Kennet and Avon CanalThe Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.
DevizesDevizes (dᵻˈvaɪzᵻz) is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between Stephen of England and Empress Matilda, and again during the English Civil War when the Cavaliers lifted the siege at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender.
SwindonSwindon (ˈswɪndən) is a large town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the borough was 233,400, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located in South West England, Swindon lies on the M4 corridor, 71 miles (114km) to the west of London and 36 miles (57 km) to the east of Bristol. The Cotswolds lie just to the town's north and the North Wessex Downs to its south.
MalmesburyMalmesbury (ˈmɑː(l)mzbəri) is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. 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.
WiltshireWiltshire (ˈwɪlt.ʃər,_-ʃɪər; abbreviated Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire and Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon. The county has an area of and a population of 720,060. The county is mostly rural, and the centre and south-west are sparsely populated. After Swindon (183,638) the largest settlements are the city of Salisbury (41,820) and the towns of Chippenham (37,548) and Trowbridge (37,169).
Market townA market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural towns with a hinterland of villages are still commonly called market towns, as sometimes reflected in their names (e.g. Downham Market, Market Rasen, or Market Drayton). Modern markets are often in special halls, but this is a recent development, and the rise of permanent retail establishments has reduced the need for periodic markets.
DanelawThe Danelaw (ˈdeɪnˌlɔː, also known as the Danelagh; Dena lagu; Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian law. The term is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage. The areas that constituted the Danelaw lie in northern and eastern England, long occupied by Danes and other Norsemen.
Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great (also spelled Ælfred; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.
