Central Library, Regent Circus, Swindon - 01793 466454/530328 infocentre@swindon.gov.uk

Royal Wootton Bassett, formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies 6 miles (10 km) to the west of the town of Swindon and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Calne.

The town was granted royal patronage in March 2011 by Elizabeth II in recognition of its role in the early-21st-century military funeral repatriations, which passed through the town. This honour was officially conferred in a ceremony on 16 October 2011 - the first royal patronage to be conferred upon a town (as distinguished from a borough or county) since 1909.

In June and July of 2014, an excavation carried out by AC archaeology at the Royal Wootton Bassett Sports Hub found the remains of a roundhouse. The roundhouse would have been 9m in diameter and is most likely to be from the Iron Age. To the west of the roundhouse, a field boundary was exposed with mid to late Iron Age pottery found in the fill.

Evidence suggests that settlement continued from the Iron Age where the Royal Wootton Bassett sports hub now stands. A small number of late 1st century finds were excavated in the 2014 AC archaeology excavation. In the northeast corner of the site, evidence for Romano-British settlement was uncovered in the form of post holes representing two possible structures; iron slag and Romano-British pottery were found in the post holes. There were two wells at the site, encountered in the 2014 excavation, one containing the bones of a horse and a dog. Also found was the burial of an infant, who may or may not have been born before they died. Two Roman coins were dug up at the site along with 2,696 shards of Roman pottery.

The name Wootton is derived from the Old English wudutun meaning 'wood settlement', referring to Braydon Forest. Sometime prior to the year 1212, the town's manor was held by Alan Basset whose surname was added to the town's name.

AD 681 is usually taken as the starting point for recorded history of Wootton Bassett, then known as Wodeton, it being referred to in that year in a Malmesbury Abbey charter granting land to the Abbot.

Archaeological discoveries in the area tend to confirm the tradition that the original Wodeton was near the present Dunnington Road. Wodeton was sacked by the marauding Danes in 1015, whereupon the survivors decided to move uphill to the site of the present High Street.

Wootton Bassett is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is noted that Miles Crispin held the rights and these included "land for 12 ploughs...a mill...and 24 acres (9.7 ha) of meadow...33 acres of pasture and woodland which is two leagues by a league". It was said to be worth nine pounds.

In the early 21st century, the town paid informal tributes during military repatriation funeral processions which passed through the town, eventually attracting significant media coverage. On 16 March 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron announced, at the start of Prime Minister's Questions, that while "from September, military repatriations will no longer pass through the town of Wootton Bassett", "Her Majesty has agreed to confer the title 'Royal' upon the town, as an enduring symbol of the nation’s admiration and gratitude". The addition to the town's name was enacted through Letters Patent and became effective on 16 October 2011, when The Princess Royal visited the town to present formally the Letters Patent to the town council. Royal Wootton Bassett is the fourth Royal town in the country after Royal Sutton Coldfield, Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Tunbridge Wells, and the first to receive the status in over 100 years.