During the early 1960’s there were great changes taking place in Melksham with new development within the town centre and changes to factories and commercial premises.

In November 1962 a group of 10 people who had an interest in preserving the town's heritage met in the town hall, presided over by Councillor W.A.Catte. During this meeting it was proposed by Mr Cooper that “Melksham and District Historical Association” be formed. This was agreed unanimously by all attending.

The aims of the society were to preserve and record for posterity the events and buildings etc in the town and surrounding area, also to probe past records, to bring to light items and past events of historical interest.

In February 1965 meetings were held in the lecture room of the newly opened Library in Lowbourne and membership grew to approximately 40, with an average meeting attendance of 19.

Over the next 10 years membership increased to approx 80 in the mid 1970’s. With an attendance at meetings of about 50 members, it was apparent that the lecture room in the Library was just not big enough and the committee researched alternative venues for the meetings. The result was that from September 1996 meeting were held at the Assembly Hall. The move to better facilities in the Assembly hall reflected in an increase in membership in 2001 to 120.

From September through to April, meeting are arranged in the Assembly Hall with guest speakers and slide shows of local interest, which are very popular. May, June and July are reserved for visits to local places of interest and our annual outing, which takes place in July.

Exhibitions of photographs and artefacts have always been a feature of the Association’s aims. To this end a three day exhibition was held in the Town Hall in 2002 to celebrate the 40th anniversary followed by a four year stint of running the Round House in Church Street as a History Centre. Both were well supported by the public but it was necessary to eventually close the History Centre due to lack of stewards. Various pictorial displays were mounted over the years in the lounge area of the Assembly Hall, St Michael’s Church and other venues when asked.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Association eleven blue plaques were mounted on some of Melksham’s historic buildings along with a Blue Plaque Trail publication which gave brief details of the history of the buildings. This booklet is still available to purchase in the TIC.

Over the years the Association members have been responsible for producing a number of papers and publications on local history. The most prolific writer of papers was Mr Peter Brown, who was one of the founder members of the Association and was the President until he passed away in 2014. John Holness then accepted the presidents position, following his many years as the Association Chairman. Our current president is Tony Fivash.

Attendance at meetings always reached 50/60 but it became impossible to recruit committee members to run the meetings mostly due to our ageing membership so the future did not look very bright. However at the January 2022 meeting a visitor pointed out how difficult it would be to start up again if we allowed the Association to close. Renewed effort was made to recruit a Chairman and Treasurer. Both are now in place and our future looks set fair.

The civil parish of Melksham is fairly small, but the old manor of Melksham included the area of Melksham Without. This takes in Shaw, Whitley, Beanacre, Forest, Berryfield and Bowerhill. There was a settlement around the Church in Saxon times and the name is believed to come from the old English meoloc meaning milk. As the name implies, the area has long been associated with pasture and dairy farming. Saint Michael and All Angels Church has been on its site since early times, and when the Domesday Book was compiled the priest was listed as Romoldus, with the manor held by the Crown. Reasons for settlement would include a fording point of the river, fertile land and elevation above the river flood level. Bridges across the River Avon and Clackers Brook were in place by the early 15th Century.

In 1219 a weekly market and Michaelmas Fair was granted to the town. Medieval settlement was probably concentrated in the Church Street, Church Walk, High Street and Market Place area. In the mid 16th Century a manor house, later known as Place House, was built between the Market Place and the Church. The cloth industry was active by this time but not on the scale of Bradford and Trowbridge. Fulling Mills were in operation probably taking advantage of the riverside for power and water. By the next Century the area to the north of the river known as The City was occupied and expanding. Despite occasional short revivals, the cloth trade slowly declined and the inevitable riots broke out. In one instance The Bear Inn was attacked, causing the dragoons being sent to the town to restore order. The cloth industry finally came to an end when the last mill closed in 1871

The Old Bath Road passed to the north-east of the town, but after the turn-piking of the Melksham roads the route moved south to avoid steep hills. The Kings Arms was the principal Coaching Inn for Melksham with ten coaches staging there a day. Services to Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Reading called at Melksham as routes expanded. The town had always had a strong Quaker and Non-Conformist tradition, and when the Education system came into being it was unusual in being an Anglican and Non-Conformist co-operative venture, and was built at Lowbourne. Later St Michael’s School opened too.

In 1847 a private company built the Market Hall [now the Town Hall] where the sale of the local farm produce was traded with a Police Station alongside. Later, in 1864 Place House, was demolished to make way for a small development of houses.

The town continued to expand and other industries moved into the town. Among other items the production of Double Gloucester cheese became important. The Wilts & Berks Canal was opened by 1810 and Maggs’ rope works was established alongside. In 1848 the Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth Railway came to the town, taking away much of the business from the canal but improving communications further. An engineering works was started in Bank Street by C J Spencer; this moved to Beanacre Road in 1903. 1889 saw the Avon India Rubber Company move from Limpley Stoke producing rubber goods and later tyres, a business which continues to this day. Charles Maggs, grandson of the ropeworks founder, started a milk depot and butter factory which grew into the Wilts United Dairy Company, later to become part of Unigate. The Post Office Telegraph Service was introduced in 1870 followed by the National Telephone Company in 1898, and Trowbridge Water Company provided a public water supply at this time. Electricity came to the town in 1924, eventually becoming Wessex Electricity by Nationalisation of the industry.

At the beginning of the 20th Century dairy farming continued to be a major industry and businesses were expanding. The population continued to expand as a result, leading to many housing developments. The Wiltshire Agricultural Co-operative Society started up and became Wiltshire Farmers in 1942. 1920 saw C.W.S. establish a large creamery near the railway station. The onset of World War 2 gave rise to the establishment in 1940 of the R.A.F. No12 school of Technical Training at Bowerhill. This facility was used until the abolition of conscription in the early 1960’s and gave many thousands of personnel an acquaintance with the town.

Many of the industries of the early part of the century have now disappeared, but they have been replaced by many newer and smaller enterprises. Expansion has continued apace and shows no sign of slowing.