View source for Melksham

{{Short description|Town in Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox UK place
 |static_image_name        = 20200926 Melksham Makers Market.jpg
 |static_image_caption     = [[Melksham Town Hall]] and marketplace
 |country                  = England
 |official_name            = Melksham
 |coordinates              = {{coord|51.371|-2.138|type:city(15000)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
 |civil_parish             = Melksham
 |population               = 18,113
 |population_ref           = (2021)<ref name="parish2021" />
 |unitary_england          = [[Wiltshire (district)|Wiltshire]]
 |lieutenancy_england      = [[Wiltshire]]
 |region                   = South West England
 |constituency_westminster = [[Melksham and Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Melksham and Devizes]]
 |post_town                = Melksham
 |postcode_district        = SN12
 |postcode_area            = SN
 |dial_code                = 01225
 |os_grid_reference        = ST9063
 |website                  = {{Official URL}}
}}

'''Melksham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|l|k|ʃ|əm}}) is a town and [[civil parish]] on the [[Bristol Avon|River Avon]] in [[Wiltshire]], England, about {{Convert|4.5|mi|km|0}} northeast of [[Trowbridge]] and {{Convert|6|mi|km|0}} south of [[Chippenham]]. The parish population was 18,113 at the 2021 census.<ref name="parish2021">{{cite web |title=Melksham |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/wiltshire/E04013041__melksham/ |website=City population |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref>

==History==

=== Early history ===
Excavations in 2021 in the grounds of [[Melksham House]] found fragments of locally made pottery from the early [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] (7th to 4th centuries BC). There is evidence of settlement continuing into the later Iron Age and [[Roman Britain|Roman]] periods, including Roman clay roof tiles.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 January 2022|title=2,500 years of history uncovered in Melksham: excavations by Cotswold Archeology|url=https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/news/thousands-of-years-of-history-uncovered-in-melksham|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Wiltshire Council|language=en}}</ref>

Melksham developed at a ford across the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]]. The name is presumed to derive from "''meolc''", the [[Old English]] for milk, and ''"ham"'', a village. On [[John Speed]]'s map of [[Wiltshire]] (1611), the name is spelt both ''Melkesam'' (for the [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]]) and ''Milsham'' (for the town itself).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uniquemaps.co.uk/products/old-map-of-wiltshire-in-1611-by-john-speed-salisbury-stonehenge-swindon-trowbridge-vintage-map-antique-map-framed-or-unframed|title=Old Map of Wiltshire in 1611 by John Speed – Salisbury, Stonehenge, Swindon, Trowbridge|publisher=Unique Maps|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>

Melksham is also the name of the [[Royal forest]] that occupied the surrounding of the area in the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite book|publisher = Alan Sutton |isbn = 0-86299-781-X |ol = 1878197M |location = Wolfeboro Falls, NH |title = The royal forests of England |author = Raymond Grant |year = 1991 |id = 086299781X}} p222</ref>

=== Landowners ===
In 1268, [[Henry III of England]] gave the manor of Melksham to [[Amesbury Abbey]] for the souls of his late cousins [[Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany]] and [[Arthur I, Duke of Brittany]].

In 1539 the [[prioress]] and nuns of [[Amesbury Priory|Amesbury]] surrendered to the king their Melksham estates, which they had held for some 250 years.<ref>David Knowles & R. Neville Hadcock, ''Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales'', Longman Greens, London 1953, p. 209.</ref> This property, which consisted of the [[Lord of the Manor|lordship]] of the [[manorialism|manor]] and hundred, was in 1541 granted to [[Sir Thomas Seymour]]. He then sold it to Henry Brouncker, who also had lands nearby at [[Erlestoke]]. At some uncertain date, perhaps about 1550, Brouncker built a residence for himself near Melksham church on the site of an earlier mansion. This was known as Place House.<ref name="vch" />

Three generations of the family lived here: Henry Brouncker the founder, (d.1569), his son, Sir William, and his grandson Henry. On the death of this last Henry, about 1600, it became manifest that the Brouncker estate was heavily encumbered, and in the course of the next twenty or thirty years, all the property was alienated with the exception of Erlestoke, where William Brouncker, the heir, retired with his wife Anne, daughter of Sir John Dauntesey. Meanwhile, Place House was occupied for ten or eleven years by Henry Brouncker's widow and her second husband, Ambrose Dauntesey. After their death, in 1612, the house apparently was occupied by the steward, and afterwards it was conveyed to Sir John Danvers, who married into the family, in 1634. Danvers died in 1655 and the lordship of Melksham passed to his son, who then conveyed the estate to Walter Long the Younger, of [[Whaddon, Wiltshire|Whaddon]]. The lordship remained in the Long family, who were descended from the first Henry Brouncker, until the early part of the 20th century, having passed to the 1st [[Viscount Long]] of [[Wraxall, Wiltshire|Wraxall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Whaddon/Whaddon%20-%20Kellys%201889.pdf|title=Whaddon|publisher=Kellys Directory |year= 1889| access-date= 15 June 2021}}</ref>

===Melksham Bank===
An announcement was made in the ''[[Bath Chronicle]]'' in June 1792 of the establishment of the Melksham Bank by the firm of Awdry, Long & Bruges. In November 1813 the misquoting of part of an advertisement in two London newspapers caused panic amongst the bank customers, many of whom quickly withdrew their money, reportedly causing "some bustle" among the partners of the bank. There was further trouble in 1812, when the bank was listed on a Parliamentary Paper of the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] under the title "Country Banks Becoming Bankrupt".<ref>{{cite book|title=Salisbury, Monday, November 30.|publisher=Salisbury and Winchester Journal}}</ref>

Moule's bank became the North Wilts Banking Company in 1835, which merged in 1877 to form [[Capital and Counties Bank]]. The latter developed a nationwide branch network and was taken over by [[Lloyds Bank]] in 1918.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/Our-Group/our-heritage/our-history/lloyds-bank/capital--counties-bank/|title=Our History: Capital & Counties Bank|website=Lloyds Banking Group|access-date=1 February 2019}}</ref>

===Masonic Lodge===
The Chaloner Lodge of [[Freemason]]s (no.2644) was named after its first [[Worshipful Master]] [[Richard Godolphin Walmesley Chaloner, 1st Baron Gisborough]], who, when not in London, resided at [[Melksham House]]. He was the brother of the 1st [[Viscount Long]]. The lodge was [[consecrated]] on 27 February 1897, with the first meeting scheduled for 4&nbsp;pm 19 March, held at the town hall. Writing from London while attending his Parliamentary duties as MP for Westbury, he complained that this date was inconvenient due to his having to be at [[Melton Mowbray]] to ride in the House of Commons point to point [[Steeplechase (horse racing)|steeplechase]] the next day. Despite this, the meeting went ahead and Chaloner initiated 13 of the candidates, returning to London overnight by train, getting virtually no sleep before his ride in the steeplechase early the next morning, resulting in him twice falling heavily from his horse.<ref name="webb">Chaloner Lodge No. 2644 Installation & Centenary Festival Booklet. G. Webb 1997</ref> Later while deciding what extra furniture the lodge required, he asked that he have a special footstool, as his chair was high and his feet "dangled unpleasantly".<ref name="webb" />

===The Spa===
[[File:The Spa.jpg|thumb|The Spa features large stone lodging houses]]
{{redirect|The Spa||Spa (disambiguation)}}
In 1815 the Melksham Spa Company was formed by a group of 'respectable gentlemen', with names such as Methuen, Long and others, all of whom had done very well from the now declining textile industry. Their aim was to promote a spa, after abortive attempts to find coal had uncovered two springs. As a consequence they built six large three-storeyed, [[semi-detached]] lodging houses forming a crescent, a pump room and hot and cold private baths. This suburban area at the southern end of the town is now known as '''The Spa''', belonging to the [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of [[Melksham Without]]. A plan for a similar crescent on the north side never materialised. Simultaneously an Act was obtained to 'improve the pleasing town of Melksham' by paving and improving its footways and cleansing, lighting and watching the streets. The spa was not as successful as had been hoped, due in part to the popularity of the waters at nearby [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/1053706.then-now-the-spa-melksham/|title=Then & Now – The Spa, Melksham|date=1 December 2006|newspaper=Wiltshire Times|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>

== Buildings and structures ==
There are two Grade II* listed structures in the parish: [[St Michael's Church, Melksham|St Michael's Church]] and one of the chest tombs in its churchyard.<ref name="churchlisting">{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021707|desc=Church of St Michael|access-date=27 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021708|desc=Turner memorial|access-date=30 March 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

[[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] wrote that "the only rewarding part of Melksham is by the church".<ref>{{cite book|title=Wiltshire|last1=Pevsner|first1=Nikolaus|last2=Cherry|first2=Bridget (revision)|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|year=1975|isbn=0-14-0710-26-4|edition=2nd|series=[[The Buildings of England]]|place=Harmondsworth|page=344|author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner|orig-year=1963}}</ref> [[Melksham House]], south of the church, is early 18th century but largely rebuilt after a 1920 fire and adapted for use as a sports and social club.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285783|desc=Melksham House|access-date=30 March 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Southwest of the church, a 15th-century [[tithe barn]] was remodelled into a school by [[George Edmund Street|G. E. Street]] in 1878;<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1364169|desc=6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 St. Michaels Court|access-date=30 March 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> the school left the premises in 1973<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/353|title=St. Michael's Church of England Primary School, Melksham|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref> and the building is now residential.

The area around Canon Square, north of the church, has several Grade II listed houses and cottages, among them a former vicarage dating from the late 17th century, remodelled in 1877 by Street and now divided into two residences.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021696|desc=The Grange and Orchard Hall|access-date=19 November 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> There is also a small two-storey roundhouse, built in the late 18th century for the wool industry.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021698|desc=25, Church Street|access-date=30 March 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

The town's four-span bridge over the [[River Avon, Bristol|Avon]] is from the late 18th century.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1364161|desc=Bridge over River Avon|access-date=30 March 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

== Religious sites ==
[[File:Melksham church.jpg|thumb|upright|[[St Michael's Church, Melksham|St Michael's Church]] was begun in the 12th century|alt=]]
A church was recorded at Melksham in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|ST9063|melksham|Melksham}}</ref> The [[Church of England parish church|parish church]] of [[St Michael's Church, Melksham|St Michael and All Angels]] has 12th-century origins, and was enlarged in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries; in 1845 it was restored by [[Thomas Henry Wyatt|T. H. Wyatt]] and is now a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade II* listed]] building.<ref name="churchlisting" /><ref name="vch">{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol7/pp91-121 |series=[[Victoria County History]] |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 7 |chapter=Parishes: Melksham |pages=91–121 |editor1-first=R. B. |editor1-last=Pugh |editor1-link=Ralph Pugh |editor2-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Crittall |author-first1=H. F. |author-last1=Chettle |author-first2=W. R. |author-last2=Powell |author-first3=P. A. |author-last3=Spalding |author-first4=P. M. |author-last4=Tillott |date=1953 |via=British History Online |publisher=University of London |access-date=16 June 2021}}</ref> As the town expanded, in 1876 St Andrew's church was built in Early English style to serve the Forest area to the northeast of the town.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1286098|desc=Church of St. Andrew, Melksham Forest|access-date=18 February 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

A [[Baptists Together|Baptist]] chapel was erected at Old Broughton Road in 1714, and replaced with a larger building on the same site in 1776 which was enlarged in 1839. In 1850 there were 165 members, and 340 children attended the Sunday School. In 1909, school buildings were completed on land in front of the chapel.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021744|desc=Baptist Church, Old Broughton Road|access-date=18 February 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melkshambaptistchurch.org.uk/welcome/the-history-of-our-church/the-history-of-our-church.php|title=The History of our Church|website=Melksham Baptist Church|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Melksham United Church, 15 December 2018.jpg|thumb|upright|Melksham United Church]]
[[Ebenezer Chapel, Melksham|Ebenezer Baptist Church]], Union Street, was built in 1835 by [[Particular Baptist]]s.<ref name="vch" /><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1021748|desc=Ebenezer Strict Baptist Chapel|access-date=18 February 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> A [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] chapel was built on the High Street in 1872, its two-storey front having four large [[Corinthian architecture|Corinthian]] columns and a [[cornice]] with [[Oculus (architecture)|oculus]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1364140|desc=Melksham United Church|access-date=18 February 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> This became the United Church after the union of the Methodists and [[Congregational Church in England|Congregationalists]] in 1976, and the Congregational church off the Market Place closed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/329|title=Congregational Church, Market Place, Melksham|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>

A Catholic church, St Anthony of Padua, was built in pale brick to the south of the town centre and opened in 1939.{{sfn|Thomas|2014|p=14}} An independent congregation built Queensway Chapel in the eastern suburbs in 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.queenswaychapel.co.uk/about/our-history/|title=Our History|website=Queensway Chapel|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>

Melksham has a long history of [[Quakers|Quakerism]], beginning with meetings nearby at [[Shaw, Wiltshire|Shaw]] in the 17th century. A meeting-house was built in 1698 at what is now King Street, and rebuilt on the same site around 1777<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wshc.org.uk/blog/item/quakerism-in.html|title=Quakerism in Melksham|date=June 2013|website=[[Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre]]|access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref> (or 1734).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1194210|desc=National Spiritualist Church|access-date=19 February 2019|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Quakerism declined in the 19th century but the Melksham meeting continued until 1950. The meeting-house was sold in 1958 and was used as a [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualist]] church for a time;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/320|title=Quaker Meeting House, King Street, Melksham|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref> in 2015 the building was restored and converted into offices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://procol.co.uk/mayor-of-melksham-opens-kingsbury-hall/|title=Mayor of Melksham opens Kingsbury Hall|date=11 February 2015|website=Procol Ltd|access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Melksham councils.JPG|thumb|The two Melksham councils' noticeboards at the Town Library]]
Until 1974 the town was managed by Melksham Urban District Council, based at [[Melksham Town Hall]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc= Town Hall|num=1194263|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref> It was then managed by [[West Wiltshire|West Wiltshire District Council]], but since the [[2009 structural changes to local government in England|abolition]] of West Wiltshire in 2009, the most significant local government functions (including schools, roads, social services, recycling, emergency planning, leisure services, housing, development control and waste disposal) have been carried out by [[Wiltshire Council]], a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]].

Melksham [[civil parish]] is divided into four electoral divisions, each electing one member to Wiltshire Council.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Your Councillors |url=https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Wiltshire Council |language=en}}</ref> These are Melksham Forest, Melksham East, Melksham South, and Melksham Without North & Shurnold; the latter extends north beyond the parish to include [[Whitley, Wiltshire|Whitley]], [[Shaw, Wiltshire|Shaw]] and [[Beanacre]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election Maps: Great Britain |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |access-date=20 July 2024 |website= |publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref>

The civil parish has a town council, with fifteen members elected by four wards: East, Forest, North and South.<ref>{{Cite web|date=16 April 2021|title=Melksham election candidates announced|url=https://ocm.wiltshire.gov.uk/melksham/melksham-election-candidates-announced/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> The councillors elect one of their number as Mayor of Melksham for a one-year term.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McLaughlin|first=Matthew|date=19 May 2021|title=Melksham Town Council axe leader roles after tumultuous 18 months|url=https://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/19313242.melksham-town-council-abolishes-leader-roles/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=This Is Wiltshire}}</ref> As well as having a consultative role, the town council runs the Assembly Hall events venue.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Assembly Hall|url=https://melkshamtown.co.uk/services/room-hire/26-assembly-hall|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Melksham Town Council}}</ref> Since 2019–2020 it is responsible for the town's play areas and [[King George V Playing Field|King George V playing field]], after transfer of ownership from Wiltshire Council.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Play and Recreation Areas|url=https://www.melkshamtown.co.uk/services/play-areas|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Melksham Town Council}}</ref>

The outskirts of Melksham, and most of the surrounding rural communities, are administered by another parish council, [[Melksham Without]].

For Westminster elections, Melksham is part of the [[Melksham and Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Melksham and Devizes]] constituency, which was created following a boundary review and first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by [[Brian Mathew (politician)|Brian Mathew]] for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2024 |title=Melksham and Devizes – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001356 |access-date=2024-07-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{anchor|Suburbs}}
The civil parish of Melksham includes '''Melksham Forest''', formerly a separate settlement {{convert|0.8|mi|km}} to the northeast and now a suburb of the town.  It has an [[Church of England|Anglican]] church (St Andrew's, 1876)<ref>{{cite web|title=Church of St. Andrew, Forest, Melksham|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/318|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 March 2015}}</ref> and had a [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] chapel (1905 to before 2010).<ref>{{cite web|title=Methodist Church, Forest, Melksham|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/323|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/content/chapels/wiltshire-2/l-p/melksham_forest_methodist_chapel|title=Melksham Forest Methodist chapel|website=My Primitive Methodists|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>

The parish of [[Melksham Without]] includes several villages and suburbs of Melksham:
*[[Bowerhill]], a large residential community generally considered as separate from Melksham, with a large industrial area
*Hunter's Meadow, a 2020s development north of Bowerhill
*[[Berryfield]], a village south of and adjacent to Melksham, often considered part of the town
*[[Beanacre]], a village to the north, again often considered as a northern suburb of the town.

== Demography ==
In the 19th century, the population of Melksham parish increased from 4,000 at the 1801 census to 5,800 in 1851, then declined to 2,100 in 1891. Numbers increased slowly in the first half of the 20th century and more rapidly in the second half, rising to 14,204 by 2001. The 2011 census saw a modest increase to 14,677.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melksham: Population |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=158 |access-date=1 November 2022 |website=Wiltshire Community History |publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref>

The wider built-up area – which includes [[Berryfield]] and [[Bowerhill]], both in [[Melksham Without]] parish – had a population of 19,357 at the 2011 census.<ref name="bua2011">{{cite web |title=Melksham |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/wiltshire/E04013041__melksham/ |website=City population |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{anchor|Modern Melksham}}
[[File:The Bear, Melksham, January 2019.jpg|thumb|The Bear, Melksham]]

The ''Shell Guide to Wiltshire'', published in 1968, characterised the town as "with the exception of Swindon the most industrialized in the county".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Wiltshire: a Shell Guide|last1=Cheetham|first1=J.H.|last2=Piper|first2=John|publisher=Faber & Faber|year=1968|pages=131}}</ref> Today, Melksham has varied industries including [[Avon Rubber]], which previously owned the Avon Tyre plant on a riverside site in the town centre. The plant became the home of [[Cooper Tire & Rubber Company|Cooper Tire & Rubber]] (a subsidiary of the American [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear]] company) and was a major employer in the town, producing ''Cooper Avon'' and ''Avon Tyres'' brands until the site closed at the end of 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=John |date=2022-10-13 |title=Cooper Tires to close Melksham factory with 350 job losses |url=https://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/23045959.cooper-tires-close-melksham-factory-350-job-losses/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=This Is Wiltshire |language=en}}</ref> In 2000, Avon Rubber moved to a large purpose-built facility {{convert|3|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the south of the town near [[Semington]], employing over 300 on products such as gasmasks.

Also to the south of the town, an area of light industry at [[Bowerhill]] is partly on the site of the former [[RAF Melksham]] training schools. Modern buildings here include regional headquarters designed by [[Sir Nicholas Grimshaw]] for the American office furniture maker [[Herman Miller]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yilmaz |first=Tanya |date=2015-07-10 |title=Herman Miller unveils multi-million pound Melksham factory |url=https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/13407426.Furniture_firm_unveils_multimillion_pound_manufacturing_facility_in_Melksham/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Wiltshire Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 2016 |title=PortalMill Melksham for Herman Miller, by Grimshaw Architects |url=https://www.designcurial.com/projects/portalmill-melksham-for-herman-miller-by-grimshaw-architects |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621210521/https://www.designcurial.com/projects/portalmill-melksham-for-herman-miller-by-grimshaw-architects/ |archive-date=2024-06-21 |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=DesignCurial}}</ref> and the UK headquarters of [[Knorr-Bremse]], designer and manufacturer of [[Railway air brake|railway braking systems]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems (UK) Limited |url=https://www.modernrailways.com/companies/knorr-bremse-rail-systems-uk-limited |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Modern Railways |language=en}}</ref>

Melksham has a number of pharmacies, high street clothes shops, charity shops and privately run individual stores. It has five supermarkets: [[Asda]], [[Sainsbury's]], [[Waitrose]], [[Lidl]] and [[Aldi]].

==Culture and community==
Melksham has an Assembly Hall and the Rachel Fowler Centre, while many of the surrounding villages have community halls which offer a wide variety of activities. [[Melksham Oak Community School]] offers a variety of sporting and cultural facilities to the community of Melksham.

The town has an annual 'Party in the Park' which usually takes place in July. It includes a fair with rides and amusements, a fireworks display, a stage hosting musical and dance acts and a carnival parade through the town with floats promoting local businesses and clubs and raising money for charity.

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC West]] and [[ITV West Country]]. Television signals are received from the [[Mendip transmitting station|Mendip]] TV transmitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Mendip|title= Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=29 October 2023}}</ref>

[[Wiltshire Publications|Melksham Independent News]] is the town's family-owned independent newspaper, established in 1981. Over 13,700 copies of the paper are distributed across the town and surrounding villages biweekly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://melkshamnews.com/about-us/|title=About Us|website=Melksham Independent News|access-date=23 January 2018}}</ref> The town is also served by the regional newspapers, [[Gazette and Herald]] and [[Wiltshire Times]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/local-news/melksham-news/ |title=Melksham News- Gazette and Herald |access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-sw/wiltshire-times/|title=Wiltshire Times|date=19 October 2013|website=British Papers|accessdate=29 October 2023}}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Wiltshire]] on 104.3 FM, [[Heart West]] on 102.2 FM, and [[Greatest Hits Radio South West]] on 107.5 FM.

==Sport and leisure==
Melksham Community Campus, built by [[Wiltshire Council]] on a central site next to [[Melksham House]], opened in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 August 2022 |title=Melksham Community Campus is open! |url=https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/news/melksham-community-campus-opens |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Wiltshire Council |language=en}}</ref> It provides a swimming pool, library, sports centre and council offices.

Melksham has a [[non-League football]] club, [[Melksham Town F.C.]], who play at the Oakfield Stadium on Eastern Way, which opened in January 2017.<ref name="x43">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/15015510.New_sports_club_finally_opens_its_doors_in_Melksham/|title=New sports club finally opens its doors in Melksham|last=McLean|first=Patrick|date=11 January 2017|website=Wiltshire Times|access-date=5 May 2018}}</ref> In 2018 the club won promotion from the [[Western Football League|Western League]] to the [[Southern Football League|Southern League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/sport/16204913.toolstation-league-melksham-clinch-promotion-as-runners-up/|title=Melksham clinch promotion as runners-up|date=4 May 2018|website=This Is Wiltshire|access-date=5 May 2018}}</ref> Melksham Rugby Union Club also play at the Oakfields complex, on separate pitches.<ref name="x43"/>

The Wiltshire School of Gymnastics is at [[Bowerhill]]. Melksham has a cricket club who play their home matches at the Melksham House ground. The club has both youth and adult teams; in the 2019 season their Saturday side competed in Division 4 of the Wiltshire County Cricket League following promotion in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wccl.org.uk/fixtures.php?id=233|title=Fixtures in 2018 Division 5|website=Wiltshire County Cricket League|access-date=23 January 2018}}</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Melksham station showing 2018 platform extension (geograph 6489905).jpg|thumb|Melksham station in 2020|alt=]]
[[Melksham railway station]], on the branch of the [[Wessex Main Line]] from [[Chippenham railway station|Chippenham]] to [[Trowbridge railway station|Trowbridge]], has services roughly every two hours in each direction on weekdays. Trains are operated by [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]], with services marketed as the 'TransWilts line' between Westbury and Swindon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.transwilts.org/|title=TransWilts|website=www.transwilts.org|access-date=1 February 2019}}</ref>

Melksham is served by bus companies including Faresaver and [[First West of England]].

The town is on the north–south [[A350 road|A350 primary route]] from the [[M4 motorway]] (Junction 17, near Chippenham) to [[Poole]] on the south coast. In February 2020, the central government gave approval for a £125m re-routing of the A350 to the east of Melksham.<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 February 2020|title=Melksham bypass gets green light from the government|url=http://melkshamnews.com/2020/02/12/melksham-bypass-gets-green-light-from-the-government/|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Melksham Independent News}}</ref>

==Education==
Primary schools within Melksham parish are:
*Aloeric Primary School
*Forest & Sandridge C of E Primary School
*The Manor C of E VC Primary School (formerly Lowbourne Junior, St Michaels School)
*River Mead School (formerly King's Park Primary School, Lowbourne Infants School)

Primary schools near the town include:

*Bowerhill Primary School
*Churchfields Primary School, Atworth
*Seend C of E Primary School
*Shaw C of E Primary School
*St Mary's Broughton Gifford Primary School

There is one secondary school in the Melksham catchment area: [[Melksham Oak Community School]] opened in 2010 at Bowerhill, replacing [[The George Ward Technology College]] which served the community for over 50 years.

[[Stonar School]], an all-ages independent day and boarding school, is nearby at [[Atworth]].

==Dinosaur==
Melksham is the namesake for a prehistoric crocodile species discovered in the town. ''Ieldraan melkshamensis'', or the Melksham Monster, was 10&nbsp;ft long and was an [[apex predator]] in the waters around the UK during the [[Jurassic]] period. The fossil had been in the possession of the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] since 1875, until a team from the [[University of Edinburgh]] led by Davide Foffa classified it in 2017 as a distinct species.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-41471126|title=New prehistoric marine predator related to crocodiles
|date=2017-10-03|work=BBC|access-date=2022-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/37041-melksham-monster-ancient-crocodile|title=Long Ignored 'Melksham Monster' Shifts History of First Reptiles|last=Tayag|first=Yasmin|date=2017-10-03|work=Inverse|access-date=2022-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/cheating-dinosaur-giant-rat-and-other-quirky-species-4881488/|title=Cheating dinosaur, giant rat and other quirky species|last=Firaque|first=Kabir|date=2017-10-09|work=The Indian Express|access-date=2022-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/ieldraan-melkshamensis-prehistoric-marine-crocodile-05295.html|title=Paleontologists Identify New Species of Prshistoric Marine Crocodile: Ieldraan melkshamensis|last=de Lazaro|first=Enzo|date=2017-10-06|work=Sci-News|access-date=2022-06-08}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Edward Barnwell]] (1813–1887), schoolmaster, archaeologist and antiquarian, owned [[Melksham House]] from 1866 and financed the building of St Andrew's church in the Forest area of the town<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Westwood|first1=I.O.|date=January 1884|title=Biographical Notice: Edward Lowry Barnwell|url=https://journals.library.wales/view/2919943/3005913/74|journal=Archaeologia Cambrensis|series=Fifth|publisher=The National Library of Wales|pages=67–70|access-date=2 February 2019}}</ref>
*[[Matthew Bound]], [[Association football|footballer]]
*[[Edmund Wright Brooks]] (1834–1928), [[Quaker]] philanthropist
*[[John Fowler (agricultural engineer)|John Fowler]] (1826–1864), agricultural engineer
*[[Ken Gill]] (1927–2009), trade union leader and caricaturist, born and brought up in Melksham<ref>{{Cite ODNB|id=101722|title=Gill, Kenneth [Ken]|first=Rodney|last=Bickerstaffe}}</ref>
*[[Sidney Leslie Goodwin|Sidney Goodwin]] (1910–1912), born in Melksham, child victim of the sinking of the ''[[Titanic]]'' together with his parents and five siblings<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sidney Leslie Goodwin : Titanic Victim |url=https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/sidney-leslie-goodwin.html |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=Encyclopedia Titanica |language=en}}</ref>
*[[James Hurn]], [[cricketer]]
*[[Julia de Lacy Mann]] (1891–1985), economic historian, principal of [[St Hilda's College, Oxford]]; retired to Melksham, was president of the West Wilshire Historical Society
*[[Robert Martineau]], [[Anglican]] bishop; [[curate]] in Melksham from 1938
*[[Phil McMullen]], writer, music critic, events organiser
*[[Henry Moule]] (1801–1880), pioneer of the [[Composting toilet|earth closet]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.exnet.com/1996/01/15/science/science.html |title=On-line: Science and Technology |publisher=Exnet.com |access-date=25 May 2009 |last= Hart-Davis|first= Adam}}</ref>
*[[Horace Newte]], writer, born in Melksham
*[[Andy Park (Mr. Christmas)|Andy Park]], known as "Mr. Christmas"
*[[Diana Ross (author)|Diana Ross]], children's author, lived at [[Shaw, Wiltshire|Shaw]] for many years
*[[Brad Scott (fighter)|Brad Scott]], MMA fighter 
*[[John Dunlop Southern]], cricketer
*[[George Thicknesse, 19th Baron Audley]], died, and is buried, in Melksham
*[[Ann Yearsley]] (ca. 1753–1806), poet; died in Melksham

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book|first=Brian|last=Thomas|title=Melksham and St. Michael's in War and Peace|url=http://www.twhc.org.uk/book/StMichaelsduringWar.pdf|publisher=The Well House Collection|year=2014|access-date=18 February 2019}}
* ''British Spas from 1815 to the Present: A Social History'', Phyllis M. Hembry, Leonard W. Cowie, Evelyn E. Cowie, Social Science, 1997
* Wiltshire Notes and Queries. Vol. IV 1903

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website}}
*{{cite web|title=Melksham|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/158/|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 March 2015}}
*[http://www.twhc.org.uk/ The Well House Collection] – a privately run museum of Melksham
*{{wikivoyage-inline}}

{{Wiltshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Melksham| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:English royal forests]]