Royal Wootton Bassett
Market town in Wiltshire, England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Royal Wootton Bassett /ˈrɔɪəl ˈwʊtən ˈbæsɪt/, formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies 6 miles (10 km) to the west of the major town of Swindon and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Calne.
Royal Wootton Bassett | |
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Royal Wootton Bassett's former Town Hall, now the local museum | |
Location within Wiltshire | |
Population | 13,570 (2021 Census)[1] |
OS grid reference | SU067825 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Swindon |
Postcode district | SN4 |
Dialling code | 01793 |
Police | Wiltshire |
Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Website | www |
51.541°N 1.905°W / 51.541; -1.905 |
From 1447 until 1832 Wootton Bassett was a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. In 1832 it was deemed a rotten borough and abolished by the Great Reform Act.
The town was granted royal patronage in March 2011 by Elizabeth II in recognition of its role in the early-21st-century military funeral repatriations, which passed through the town. This honour was officially conferred in a ceremony on 16 October 2011 – the first royal patronage to be conferred upon a town (as distinguished from a borough or county) since 1909.[2][3]