Royal Wootton Bassett
Coordinates: 51 ° 33 ′ N , 1 ° 54 ′ W
Royal Wootton Bassett / ˈrɔɪəl ˈwʊtən ˈbæsɪt /, until 2011 Wootton Bassett , is a small town with 11,043 inhabitants (2001) and a civil parish in Wiltshire , England .
history
The place was first mentioned in a document in 681 AD. Archaeologists have proven that there was a settlement in Celtic and Roman times. Wootton Bassett is also mentioned in the Domesday Book .
In the early 21st century, the place gained fame through its proximity to the military airfield RAF Lyneham , because since 2007 the remains of British soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan have been brought back to England via this airport . The inhabitants of the place stood in honor of these soldiers, whose coffins were driven through the place, trellises. In September 2011, the transfers to RAF Lyneham were stopped and in recognition of the honor of the residents of Wootton Bassett, Queen Elizabeth II decreed in March 2011 that the place may be named Royal from October 16, 2011 . This is only the third city in England, after Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Tunbridge Wells , to have this designation, and the first to be awarded this designation in over 100 years.
traffic
Royal Wootton Bassett no longer has a passenger train station, but the place has had three stations over time. The station Wootton Bassett Road was approved by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1840 on the railway line from London Paddington opened. After just a year, the Box Tunnel was opened and connected to Bristol Temple Meads , so the station was relocated and became Wootton Basset station . In 1903 with the opening of the South Wales Main Line , the station was moved to the branch of this line and renamed Wootton Bassett Junction . This station was closed in 1965.
Town twinning
swell
- Announcement by Prime Minister David Cameron of the award of the addition "Royal"
- BBC report on the addition of "Royal"