Chippenham

Chippenham is a historic market town in Wiltshire, England, east of Bath and west of London. In the 2011 census, the Chippenham community area's population was recorded at 45,337, and the built up area of Chippenham had a population of 35,800The 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 primary school, King's Lodge School, gets its name from this tradition.The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841. The town is now a commuter town.Chippenham is twinned with La Flèche in France and Friedberg in Germany.The town's motto is Unity and Loyalty.GeographyLocationChippenham is in western Wiltshire, at a prominent crossing of the River Avon, between the Marlborough Downs to the east, the southern Cotswolds to the north and west and Salisbury Plain to the southeast.The town is surrounded by sparsely populated countryside and there are several woodlands in or very near the town, such as Bird's Marsh, Vincients Wood and Briars Wood.