- A town with heritage and history While Trowbridge owes its prosperity and much of its historic architecture to the cloth industry that developed from the 15th century, the town's roots go back much further. The name itself is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words for tree and bridge - 'treow-brycg' - indicating either that the town was noted for a bridge made of trees or for a bridge ...www.pisle.com/troweb/ttc/museum.htm