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Chippenham
Much of Wiltshire's wealth from the 16th Century onwards grew out of the wool industry, and having a thriving market, Chippenham's was no different, nor was its later loss to cheaper imports. The arrival of the railway in 1841 brought new business to the town. Today Chippenham is one of Wiltshire's largest conurbations, swelled by commuters, Swindon is larger, but administratively separate from Wiltshire, as may be Trowbridge. The population helps support good shopping opportunities.
Chippenham is home to 278 Listed buildings, adding to its appeal, the earliest being the Rose and Crown in Market Place, 14th Century. Grade II*, Yelde Hall, also in the Market Place, is early 15th Century, Grade I Listed. Go into Saint Mary Street from opposite Yele Hall and you can find The Old Vicarage, 1678, with railings in front, red bricked Zealy's House, early 18th century, The Woodhouse, 15th century, St Mary House, late 15th century, and St Andrew's church, all Grade II*, the church is 12th century.
In 1960 a speeding taxi driver lost control of the car, killing one of its passengers, the famous singer Eddie Cochran.
Film/TV Location For: Pride and Prejudice; Walk Away and I Stumble; Nineteen Eighty-Four.
For places to eat in Chippenham click here.
Chippenham is home to 278 Listed buildings, adding to its appeal, the earliest being the Rose and Crown in Market Place, 14th Century. Grade II*, Yelde Hall, also in the Market Place, is early 15th Century, Grade I Listed. Go into Saint Mary Street from opposite Yele Hall and you can find The Old Vicarage, 1678, with railings in front, red bricked Zealy's House, early 18th century, The Woodhouse, 15th century, St Mary House, late 15th century, and St Andrew's church, all Grade II*, the church is 12th century.
In 1960 a speeding taxi driver lost control of the car, killing one of its passengers, the famous singer Eddie Cochran.
Film/TV Location For: Pride and Prejudice; Walk Away and I Stumble; Nineteen Eighty-Four.
For places to eat in Chippenham click here.
Excerpts From The Wiltshire Council Timeline Of Chippenham (scroll)
853 - Ethelswitha, older sister of King Alfred marries the King of Mercia in Chippenham
878 - The Danes attack Chippenham after Christmas and force King Alfred to flee to the Isle of Altheney in Somerset
1086 - in the Domesday book are listed 113 holders of arable land although there are still 6 square miles of woodland on the manor, which would have been home to many pigs as there are 23 swineherds recorded. The population of the whole estate, not just the main settlement was between 600 and 800 people
1500 - By this date the Yelde Hall has been built
1611 - A severe visitation of the plague with many dying
1643 - Civil War; on the night of Saturday 8th July there was a running fight in Chippenham with General Waller pursuing the Royalist army after the Battle of Lansdowne
1649 - Oliver Cromwell lodges at the White Hart on his way to Ireland
1707 - Waterford Mills (Messers Pocock & Co.) founded in Factory Lane
1736 - The first workhouse in Chippenham built
1747 - In January the London Flying Wagon caused considerable damage when the coach was involved in an accident in St. Mary's Street
1776 - First recorded inoculation against smallpox in Chippenham
1780 - The mail coach took 16 hours for the journey from Chippenham to London
1810 - More than 12 cloth factories working in the town; Wilts & Berks Canal opens
1812 - One of Chippenham's M.P.s is future Prime Minister Robert Peel
1816 - Chippenham Mill burnt down (rebuilt in 1817)
1822 - Battle between the men of the 2 Langleys and the men of Chippenham in the town. Two people killed and 31 injured
1835 - Only one cloth factory still working in the town
1841 - Railway viaduct (Western Arches) built by Brunel; Brunel has site office by present railway station. 31st May railway line from Chippenham to London opens
1848 - Building of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway provides a route to the south coast via Trowbridge and Westbury
1859 - Three postal deliveries a day in the town, starting between 7.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. The workhouse at Rowden opened; it became the town's hospital in 1947
1861 - Chippenham Tannery opens (closed 1928)
1865 - A political riot after the election defeat of the Liberal Mr Lysley; 500 men, women and children involved, house windows smashed
1873 - first waterworks built and water pumped to 7 stand pipes in the town
1892 - There are 2 silk factories in the town
1896 - The Isolation Hospital opens (TB)
1906 - First sewerage works built for Chippenham
1915 - Last cloth factory destroyed by fire
1936 - Classic Cinema built
1939 - The Oxo Company opens a factory in Chippenham
1939-1945 - Second World War; evacuees in Chippenham, many younger men in the armed forces, many women on war work, rationing, fear of bombing by planes returning from the Midlands, Westinghouse factory a Luftwaffe target; Home Guard formed, Air Raid Wardens, black outs at night, defences against invasion such as the pill box by the old Calne railway bridge, temporary army camps around Chippenham and American soldiers later in the war
1940 - About half of Chippenham's population employed in engineering, mostly at Westinghouse
1960 - singers Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent die in a road accident on Rowden Hill
878 - The Danes attack Chippenham after Christmas and force King Alfred to flee to the Isle of Altheney in Somerset
1086 - in the Domesday book are listed 113 holders of arable land although there are still 6 square miles of woodland on the manor, which would have been home to many pigs as there are 23 swineherds recorded. The population of the whole estate, not just the main settlement was between 600 and 800 people
1500 - By this date the Yelde Hall has been built
1611 - A severe visitation of the plague with many dying
1643 - Civil War; on the night of Saturday 8th July there was a running fight in Chippenham with General Waller pursuing the Royalist army after the Battle of Lansdowne
1649 - Oliver Cromwell lodges at the White Hart on his way to Ireland
1707 - Waterford Mills (Messers Pocock & Co.) founded in Factory Lane
1736 - The first workhouse in Chippenham built
1747 - In January the London Flying Wagon caused considerable damage when the coach was involved in an accident in St. Mary's Street
1776 - First recorded inoculation against smallpox in Chippenham
1780 - The mail coach took 16 hours for the journey from Chippenham to London
1810 - More than 12 cloth factories working in the town; Wilts & Berks Canal opens
1812 - One of Chippenham's M.P.s is future Prime Minister Robert Peel
1816 - Chippenham Mill burnt down (rebuilt in 1817)
1822 - Battle between the men of the 2 Langleys and the men of Chippenham in the town. Two people killed and 31 injured
1835 - Only one cloth factory still working in the town
1841 - Railway viaduct (Western Arches) built by Brunel; Brunel has site office by present railway station. 31st May railway line from Chippenham to London opens
1848 - Building of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway provides a route to the south coast via Trowbridge and Westbury
1859 - Three postal deliveries a day in the town, starting between 7.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. The workhouse at Rowden opened; it became the town's hospital in 1947
1861 - Chippenham Tannery opens (closed 1928)
1865 - A political riot after the election defeat of the Liberal Mr Lysley; 500 men, women and children involved, house windows smashed
1873 - first waterworks built and water pumped to 7 stand pipes in the town
1892 - There are 2 silk factories in the town
1896 - The Isolation Hospital opens (TB)
1906 - First sewerage works built for Chippenham
1915 - Last cloth factory destroyed by fire
1936 - Classic Cinema built
1939 - The Oxo Company opens a factory in Chippenham
1939-1945 - Second World War; evacuees in Chippenham, many younger men in the armed forces, many women on war work, rationing, fear of bombing by planes returning from the Midlands, Westinghouse factory a Luftwaffe target; Home Guard formed, Air Raid Wardens, black outs at night, defences against invasion such as the pill box by the old Calne railway bridge, temporary army camps around Chippenham and American soldiers later in the war
1940 - About half of Chippenham's population employed in engineering, mostly at Westinghouse
1960 - singers Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent die in a road accident on Rowden Hill