Heywood village, which has approximately 200 inhabitants, lies between the A350 national route and the B3461 road, which links nearby Yarnbrook and the Westbury industrial area.

The parish also includes the hamlets of Hawkeridge and Norleaze; in the south are the West Wilts Trading Estate and part of The Ham, close to Westbury.

[2] In 1848 the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway was built through the parish, passing between Heywood and Dursley, to link the Swindon-Bath line (near Chippenham) with Westbury via Trowbridge.

[6] His grandson James, 3rd Earl pursued a naval career and sold most of his Wiltshire property, including the house, soon after he came into his inheritance in 1638.

[7] In 1700 the house was bought by Thomas Phipps (c. 1648 – 1715), who came from a family of Westbury cloth merchants and had made money in London by trading with the East Indies and New England.

Heywood falls within the South West Wiltshire parliamentary constituency, which has been represented since 2001 by Andrew Murrison (Conservative).

[18] The Eaves Learning Centre, just over the north boundary of the parish near Dursley, is a small independent school for children with special needs aged 8 to 19, run by Witherslack Group.