MALMESBURY, a parliamentary borough and market-town of England, county of Wiltshire, situate on a hill near the Avon, which winds almost round it, and is spanned by several bridges, 17½ miles N.N.W. of Bath, and 86 miles W. of London. The town consists of three main streets not very regularly laid out. The houses are for the most part built of stone; and in the market-place stands an ancient octagonal cross, richly ornamented with carved work, supposed to be as early as the reign of Henry VIII. The town was formerly defended by walls and a castle of some strength, and it possessed a very large abbey, covering 45 acres of ground, of which little now remains except the church, an excellent specimen of early English architecture. Besides this, there is the church of St Mary's; and of a third, St Paul's, little more than the tower now remains. There are also places of worship belonging to the Independents, Baptists, and Moravians, two schools, a savings-bank, and a market-house recently erected. A considerable amount of wool manufacture was formerly carried on here, but now the manufactures are unimportant. There is a silk mill; and tanning, brewing, and lace-making are carried on to a small extent. The place, however, is on the decline, and the inhabitants are mainly engaged in agricultural pursuits. Cattle markets are held here monthly,
and three great horse and cattle fairs in the year. The market-day is Saturday. The chief importance of Malmesbury is derived from its antiquity and historical interest. According to the ancient chronicles, a monastery was founded here in the seventh century, which, after being twice burnt by the Danes in the ninth and tenth centuries, finally rose to be one of the principal establishments of the kind in the W. of England, and in the reign of Edward III. was raised to the dignity of a mitred abbey. In the time of Stephen the town, which had then been newly fortified, was an object of some contention, and in the civil war of Charles I. it was taken from the royalists by Sir William Waller in 1643, but it was soon recovered, and again taken a short time after. At this time, too, the church received great injury, and was reduced to its present ruined state. This borough has returned members to Parliament since the time of Edward I. Previous to the Reform Act it had two representatives, but the number has now been reduced to one. The town is famous for its connection with several writers of eminence. St. Aldhelm, a Saxon writer of the seventh century, and Thomas Hobbes, sometimes called the "Philosopher of Malmesbury," were born here; and William of Malmesbury, one of the best of mediæval historians, was, during the greater part of his life, a monk of the abbey. Pop. (1851) 6998.