The Spa
| Melksham | |
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 Market Place with Town Hall |
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 Melksham
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| Melksham shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 14,677 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST9063 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Melksham |
| Postcode district | SN12 |
| Dialling code | 01225 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Town Council |
Melksham (/ˈmɛlkʃəm/) is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about 4 1⁄2 miles (7 km) northeast of Trowbridge and 6 mi (10 km) south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest town after Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham and Trowbridge.
Melksham developed at a ford across the River Avon and the name is presumed to derive from "meolc", the Old English for milk, and "ham", a village. On John Speed's map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt both Melkesam (for the hundred) and Milsham (for the town itself). Melksham was a royal estate at the time of the Norman Conquest
Melksham is also the name of the Royal forest that occupied the surrounding of the area in the Middle Ages.
In 1539 the prioress and nuns of Amesbury surrendered their Melksham estates to the king which they had held for about 250 years. This property, which consisted of the Lordship of the Manor and Hundred, was in 1541 granted to Sir Thomas Seymour. Seymour then sold it to Henry Brouncker, who had already made purchases of real estate in the neighbourhood. At some uncertain date, perhaps about 1550, Brouncker built a residence for himself on the site of an earlier mansion. This was known as Place House, built in a style suitable to that of a resident lord, who was also a man of considerable wealth.
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Wikipedia