community generally considered as separate from Melksham, with a large industrial area Hunter's Meadow, a 2020s development north of Bowerhill Berryfield, a village south of and adjacent to Melksham, often considered part of the town Beanacre, a village to the north, again often considered as a northern suburb of the town. Demography In the 19th century, the population of Melksham parish increased from 4,000 at the 1801 census to 5,800 in 1851, then declined to 2,100 in 1891. Numbers increased slowly in the first half of the 20th century and more rapidly in the second half, rising to 14,204 by 2001. The 2011 census saw a modest increase to 14,677. The wider built-up area – which includes Berryfield and Bowerhill, both in Melksham Without parish – had a population of 19,357 at the 2011 census. Economy The Shell Guide to Wiltshire, published in 1968, characterised the town as "with the exception of Swindon the most industrialized in the county". Today, Melksham has varied industries including Avon Rubber, which previously owned the Avon Tyre plant on a riverside site in the town centre. The plant is now the home of Cooper Tire & Rubber (a subsidiary of the American Goodyear company) and is still a major employer in the town, producing Cooper Avon and Avon Tyres brands. In 2000, Avon Rubber plc moved to a large purpose-built facility to the south of the town near Semington, employing over 300 on products such as gasmasks. Melksham is also home to Knorr-Bremse, a designer and manufacturer of railway braking systems, at a purpose-built facility in south Bowerhill. The town has a thriving business district, is close to the retail centres of Bath, Chippenham, Devizes and Trowbridge, and is surrounded by attractive villages such as Lacock, Holt, Seend and Semington. To cater for the growth in recent years there are new schools and improved infrastructure, although small pockets of Melksham town centre, including a 1960 shopping parade, await redevelopment. Melksham has a number of pharmacies, high street clothes shops, charity shops and privately run individual stores. It has five supermarkets: Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi. Culture and community Melksham has an Assembly Hall and the Rachel Fowler Centre, while many of the surrounding villages have community halls which offer a wide variety of activities. Melksham Oak Community School offers a variety of sporting and cultural facilities to the community of Melksham. The town