CHIPPENHAM, a parish in the hundred of CHIPPENHAM, county of WILTS,
comprising the borough and market-town of Chippenham, and the tythings of Ailington,
and Tytherton-Stanley with Nethermore, and containing 3506 inhabitants, of
which number, 3201 are in  the borough, 33 miles (N. W. by N.) from Salisbury, and
93 (W.) from London. This place, which derives its name from the Saxon Cyppanham,
a market-town,, was of considerable importance
during the Octarchy, and is supposed to have been the
residence of the West Saxon kings. Ethelwolf, on his
return from an" excursion against the Welch, in 853, remained
for some time at this place, where he celebrated
the marriage of his daughter Ethelswitha with Burhred,
King of Mercia. In the reign of Alfred, the Danes,
who, after their defeat, had engaged by treaty to quit
the kingdom, retreated to this town, of which they
obtained possession by treachery; and that monarch,
after the dispersion of his army, was compelled -to take
refuge in the cottage of a neat-herd: on their subsequent
defeat by Alfred, the Danes again took refuge
here, where the treaty between that monarch and the
Danish prince Guthrum.was negociated. The town is
pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, on the south
bank of the river Avon, "which here expands into a noble
sheet of water, over which, terminating the western
extremity of the principal street, is a handsome stone
bridge of twenty-two arches, widened about thirty years
since, and ornamented with balustrades, for the repair
of which, and of a stone causeway of nearly three miles
in length, a considerable estate is vested in the corporation.
It consists of one spacious street, half a mile
in length and well paved, containing many respectable
houses, and of several smaller streets; it is lighted, and
tolerably well supplied with water from the river, by
which it is bounded on three sides. The woollen manufacture,
consisting chiefly of the finer broad cloths and
kerseymeres, formerlyflourished to a considerable extent;
but it has altogether declined: there are a few grist-mills
and tanneries; and the town is greatly benefited by the
trade arising from its situation as a great thoroughfare
on the road to Bath and Bristol. The Wilts and Berks
canal passes close to it. The market is on Saturday:
fairs are held on May 17th, June 22nd, October 29th,
and December 11th, for horses, cattle, and sheep. The
government, by charter of Queen Mary, granted in
the first year of her reign, and, after its surrender to
Charles II., renewed in the reign of James II., is vested
in a bailiff and twelve capital burgesses, assisted by a
town-clerk and subordinate officers; the bailiff is elected
by the burgesses, but he does not exercise magisterial
authority. The petty sessions for the division are held
here; and a court of requests, for the recovery of debts
under 40s., is held on the Tuesday in every sixth week
by commissioners, under an act passed in the 35th of
George III., the jurisdiction of which extends'over the
hundreds of Chippenham, Came, and North Damerham,
and the liberty of Corsham. The town-hall markethouse,
and shambles are very inconveniently situated:
it has long been in contemplation to remove them,, but
this desirable object has not yet been carried into effect,
Chippenham is a borough by prescription, and first sent
members to parliament in the reign of Edward I.; it
made two returns in the reign of Edward II., and four
in that of Edward III., from which period it discon-*
tinued till the 2nd of Richard II.; after the 12th of
that reign it again ceased to make any return till the
first of Henry VI., since which time it has regularly
sent two members: the right of election is vested in
the resident burgage-holders, of whom the number is
one hundred and twenty-eight, the addition of one more
having been for many years a subject of litigation; onehalf
of them are in the interest of Joseph Nield, Esq.;
the bailiff is the returning officer. .
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
of Wilts, and diocese of Salisbury, rated in the
king's books at £13. 19.4.,'endowed with £200 private
benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage
of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford.
The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a spacious ancient
building, containing portions in different styles
of English architecture, of which the tower and spire
are in the early style; it contains several interesting
monuments. There is a chapel of ease at Tytherton;
Lucas, in this parish. There are places of worship
for" Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists.
William Woodroffe, in 1664, gave land producing £5
per annum, for teaching ten poor children, to which
Mrs. Mary Bridges added £15, for two additional boys,
The Rev. Robert Cock, in 1719, gave £50 towards the
establishment of a charity school for girls; and a Lan*
casterian school, recently established, is supported by
subscription. Thomas Ray, Esq., in 1615, bequeathed
nine houses in New Sarum, directing the rents to be
distributed among poor clothiers in Chippenham, Marlborough,
Trowbridge, and Westbury. Mr. Gabriel
Goldney, in .1620, gave a rent-charge of £6, to furnish
great coats for six aged men. Sir Francis Popham
gave lands, producing £12 per annum, to be divided
among six poor burgesses; and, in 1769, Sir Edward
Baynton and Sir Thomas Fludyer, who in that year
were 'returned as members for the borough, invested
£1000 in the three per cent. Bank Annuities, for the
support of such freemen, or their widows, living in
burgage-houses, as the trustees should consider deserving
objects. There are various other bequests, both
for the benefit of the poor and for the repair of the
causeway. At the distance of about two miles is the
site of Stanley abbey, founded by the Empress Matilda
and Henry II., in 1154, who removed hither a
society of Cistercian monks, established at Lockswell
three years previously; its revenue, in the 26th or
Henry VIII., was estimated at £222. 19. 4.: there are
no visible remains, but fragments are occasionally
found upon the site. Monkton, the name of an estate
on the north bank of the river, seems to indicate
the remote existence of some religious establishment,
of which no vestige or historical account remains.
There are two chalybeate springs in the parish, which
were formerly in great repute; one of them is now
occasionally used, but the other is entirely closed up.