Wiltshire

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**Wiltshire** is a ceremonial county in the south-west of England. It is landlocked, and borders Dorset to the south-west, Somerset to the west, Gloucestershire to the north-west, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east and Hampshire to the south-east. It is well-known for being the location of the prehistoric sites of Stonehenge and Avebury.

Wiltshire is characterised by its high downland and wide valleys. Salisbury Plain is noted for being the location of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles and other ancient landmarks, and as a training area for the British Army. The city of Salisbury is notable for its medieval cathedral. Important country houses open to the public include Longleat, near Warminster, and the National Trust's Stourhead, near Mere.

Malfoy Manor, the home of the Malfoy family, was located in Wiltshire along with Muggle residents, as well as Black Manor, the home of the Black family.

## History

Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology. The Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK.

In the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and the Somerset Levels prevented the advance to the west. The Battle of Bedwyn was fought in 675 between Escuin, a West Saxon nobleman who had seized the throne of Queen Saxburga, and King Wulfhere of Mercia. In 878 the Danes invaded the county. Following the Norman Conquest, large areas of the country came into the possession of the crown and the church.

At the time of the Domesday Survey the industry of Wiltshire was largely agricultural. A sizable bequest of land was gifted to Armand Malfoy, a wizard who became the founding member of the House of Malfoy in Britain.

Like many other progenitors of noble English families, the wizard Armand Malfoy arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror as part of the invading Norman army. Having rendered unknown, shady, (and almost certainly magical) services to King William I, Malfoy was given a prime piece of land in Wiltshire, seized from local landowners, upon which his descendants have lived for ten consecutive centuries.
Over hundreds of years, they have managed to add to their lands in Wiltshire by annexing those of neighbouring Muggles, and the favour they curried with royalty added Muggle treasures and works of art to an ever-expanding collection. This expansion ceased when the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was passed, in which the Malfoys hotly denied any connections with Muggles to uphold their position of influence in the newly formed Ministry of Magic.

Around 1800 the Kennet and Avon Canal was built through Wiltshire, providing a route for transporting cargoes from Bristol to London until the development of the Great Western Railway.