Chippenham - Our History: A Community Celebration
As publication of Volume 20 of Wiltshire Victoria County History approaches in late 2026, Chippenham is preparing for a celebration of its rich and diverse past. Chippenham - Our History brings together Chippenham Museum, Wiltshire VCH Trust, Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Chippenham Library, and the wider community in a year-long festival of events, exhibitions, and creative projects that explore the history of Chippenham and its surrounding villages.
The centrepiece of the programme will be an exhibition- Wiltshire & the World: John Aubrey and the Quest for Knowledge, which will run at Chippenham Museum from 12 June to 19 September 2026. Marking the 400th anniversary of Aubrey's birth, the exhibition celebrates the pioneering antiquary, scientist, and biographer, born just outside Chippenham at Kington St Michael in 1626. Curated in collaboration with Kate Bennett and VCH contributor Louise Ryland-Epton, the exhibition will showcase Aubrey's wide-ranging scientific interests and his empirical approach of observation, collection, and collaboration. Loans from the Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Library, and Royal Society highlight Aubrey's networks and contributions to early modern scholarship.
Another exhibition at Chippenham Library will feature William Lisle Bowles, the Bremhill clergyman and Romantic poet. A programme of talks will draw on the stories of ten remarkable people from the town’s last 1000 years of history, while community groups, including Chippenham Hub, Public Art Chippenham, and Rag and Bone Arts, will contribute their own creative responses to these tales and others. At VCH, we are particularly excited about John Chandler's forthcoming book, Chippenham: Our History, written alongside the new VCH volume and to be launched at Chippenham Museum on Aubrey’s birthday on 12 March. The book provides a fascinating introduction to the town's history and also features a town trail.
However, kicking off the programme are two creative writing programmes inspired by Aubrey's Brief Lives, the vivid biographical sketches for which he is best known. In a series of free workshops from 15 January led by an experienced writer, participants aged 16-18 will use the museum’s collection of portraits, taken by local photographers in the 1900s, as creative prompts to write their own ‘brief life’ for these anonymous figures. A second series of workshops running from February, in collaboration with the Chippenham Museum Creative Writing Group, will explore how to write with greater detail. Sessions will provide an opportunity to develop the skill of telling your own stories with clarity and to experiment with a range of forms, including flash fiction, memoir, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Please check out the museum website for more information and to secure your place on either programme.
For more information and to get involved with Chippenham Our History, follow them on Facebook.
Louise Rylamd-Epton