Funding Appeal
The town mill photographed around 1905 with piles of coal outside. It was demolished in 1958. In its place is the Rivo Lounge, The Bridge (next to the town bridge) and a row of 1960s shops. Photo courtesy of Chippenham Museum Collection
The Market Place next to the town war memorial, thought to have been taken in the 1930s. Photo courtesy of Chippenham Museum Collection
Volume of Chippenham about to be published
A new volume in the Victoria County History (VCH) series on Wiltshire will be published on Thursday 9th July. The volume covers the history of Chippenham and the neighbouring parishes of Bremhill, Christian Malford, Hardenhuish, Kington St Micheal and Easton Piercy, Kington Langley, Langley Burrell and Tytherton Kellaways. The history has been researched and written up by professional historians. It starts with the earliest records and runs through to the present day, covering all aspects of local history.
This is volume 20 in the VCH Wiltshire series. It is the first to be published for 15 years, following that on Cricklade and its environs which appeared in 2011. It is also the first to be produced since local authority funding was withdrawn. Funding for the new volume has been through fundraising organised by the Wiltshire Victoria County History Trust, a charity established to raise funds to pay for the preparation of future volumes.
The VCH is a project started in Queen Victoria’s reign (hence its name) to research the history of every parish in the country. The results are published in big red books, widely available in libraries and also, these days, online without charge. Some counties started earlier than others; Wiltshire’s first volumes appeared in the 1950s. There will be 25 Wiltshire volumes in all, so with the 20th volume about to be published the series is nearing completion.
Another volume (covering Mere and its environs) is expected to be published in 2028 and research is well advanced on a volume about the Alderbury area in the south east of the county. After that, there will be another four volumes needed to complete the series. It costs around £250,000 to research, write up and publish a volume, so around £1,000,000 will be needed to fund the four remaining volumes. The Wiltshire VCH Trust is launching an appeal for these funds, initially online.
David Moss, chairman of the Wiltshire VCH Trust, said:
“Publication of the VCH volume on Chippenham is very pleasing. Congratulations to the historians who have worked so hard to achieve it and to the many whose generous support has made it possible.
“The VCH is the history of everywhere; it is the history of where you are, of where you live and work, of where you come from and of where you may plan to go. Except that it hasn’t yet been written for everywhere. In Wiltshire, we are close to completing it and hope that you will help us raise the funds to do just that. You can find out all about us on our website, www.wiltshirehistory.org, including to how to donate in support of our appeal.”
Publication of the Chippenham volume coincides with the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Aubrey nearby and to celebrate both events the town has organised a festival “Chippenham - Our History” that has already had several highly successful events and which runs into the autumn. For news about what is to come, please visit One Chippenham.
The new Chippenham volume will be on sale at £95 a copy. It will also be available in libraries and after two years online without charge.
For further information, please contact David Moss, Chairman of the Wiltshire VCH Trust, on 01225 863946 or at wiltshirevch@gmail.com.