There is still a market in the town center every Friday and Saturday, where you can see the original buttercross dating back to 1570. There's also a farmers' market every two weeks.
Book a stay at one of our Chippenham accommodations and explore Wiltshire's second-largest town, along with the picturesque countryside surrounding it.
Woodlands
Vincients Wood is a nature reserve to the west of Chippenham, covering 12 acres of woodland, with the southern part classified as ancient woodland. Look for squirrels, hedgehogs, great spotted woodpeckers, chiffchaffs, nuthatches, goldcrests, and bullfinches, as well as wood anemones, bluebells, orchids, and butterflies, including the comma, ringlet, and speckled wood. There's also a marked walking route through the woods for walkers to explore. North of the town, you'll find Bird’s Marsh, a 59-acre woodland teeming with wildlife and trees, many of which are centuries old.
Sports and leisure
Just a five-minute drive north from the town is Chippenham Golf Club, founded in 1896. The course is open to visitors daily and offers views of the surrounding countryside. In the town center, there’s a leisure center featuring a gym, pool, and squash courts for your enjoyment.
Museums
Housed in a listed Georgian building in the Market Place, Chippenham Museum and Heritage Center boasts around 26,000 items, mostly related to the town's history and the north Wiltshire area. The collection spans from the Neolithic period and includes geology, archaeology, agriculture, trade, industry, education, government, domestic life, and recreation. You'll find old postcards, photographs, and maps, along with objects ranging from cookers and butter churns to Viking stirrups. The museum also includes the Grade I listed, timber-framed Yelde Hall, the town's main meeting place in the 15th century, which has served various purposes over time.
Lacock Abbey
Located in the charming village that shares its name, Lacock Abbey is a Tudor country house built on the site of a former nunnery. It was home to pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot, who played a crucial role in the development of photography and is known for taking the first negative. Discover the medieval rooms and cloisters, the brewery and former bakery, and the museum dedicated to Talbot, which includes displays on the development of photography and his work, a collection of his personal items, and cameras. The gardens feature an apple orchard, a rose garden, woodland, a stream, ponds, lawns, a play area, and a colorful botanic garden, which attracts bees and butterflies in the summer.
Eating and drinking
Modern British dishes and a selection of specialty desserts are available at Revolution, or head to Los Amigos for tapas or the Gladstone Arms for an award-winning Sunday lunch. The Foxham Inn is featured in several good food guides, including Michelin, for its home-cooked meals, some of which are gluten-free. There's an open kitchen, so you might recognize pastry chef Ben Reid from 2014’s MasterChef: The Professionals. For real ales, live music, alfresco dining, and more home-cooked food, try the Four Seasons, which also broadcasts televised sporting events.