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The Parade was described by the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, in his ‘The buildings of England-Wiltshire’ as ‘a stretch of palaces’.

The finest of these buildings is Parade House. This was built in 1730 for the Houlton family. The stunning decorated stone façade is matched by an equally beautiful interior which includes an oak staircase and fine plaster ceilings. The path pitched at the front of this and the neighbouring houses is over 250 years old.

Number 68 is the building set forward from Parade House. It is a fine example of baroque style (a highly decorative way of building popular in the eighteenth century). Notice how particularly beautiful the door-case and window above are.

Lloyds Bank in Fore Street was said by Pevsner to be so ‘stately as to recall Genoa’ and is to said to be the finest building in Wiltshire. It was built by wealthy clothier Thomas Cooper and has a seven-bay façade which is similar to the east front of Dyrham Park.

Another fine eighteenth century house (it can be seen from outside Lloyds Bank) and one of the few not to be built by a clothier is occupied by HSBC bank. It was probably built by John Watts who returned to his native Trowbridge after many years as a merchant in Portugal.

The imposing building facing the pedestrianised entrance to Fore Street is the Town Hall. This was built by Sir William Roger Brown, a local clothier, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign and was presented to the people of the town in June 1889.

Adjoining the Town Hall to the right is the Market Hall. This was built in 1861 by another clothier William Stancomb. The aim of the Hall was to bring the market stalls out of the old market place and under cover. See if you can find images of a plough, sheep, a woolsack and spinning wheels.

Heading towards the Town Bridge, as if one is leaving the town, on the left hand-side just before the bridge, is a small stone building with a rounded roof. This is known as the Blind House (as it has no windows). It was built in 1757 and was Trowbridge’s lock-up until a police station was built in 1854.

The Town Bridge itself is a rather fine three-arch stone structure. It was rebuilt by Trowbridge architect, Esau Reynolds in 1777.