Wootton Bassett is located just two miles from junction 16 of the M4, 4 miles from Lyneham and has served the surrounding farming community since Saxon times.

The wide High Street of the hilltop town once held livestock markets and hiring fairs and today is still the hub of busy commercial life with an interesting variety of historic buildings.

Wootton Bassett had a starting point in recorded history in 681AD and was known as Wodeton. What is strange, is that it took 600 years for 'Wodeton', which was described as a simple Saxon settlement to be joined with its Norman element, Bassett, named after a nobleman, Alan Bassett. The earliest records show the place just comprised of 10 hides of cleared forest land.

Saxon king Ethelred granted a charter to the Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey and the locality was established. By the time of the Doomsday survey, 400 years later, this charter had been lost and the settlement was shown to be part of a Norman manor. Several generations later, the manor fell to one Alan Bassett, who not only gave his name to the town, but also successfully petitioned Henry III in 1219 to grant a weekly market to the town, which still flourishes to this day.

Two centuries later Wootton Bassett achieved further civic significance with the election of the first known mayor of the town, John Wollmonger. It was thought that he was chosen from among a number of worthies who ran the market at that time.

His official duties included becoming the civic head of the town, as well chief magistrate and coroner. Many years later, the town was one of several ill-famed districts known as rotten or pocket boroughs for following dubious electoral practices.

Famous distinguishing features in Wootton Bassett includes the town's parish church of St Bartholomew and All Saints which has records dating from 1594, with parts of the church dating from the 14th century. The oldest part of the church that still remains (from c.1300) is the window (but not the glass) of what is now called the "Clarendon Window".

Situated at the south-east of the Lady Chapel, the glass was put in in memory of the Earl of Clarendon who was patron of the living in the 18th Century.

The most prominent construction is a more recent Town Hall, which was built at the end of the 17th century and remains as Wootton Bassett's best-known landmark today.

Wootton Bassett acquired a royal connection, believed to be, when Henry VIII took a mistress at Vastern Manor, to the west of the town. What is known is that the manor and land belonged to Katherine Parr, his widow until her death in 1548.

Variously called Fetstern (a fortress), Fastern, or Vastern it was set on rising ground, almost surrounded by woods which were later turned into a deer park. The attractive country house known today as Vastern Manor occupies only a small part of the original site.

There were so many pubs in Wootton Bassett; there were at one time three breweries to keep the beer flowing. One of these, the Beaufort Brewery off Station Road survives in its distinctive Victorian gothic factory style. It is understandably a listed building. The town is particularly well endowed with public houses. The Waggon and Horses claims to date from 1612, while the Cross Keys Inn dates from 1742, but may have been the site of an older tavern. Other hostelries which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries survive, along with their traditional English names, the Angel, the Crown Inn, Borough Arms, the Curriers Arms, to name a few.

Wootton Bassett has retained much of its architectural heritage notably many Georgian buildings, which line the High Street. Most of these have been considerately adapted to accommodate the shops and offices that serve modern-day requirements.

Away from the High Street, there are other fine buildings which retain a link with the past. They include the Civic Centre, in Station Road, which began life as a school which was opened, together with an adjoining schoolmaster's house in 1861 by the Bishop of Salisbury. It now houses the Mayor's Parlour, Council Chamber and the Citizens' Advice Bureau.