Cricklade

Cricklade has been called “the most intact example of a late Saxon new town in Britain”.  It is also the first town on the River Thames, and is situated in the very north of Wiltshire.  It lies just under 10 miles north west of Swindon, on the A419 between Swindon and Cirencester.  As such it is adjacent to the Cotswolds and lies just south of the gravel pits around South Cerney and Ashton Keynes which, after quarrying ended, became the Cotswold Water Park.  Nearest towns are Malmesbury (12 miles), Wootton Bassett (8 miles), Cirencester (8 miles), and Highworth (8 miles).

One of the earliest events which scholars have agreed must have taken place near Cricklade is the attempt by Saint Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.  This was said to be successful and paved the way for the authority of the Romans to be accepted.

In Roman times Cricklade lay on Ermin Street, although it had been on the trackways between the territories of early tribes long before that.  The crossing of the Thames took place in or around Cricklade, a site chosen by the Romans for reasons of geography (to avoid the floodplains from which they deviated Ermin Street) and for military reasons.

The geology of the area made it an ideal place to settle: accessible stone for building houses, dry gravelly land, a plentiful water supply from the Thames and other surrounding rivers, and richer soil which was ideal for growing crops.  Indeed, the name Cricklade means “the place by the river crossing”.

There are signs of a minor Romano-British Settlement in the form of two Roman villa farms nearby.  One of these farms was at Kingshill, between the rivers Key and Ray, and the other was at the nearby village of Latton.  It seems likely that with Cirencester (Roman name Corinium) being the second biggest town after London during Roman times, the Thames played an important role in communication through the kingdom.

William Cobbett in his “Rural Rides” had this to say about the town in 1821:  “I passed through that villainous hole Cricklade about two hours ago, and certainly a more rascally looking place I never set my eyes on.  The labourers look very poor; dwellings little better than pigbeds and their food nearly equal to that of a pig.”  The muddy, smelly, streets Cricklade would have exhibited in 1821 may well have clouded his view, but in fact today a passer-by would gain a wholly different impression of the town.  Cobbett’s general malaise as he traveled the south west should also be taken as mitigating circumstance.

 Another mitigating circumstance could be Cobbett’s almost certain awareness of Cricklade’s poor reputation in electoral matters.  To a man who published “Parliamentary Debates”, a role which later fell to Hansard, the well known corruption in Cricklade’s elections, apparently poor even by the standards of the time, would not have augured well!

When one considers the historical nature of the town, it is a surprise Cobbett couldn’t find something to make a positive comment about. Cricklade boasts many attractive historical buildings, with High Street buildings typically dating back as far as the 1700s. It is difficult to pick out one building from another as deserving special praise, but the Manor House in Calcutt Street, now Prior Park School, certainly is grand.  Cricklade is certainly a town which boasts its architectural heritage and is worth a walk round.

Sadly the original Saxon ramparts, laid out in a square around the town, are no longer visible.  The original layout of the town – with back streets running parallel with the High Street is still very much evident, however.  Aerial photographs of the town prior to the building of housing in the 1960s show the grid layout of streets to very full effect.  It is estimated that the houses which line the streets of Cricklade have been rebuilt four to six times since Saxon times.

 What is interesting is that many still conform to the original dimensions of 33 feet for frontages.

The Town Cross, now situated in St Sampson’s churchyard, originally stood in the market area of the High Street, a clear indication of the regularity of the town’s markets.  Since an early lord of the manor, Baldwin de Reviers, was granted the right to hold a market in 1257 markets had featured as part of Cricklade life.  The last market, by now moved to the railway station yard, was held in 1953.  The Cricklade Show, an annual fat-stock market held on the August Bank Holiday, is still held to this day.

Another notable feature of the High Street is the cast-iron clock on the junction of the High Street and Calcutt Street, which was paid for by public subscription in order to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Newer housing estates have been built in the last 30 years to the south and south west of the town, bordered by the main road to Malmesbury.  This road lies along what was the course of the railway, obliterating it and all sign of the town’s station which was closed in the mid 1960s.

 The High Street remains a focus for the town, and still offers shops which serve the local population, rather than focussing on the passing tourist trade.

The town was served by two parish churches, St Sampton's and St Mary's, and, until recent times, reisidents could only marry in the church in whose parish they lived: a dividing mark being apparent on a house in the High Street. There were non-conformist churches, the buildings of many of which are still apparent. these included Wesleyan Methodist, Primitive Methodist, Baptist and Congregational Churches.

Cricklade is probably most famous, not for its arcitechture or history, but for its North Meadow which attracts many visitors every year.  Since 1973 the meadow, originally known as Normead, has been a National Nature Reserve and one of the few places to view the rare snake’s head fritillaries.  It actually holds 80% of the British population of this flower.

As a direct result of the Enclosure Act, the North Meadow has remained the property of the burgesses of Cricklade, and its use was defined in 1815.  This set down a management regime that lasted and this is largely why Cricklade still enjoys the 110-acre meadows and the rare flowers that grow within it.

Like many small towns, Cricklade was largely self sufficient, and this can be seen in historical documents which list employment in the town.

 From butchers to bakers to agricultural workers, Cricklade people had a wide and varied employment. Nevertheless there are two main businesses which, during the twentieth century, provided employment for many Cricklade people, both male and female, and offered an alternative to the otherwise likely employment of agriculture (male) or domestic service (female).

Leonard Owen Hammond was one of Cricklade’s entrepreneurs.  He started off before World War 1 as a chauffeur to Mr Butt Miller of the Manor House in Calcutt Street (now Prior Park School).  He then started a business hiring and selling bicycles, and selling accessories for motor cars, when they started coming onto the market.  During the 1920s Hammond went into partnership with Charles Blackwell and they operated a large garage for some time.  Even when the partnership ended, Hammond’s vision and range of activities kept the business active.

Some of the work carried out by Hammonds included supplying neighbouring properties and businesses with electricity from a generator, running a fleet of cars and two limousines, building, plumbing, running the local fire engine, and provding transport to Purton Station.  Hammond employed over 25 people and was even able to field a football team of his employees.

Hammond was remembered fondly, as a benefactor by many people to whom he gave work during the Depression of the 1930s.

He would give a job to anyone who needed work, often at his own expense.  One of the streets in Cricklade, just off Calcutt Street, bears his name.

The major industry in Cricklade during the twentieth century involved the production of gloves at the factories of the Ockwell family, and often through home working for married women.  The Ockwell brothers prepared and made gloves throughout most of the twentieth century.  Whilst one brother preferred the cottage-industry approach to working, and sent out stitching to women home workers, the other handed down his side of the business to his daughter and son-in-law who eventually sited their business in the old town hall building at 113 High Street.  Using electricity to power sewing machines, the business flourished and at one time almost a railway lorry of gloves a day was transported away from Cricklade.  Since Ockwell’s ceased to produce gloves in Cricklade in 1994 the building has been converted to house the Town Council, County Branch Library and a Doctor’s surgery. The building opened for its new purpose in 2002.

Notable people who have at some stage been involved with the history of Cricklade include Joseph Pitt who was MP for some time in the early 1800s and who merged the manor of Cricklade with the manor of Chelworth.

 Pitt also developed much of the land in the area of Cheltenham known as Pittville. 

Robert Jenner was a goldsmith in London, and was MP for a period in the 1600s.  His philanthropic legacy includes the money to build and maintain a free school in the parish.  This building is today the Parish Hall, and was built in 1660.  The building backs on to St Sampson’s churchyard.  In its time it was used as a school, then as a poorhouse between 1720 until 1824.  It became a school again in 1840 and remained so until 1959.  The change of use was because the endowment left by Jenner was not enough to keep the building in full repair.