The Melksham Area

Like its neighbour Bradford, Melksham is a very small community area with a relatively large population. Melksham's reputation as the least attractive of the Wiltshire clothmaking towns is reinforced by the industrial setting of the main Chippenham to Warminster road (the A350), from which most outsiders gain their first impression. Clothmaking was replaced by rubber, electrical, and dairy processing industries, which brought not only unsightly factories but also nondescript housing estates. But the kernel of Melksham, Canonhold around the church, the Kings Arms and the market place, parts of the High Street and Lowbourne, are as good as most comparable towns and better than many. Beanacre, Shaw and Whitley have the feel of Corsham, while Atworth and Broughton Gifford seem more in tune with the Bradford and Bath countryside.