Calne / Lynham Guide

About Calne

Calne is a market town in northern Wiltshire, situated at the north-western extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The town lies on the Wiltshire & Berkshire Canal, the River Marden and on the A4, 19 miles east of Bath, 6 miles east of Chippenham and 13 miles west of Marlborough. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Calne was considered to be one of the fastest expanding towns in the South West region. Calne is twinned with the towns of Charlieu in France, Caln Township in Pennsylvania, USA and Eningen in Germany.

Markets are held weekly on Fridays offering local produce and household essentials.  There is a monthly Farmers’ market on the second Saturday of each month bring greater choice to the locality produce wares.  Calne High Street hosts a monthly arts & crafts market during the summer months and displays locally created jewellery, wood carvings, paintings and needlecrafts.

History

• Calne had a significant woollen broadcloth industry in the 18th century and evidence of this can be seen on The Green where many buildings such as Georgian era clothiers’ houses and some of the 20 cloth mills originally involved in this industry along the River Marden in Calne still remain. St Mary’s parish church in Calne was built on the generous donations of wealthy local clothiers and medieval wool merchants in the 15th century.

• Lately, Calne’s best known industry was pork processing with a factory that dominated the town both architecturally and through providing employment until the early 1980s – at its closure in 1983 it employed over 2000 people out of a town population of 10,000. The pork curing industry developed here because pigs reared in Ireland were landed at Bristol and then herded across England’s drovers’ roads, passing through Calne, en route to Smithfield’s Market in London.   The factory started in the second half of the 18th century when brothers John and Henry Harris started in business. The factory has now been fully demolished and its site redeveloped as shops, housing and a library.

Facts

• Population – 13,606 (2001)
• Unitary Authority – Wiltshire Council
• Major Industries – Light Industrial; Information Technology
• Post Town – CALNE
• Postcode District – SN11
• Dialling Code – 01249
• Police – Wiltshire Police
• Fire – Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Ambulance – SouthWestern Ambulance Service

Discover Calne for yourself

• BBC News – Wiltshire
• Bowood House
• British Towns – Calne
• Calne Town Council
• Calne Heritage Centre
• Calne Chamber of Commerce
• English Heritage
• National Trust
• Recycling Guide
• Visit Wiltshire

About Lyneham

The village of Lyneham is located approximately 4 miles south-west of  Royal Wootton Bassett and 5½ miles north of Calne in the north western part of Wiltshire among the undulating hills just north of the escarpment of the Marlborough Downs. Swindon is 11 miles to the northeast of Lyneham.  London is approximately 90 miles to the east. The village is the location of the RAF Lyneham airbase, home to much of the RAF’s C-130 Hercules fleet until 2011.

History

• Lyneham was mentioned for the first time in 1224. The area has always been agricultural, with several farms scattered around the hamlet all responsible for working the land. In earlier times, the land had belonged to the priory at Bradenstoke-cum-Clack and together, it was the centre for growing flax. Lyneham’s original name, Linen Hamlet, originated from the growing of the flax crop, fibres of which were used to make linen cloth.
• There is evidence of a pottery from medieval times at Lyneham as kiln ash, iron slag, and quantities of medieval sherds of the 13th and 14th centuries date were discovered when foundations were dug recently in Farthing Lane. In the first part of the 20th century most of the village population worked in local pursuits such as agriculture or the sawmills, some went to work for the Great Western Railway in Swindon, and others went to Calne to work for the bacon factory.

Facts

• Population – 5,319 (2001)
• Unitary Authority – Wiltshire Council
• Major Industries – Defence (Royal Air Force Station – RAF Lyneham)
• Post Town – LYNEHAM
• Postcode District – SN11
• Dialling Code – 01249
• Police – Wiltshire Police
• Fire – Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
• Ambulance – South Western Ambulance Service

Discover Lyneham for yourself

• BBC News – Wiltshire
• BritInfo – Lyneham
• British Towns – Lyneham
• RAF Lyneham
• Recycling Guide
• Visit Wiltshire