds, and thus admin