The Trowbridge Area

The main road on its way north from Westbury to Melksham climbs on to the Corallian ridge between Yarnbrook and West Ashton, bisecting Trowbridge's community area. From the road the area seems sparsely populated, as indeed parts of it are, but this impression is misleading. For, urban Salisbury apart, Trowbridge has the densest concentration of population in the new Wiltshire. Recent growth has encroached on Hilperton, Staverton, and North Bradley, which have themselves developed as dormitory suburbs. Although relatively compact, Trowbridge is the third most populous community area, after Chippenham and Salisbury, and its anticipated population increase to 2001, new housebuilding, and inward migration, are all also the third highest. The town itself has experienced considerable economic change, with the decline in traditional industries being offset more recently by the growth of new ones in locations such as the White Horse Business Park.