Dilton Marsh is a village and civil parish in the far west of the county of Wiltshire, in the southwest of England. The village is about southwest of the centre of the town of Westbury; Dilton Marsh remains a distinct settlement with its own character and community, bounded and separated from Westbury Leigh by the Biss Brook. The parish includes the small settlements of Penknap (east of Dilton Marsh village); Penleigh (northeast); Stormore (now contiguous with the west of the village); Clearwood (a little further west); and the rural hamlets of Fairwood (north) and Hisomley (southwest). Geography The parish lies on greensand in the southeast, and clay in the north and west. It is low-lying, nowhere reaching a height above . To the west is the Somerset town of Frome, the garrison town of Warminster is to the southeast, and Wiltshire's county town of Trowbridge is to the north. The Somerset border is some to the west of Dilton Marsh village. The hamlet of Stormore in the west is now part of the village. The houses along this loop road – called Stormore Common or St. Maur Common or Green in the 19th century – were once home to weavers. This area is enriched by areas of woodland, a valuable wildlife habitat, some of which belongs to the Chalcot House estate. The clay soil in this area provides fertile farmland and good quality grazing and is served by a system of traditional drainage ditches. The open aspect of this environment serves to separate Dilton Marsh and the county of Wiltshire from its neighbouring county of Somerset. History The original settlement, Old Dilton, is some southeast of the present village centre at , on the banks of the Biss Brook. It now consists of a couple of farm houses and the ancient St Mary's Church. As fewer workers were needed in the local woollen industry after the introduction of greater mechanisation, many moved to the common land of the drained marsh (called Dilton's marsh) on the northern side of the ridge. By the early 19th century, Dilton Marsh had outgrown the older settlement. Formerly there was a brick and tile works in the east of the parish, and this has influenced the overall appearance of homes in the village. Many of the houses are brick, but others are of stone rubble with red brick dressings, and in some instances the front