Wiltshire Postcodes — England (ENG)

Wiltshire

With a total size of 3,485 square kilometers, Wiltshire is a county located in the southwestern region of England and is significant historically and ceremonially (1,346 square miles). In all directions except south, it is surrounded by other counties: Dorset to the west, Somerset to the south, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the northeast, and Berkshire to the east. The county was named for Wilton, however Wiltshire Council is currently headquartered in Trowbridge. Within the boundaries of Wiltshire County are the two unitary authority areas of Wiltshire and Swindon, each of which is administered by its own local government.

It is the high downland and expansive valleys of Wiltshire that define the county. The ancient Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles (both of which are UNESCO Cultural and World Heritage sites) and other notable sites are located on Salisbury Plain, which is also used by the British military for training purposes. Medieval Salisbury Cathedral is the city's most recognizable landmark. Longleat, in the vicinity of Warminster, and the National Trust's Stourhead, in the vicinity of Mere, are two notable country residences that are available to the public.

Climate of Wiltshire

Wiltshire shares the temperate climate of the remainder of South West England, which is often wetter and milder than the counties further east.

Average yearly temperatures hover around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). There is definitely a coastal influence, although it isn't as strong as it is in other counties in the south and west that are closer to the ocean. Daily highs average around 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) during the hottest summer months of July and August. Lows of 1 or 2 degrees Celsius (33.8 or 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and periodic air frost are typical during the winter. Although sunny days are typically longer in the summer in southwest England, convective cloud might occur inland from time to time due to the Azores high pressure. The average annual sunshine hours are 1,500, which is lower than the area average of 1,600. 

Yeovilton experienced 20 consecutive cloudy days in December 1998. Atlantic depressions and convection are mostly responsible for the precipitation in the southwest, while orographic uplift also plays a role (uplift over hills). Due to the increased activity of Atlantic depressions in the fall and winter, more precipitation falls during these seasons. While the wettest and driest months of the year can occur in any given month, the winter half of the year (Oct-Mar) is significantly more likely to be the wettest and the summer half of the year more likely to be the driest (Apr-Sept). More rain falls in the summer because the sun warms the ground, which triggers convection and, ultimately, showers and thunderstorms. However, the southern part of the county is sometimes shielded from the development of showers by the relatively cool English Channel. However, the sea is generally quite warm in the autumn and winter compared to the air moving over it, which can often lead to a heavier rainfall in the south of the county e.g. It rained more than 200 millimeters in Salisbury in both November 2009 and January 2014. The county receives an average of 800 millimeters (31 inches) of precipitation annually, with dryer regions receiving on average 700 millimeters (28 inches) and the wettest 900 millimeters (35 inches) or less (around 35ins). Average snowfall duration is between 8 and 15 days. The average wind speed is highest from November to March, and lowest from June to August. Strong winds are blowing in from the southwest.

Economy of Wiltshire

There are thirty publicly-funded county secondary schools in Wiltshire, the largest of which is Warminster Kingdown, and eleven independent secondary schools, such as Marlborough College, St. Mary's Calne, Dauntsey's near Devizes, and Warminster School. Only in Salisbury, with its two grammar schools (South Wilts Grammar School and Bishop Wordsworth's School) and three non-selective schools, does the traditional pattern of education survive.

Swindon's New College, Wiltshire's (Chippenham, Trowbridge, and Salisbury), Salisbury's (Sixth Form College), and Wiltshire's (Salisbury) all offer postsecondary education. In addition, the University of Technology at Swindon (UTC Swindon), which focuses in engineering, is located in Wiltshire. Salisbury was home to a second UTC called South Wiltshire UTC, which will be shutting down in August of 2020.

The University of Bath is the nearest to the county town of Trowbridge, however Wiltshire is one of the few remaining English counties without a university or university college. Corsham Court, a center of Bath Spa University, is located in Corsham, while Oxford Brookes University has a small campus in Swindon (almost 50 km from Oxford). While Milton Keynes has a university, Swindon is the second largest city in the UK. 

The Trenchard Lines building in Upavon, Wiltshire is home to Service Children's Education's administrative offices.