The tiny little UK town that was England's capital 700 years before London

A tiny, vibrant, steeped in history going back to was once the capital of England.

When we think of England's capital, glitzy automatically comes to our minds, however, this wasn't always the case.

Malmesbury in Wiltshire is the oldest borough in England. The town was originally built around an abbey and constructed in around 675AD. For a time it was reportedly one of the most significant towns in England.

Dating back to the sixth century, it was awarded borough status via a charter by Alfred The Great in around 880.

In the 10th Century, Athelstan, the first king of (all) England and grandson of Alfred the Great, made Malmesbury his capital after defeating an army of northern English and Scots.

Here he proclaimed himself as King of all England making Malmesbury the nation's first capital.

During the English Civil War between the Royalists and Parliamentarians, Malmesbury became a key battleground and the south face of its abbey still bears scars from a battle that tore through the town.

However, after the 1640s, it faced an economic decline as transport and trade routes passed it to the coast.

Today it is a popular regional market town with a bustling high street filled with independent shops and a popular farmer's market. Every August the town holds an annual carnival which helps to raise money for the community through events and stalls including the world's largest pillow fight.

Emma from 's told that Malmesbury is a "lovely place" and "everybody is so friendly and everybody knows everybody".

She added: "You can tell when people have been to the area how in awe they are of it. Obviously, we've got the abbey which is beautiful and the Old Bell which is the oldest hotel in England."

In fact England has had many capitals before London was eventually settled upon. Steeped in history Colchester is the former capital of England and Britain's first city.

As well as claiming to be Britain's oldest recorded town, was turned into the nation's Roman capital in AD49.

When the Romans invaded Britain, Colchester was the first place in Britain to be given the status of a "Roman Colonia". In doing this, Colchester became the first capital of the new Roman province of Britannia.

Now, the city is full of Edwardian buildings around narrow lanes with independent shops and restaurants for visitors to explore. There are also quaint, colourfully painted houses in the Dutch Quarter, named after the medieval weavers that emigrated here from across the North Sea.

York also had its spell as the capital of England for a period of time during the reign of King Edward I.

In the summer of 1298 Edward I moved two departments at the heart of government, the Chancery and Exchequer, to York. They only returned to London in 1304.

For those years, York was effectively the capital of England. The city was also the base for Edward's army.