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With its wonderful surrounding countryside and good transport links Warminster is an ideal place to set up home whether as a base for work, raising a family or settling down to a happy retirement. Local housing ranges from old cottages and town residences and apartments, to the modern starter homes and more executive style properties which are situated either in small developments or housing estates. Mobile homes are situated at Woodcock Park. In recent years the town has welcomed the building of several blocks of retirement apartments in the town centre and several estates of bungalows provide sheltered accommodation for the elderly. There are also retirement homes in the town and nearby villages such as Sutton Veny and Longbridge Deverill, some offering nursing facilities. Day clubs are held at the Beckford Centre in Gipsy Lane providing company, meals, activities and excursions for senior citizens. For the young, there are small fenced and gated areas with play equipment at The Dene, Grovelands Way, Haygrove Close, The Heathlands, Portway Lane, Pound Street, Princess Gardens, and Queensway. The Frank Moody Recreation Field, running alongside Fore Street, also has play equipment and the grass field is much-used for football and other games.

THE LAKE PLEASURE GARDENS

In the heart of Warminster and only a few steps from the Market Place is the Lake Pleasure Grounds (known locally at the Park). The main entrance is from Weymouth Street but access can be gained by footpaths from all sides including the Ridgeway Slope which was landscaped in 1977 and won an award from the Council for the Protection of Rural England. The Lake Pleasure Grounds feature tennis courts, a refreshment kiosk, and a bandstand, which has recently been refurbished where, during the summer months, visiting brass and silver bands give free concerts on some Sunday afternoons. Also here is the Lakeside Centre used by many community groups. The boating lake has two islands giving a haven to many ducks, swans and herons. There are three play areas; the King George V Playing Field with slides, swings, roundabouts, climbing frames and a paddling pool; the adventure play ground for the more energetic and the Skate Park, complete with half-pipes for use by skateboarders, roller-skaters and BMX bikers. For those who want to take life a bit more easily there are seats situated alongside the path which circles the lake, All is enhanced by the flower beds which supply colour at all times of the year

THE CIVIC TRUST GARDEN

Just inside the main entrance to the Lake Pleasure Grounds is the Warminster Civic Trust Garden where hardy plants, trickling water, a pergola and wooden seats offer an oasis for relaxation. It was opened on 18 May 1996. The garden occupies the site of the former Warminster Open-Air Swimming Baths and the cost was met by several kind individuals, businesses, and trusts.

SMALLBROOK MEADOWS

Paths lead out of the eastern end of the Lake Pleasure Grounds into Smallbrook Meadows, a designated Local Nature Reserve managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. It is also within the boundary of a Special Landscape Area (SLA). Situated next to the Were stream, measuring 13 hectares and divided into six small meadows, the reserve also features a large pond as well as smaller ones. The diversity of habitat provides suitable conditions for many birds including kingfishers, sandpipers and dippers, and mammals such as the water vole. Avens, marigolds and flags are among the flora and at certain times the air is alive with orange tip butterflies, damsels and dragonflies. A small car park is situated on the Henford Marsh road below Willow Crescent. From here the path into the reserve has a hard surface and is wheelchair friendly. Beyond the nature reserve, to the east, there is a grassed recreational area and a tongue of greenery following the River Wylye down stream to the picturesque Wylye Valley villages of Boreham and Bishopstrow.

ARN HILL NATURE TRAIL

Arn Hill rises to over 650 feet above sea level and its woodland was donated to the town by the Marquess of Bath in 1920. The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have established a nature trail around Arn Hill which passes a former lime-kiln (now in ruins) and rises above the old-fashioned sheep walks of Kidnapper's Hole. This two-mile circular footpath allows the enjoyment of the chalkland flora and its fauna. In the summer there are Fritillary and Small Blue butterflies to be seen as well as Burnet Moths The birds include skylarks, meadow pipits, tree-creepers and chiffchaffs. From the beech wood (which also features yews, holly and wayfaring trees) the path joins the open plain area around the golf course where views look north and east over the vast expanse of Salisbury Plain, south east to the isolation of the Great Ridge Woods, south towards neighbouring Dorset and west into the wetlands of Somerset. A wooden seat on the part of the Down overlooking New Farm and the Norridge Wood area is a good vantage point for seeing the distant landmarks of Alfred's Tower near Stourhead and the Mendip television transmitter near Wells. Access to Arn Hill can be gained from paths off the Westbury Road or from Elm Hill where there is some car parking.

FIREWORKS

On the Saturday evening closest to 5th November (Guy Fawkes Night) adults and children gather at Gales Field between Elm Hill and Imber Road, to see a bonfire and enjoy a spectacular firework display organised by the local garrison. In the surrounding villages also, displays are held which attract many local people.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

During December the main streets of Warminster are illuminated with colour by the annual Christmas Lights display. It is considered to be the best of its kind for miles around surpassing neighbouring towns and cities. Strings of bulbs and decorations above East Street, Market Place, High Street, George Street, and Silver Street are complemented by hundreds of illuminated Christmas trees above nearly every shop front. These are put up (and taken down) by a dedicated team of volunteers. The cost of trees is met by shopkeepers and business people. A switch-on ceremony draws a huge crowd not only to see the lights for the first time but also to hear the Warminster Brass Band play carols prior to an early visit by Father Christmas. Santa then spends most of the evenings in the run-up to Christmas touring local streets in his sleigh handing out sweets to young children while festive music is played via a loudspeaker. Santa’s helpers, members of the Warminster Lions Club and their friends, go door-to-door collecting loose change which is later donated to local charities.

WARMINSTER IN BLOOM

The main streets of Warminster are a blaze of colour again in the summer months with spectacular displays of hanging baskets, tubs and boxes. The Warminster in Bloom competition is judged by local dignitaries and nurserymen and at a special ceremony held at Dewey House prizes are awarded for the best displays of premises by shopkeepers, traders, and pub landlords and for the gardens of local residents. Warminster folk certainly have green fingers and the Tynings Allotments, on the corner of Bread Street and Bradley Road give residents, particularly those with no gardens the opportunity for vegetable growing and poultry keeping. There are several horticultural organisations. Warminster Gardening Club, Warminster Floral Art Club, the Wylye Valley Flower Club, and the Warminster Fuchsia Society all meet regularly for talks by experts on all sorts of plants. Their shows and exhibitions, which are open to the public, are well worth a visit.

VINTAGE VEHICLES

On the last Wednesday evening in July the George Inn at Longbridge Deverill, two miles south of Warminster, is the venue for Noggin, Nosh and Natter, a long-established, informal and free occasion when dozens of vintage cars, motorcycles, vans, lorries, buses and tractors are shown by their owners who drink, eat and chat while raising money for local charities. It is organised by the Commercial Transport In Preservation group who come again this time to the centre of Warminster on the first Sunday in September, using the Central Car Park as a stopping place during their annual Bournemouth to Bath and R.A.F. Colerne road run. Some of the vehicles have already travelled miles from their owners’ homes, from as far afield as Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall and Kent. Hundreds of people line the route to see many fine examples of yesterday’s transport pass through. Another well-looked forward-to event is the Vintage Bus Running Day, now held on a Sunday in October, when yesteryear’s buses and coaches from all over the country offer free rides from Warminster to neighbouring towns and villages and back.

WARMINSTER CARNIVAL

Warminster has been holding regular carnivals for over a century. Now an annual highlight in the town’s calendar, the carnival is held on the last Saturday evening in October, a date specially chosen to attract some of the big illuminated floats from the world-famous carnival circuit in the neighbouring county of Somerset. Most of those taking part though are local entries comprising the carnival royalty, bands, floats, masqueraders and collectors. Run entirely by a small but very dedicated group of volunteers who spend all year fund-raising to put the show on the road, Warminster Carnival brings out a huge crowd of spectators who line the main streets making it the biggest-attended spectacle in the life of the town. Solicitations of small change from the crowd are counted up afterwards and donated to local charities. The week preceding the carnival features several events promoting and funding the grand parade. The Fun Fair also visits the town at this time occupying the Central Car Park.

FAIRS AND MARKETS

There was a market in Warminster when Thomas Mauduit was lord of the manor in the first half of the 13th Century. His son William obtained the grant of a fair in 1253 (St Laurence Fair held on Aug 9-11). Henry Green was granted a second fair in 1477 (St Simon & St Jude fair Oct 22-29) and a third fair was granted to Thomas Thynne in 1679 (St Denys fair April 10-12). The largest of the fairs was the October one and many sheep and cattle were sold as well as quantities of cheese. The weekly corn market was held on Saturdays and the beast market on Mondays. The corn market was the second largest in the West of England after Bristol. It was a “pitched” market, one sack from each load brought in being off-loaded as a sample, purchases were made between the hours of 11 and 1 and were paid for immediately after the sale. Until the Corn Exchange (now demolished) was built in 1855 all dealings were carried out in the open apart from the small protection offered by the colonnaded fronts, one of which still exists outside the Old Bell Hotel. The corn market ceased to trade by 1920 and the cattle market closed in 1968. Warminster now hosts three different markets. The Friday Market is held during the morning in the northern part of the Central Car Park. Also on Friday mornings, inside Warminster Library, the Country Market (formerly the Women's Institute Market) is held. The Farmers’ Market is held outside the Library at least once per month.

SHOPPING

Warminster still retains its old market-town appeal with many independent shops owned and run by local people. There are also several national names giving residents and visitors a greater mix of shopping opportunities.

The Market Place and the High Street were traditionally the dedicated retail area in Warminster but over the years the number of shops has grown, spreading to the other main streets. Many of the shop premises in Silver Street are now involved with the buying and selling of antiques. George Street has a mixture of take-away food premises and independent shops. East Street and Weymouth Street have local traders too, while Chinn's Court, off the south side of the Market takes pride in its specialty and artisan shops. A doll's house and miniatures shop is at Copheap Lane while the residential estates at Boreham Field, Broadway, Portway, and Prestbury are served by convenience stores.

The need for extra shops in Warminster has necessitated the building of two precincts. The Three Horse Shoes Walk, built in the early 1970s and improved in 1999, includes the town’s main post office. The Corn Market, the most recent development, features a bronze statue of a girl sat high on a stack of grain sacks gazing dreamily towards Copheap. This work of art called “Beyond Harvest” is by the renowned sculptor Colin Lambert.

ACCESS FOR THE DISABLED

Thankfully there are many dropped kerbs in Warminster, helping wheelchair and scooter-users to get about the town. Most of the shops have level access or ramps but where these are not available shopkeepers are more than pleased to assist with access. Warminster Shopmobility is a loan service of powered electric scooters or manual wheelchairs to anyone with limited mobility. The service is based next to the Warminster Information Centre in the Central Car Park (outside are several parking bays for orange-badge holders) and is open every Monday and Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. (Wednesdays from 9.00 until 1.00) Use of the scooters is demonstrated for those who are not familiar. Ryde Mobility Products in Chinn’s Court also hire out scooters and wheelchairs.

PUBLIC HOUSES

Many of the present buildings in the Market Place (now shops and offices) owe their early existence to the corn market being at one time inns or hostelries offering food, drink and stabling to farmers and corn dealers. Back in 1710 the town had 51 inns and had the unusual sobriquet of being "the most drunken town in Wiltshire".

Today, there are thirteen public houses in Warminster, each offering its own individual blend of hospitality.