Chippenham Stadium

Chippenham is a market town in northwest Wiltshire, England. It lies 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Bath, 86 miles (138 km) west of London and 4 miles (6 km) east of The Cotswolds AONB. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon and some form of settlement is believed to have existed there since before Roman times. It was a royal vill, and probably a royal hunting lodge, under Alfred the Great. The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841; it is now a major commuter town.

Chippenham is twinned with La Fleche in France and Friedberg in Germany. The town's motto is "Unity and Loyalty".

History

Etymology

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the town as Cippanhamme: this could refer to Cippa who had his Hamm, an enclosure in a river meadow. An alternative theory suggests that the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ceap, meaning market. The name is recorded variously as Cippanhamm (878), Cepen (1042), Cheppeham (1155), Chippenham (1227), Shippenham (1319) and Chippyngham (1541). In John Speed's map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt both "Chippenham" (for the hundred) and "Chipnam" (for the town). (There is another Chippenham, Cambridgeshire as well as Cippenham, Berkshire near Slough.) From Chapman's harbour. It might share toponomy with Copenhagen (Kobenhavn – "Market harbour". Older name: Kopmannahafn, "Chapman's Harbour" ). In Swedish, Kopenhamn (pronounced "Shopenham"). In Norwegian, Kjopenhavn (Pronounced "Shiopenhavn")

Earliest settlement

There are believed to have been settlements in the Chippenham region since before Roman times. Remains of Romano-British settlements are visible in the wall behind the former magistrates' court and recent redevelopments of the town have shown up other evidence of early settlements.

Early Medieval

The town (not counting the Roman villages now within its boundaries) is believed to have been founded by Anglo-Sax