Wiltshire

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Ceremonial County in England
Region: South West

§ This page provides an overview of an England's ceremonial county. Our website has 48 such county pages.

Overview ⁞ Wiltshire is a landlocked county in central South West England, famous for Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, and its military connections, particularly on Salisbury Plain. The county is primarily rural with market towns like Chippenham, Trowbridge (the administrative centre), and Devizes. It is governed by two unitary authorities: Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council, which operates independently but remains within the ceremonial boundary.

Is Wiltshire a historic county? Yes—Wiltshire is a historic county. Administratively, the ceremonial county comprises two unitary authorities: Wiltshire and Swindon.

Wiltshire has 2 Local Authority Districts. The chart below shows how this compares with other counties in England.

Number of local authority districts in Wiltshire and other counties
Number of local authority districts in Wiltshire, compared with other counties
This county page, Wiltshire, is a sub-page this region page: South West. It zooms in to local authorities, administrative districts, and parliamentary constituencies in this county. We have this list page for easy browsing of all historic counties, ceremonial counties, and administrative counties: List of all counties in the UK.

Local Authorities in Wiltshire

Wiltshire, in England’s South West region, has a unitary system of local government with Wiltshire Council responsible for all local services across most of the county, including education, transport, planning, housing, and social care, following the merger of the former county and district councils in 2009. Alongside this, the City of Swindon operates independently as a separate unitary authority under Swindon Borough Council, which manages all local functions within its area. Together, these councils provide governance for a county that includes the historic cathedral city of Salisbury, the market towns of Chippenham, Trowbridge, and Devizes, the prehistoric landscape of Stonehenge and Avebury, and extensive rural countryside, balancing modern administration with the county’s rich heritage and varied communities.

Districts in Wiltshire

In the International Territorial Levels (ITLs) hierarchy, Wiltshire is within one of ITLs Level 2 area, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, that contains the following 3 ITLs Level 3 areas:

(ITL 1) South West
(ITL 2) ⇒ Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
(ITL 3) ⇒⇒ Swindon ⁞ Wiltshire ⁞ Gloucestershire CC

Constituencies in Wiltshire

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, 8 of them are in Wiltshire.

Counties in South West