Marlborough Timeline

Discovery of an Iron Age burial bucket in the early C19th suggests possible early occupation

Algeric, Bishop of the South Saxons, imprisoned in Marlborough by William I

A mint has been established by William I by this time

The first official mention of Marlborough made in the Domesday Book

Churches on the site of St. Mary's church and St. Peter's church in existence

St. Margaret's Priory founded; a coarse woollen cloth known as burel being made in the town

Building work started on Marlborough Castle

A merchant guild received royal approval

Thomas Becket spent Christmas here with Henry II

King John married to Queen Isabella at the Castle

First reference to the Town Mill, a corn mill

Royal Charter granted by King John setting up an annual 8-day fair and weekly markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays

Hospital of St. John the Baptist has been founded by this time; a fulling mill is in operation at Elcot

St. Thomas's Leper hospital founded

St. Mary's church, on the site of an earlier Saxon church, and St. Peter's church has been dedicated by this time

Chapel of St.Nicholas, at Marlborough Castle, in existence by this time

Church of St. George, Preshute, on site of Saxon church, dedicated

King's Mill, a corn mill, established

Five Jewish families lived in the town before being ordered to move to Devizes

Henry III grants a four day fair to be held outside St Peter's Church

Church of St. Martin built in present day Coldharbour Lane

Parliament held in Marlborough passed the 'Statute of Marlborough' giving rights and privileges to the smaller landowners

A Guildhall, on the north side of the High Street, is first mentioned

A prison is first mentioned

Two members of parliament represent the borough

First recorded Mayor is Philip Godwyne

Priory of the White Friars founded

There are 10 tanners in the town and the tanning industry flourishes from the 14th century

St. Katherine's chantry built in High Street

The Old Hart an important inn for the coach trade

St. Mary's church believed to be burnt down - major reconstruction work followed

St. Peter's church rebuilt

Cardinal Wolsey ordained in the Church of St. Peter

Clay pipe manufacture is a flourishing industry in the town

The Hermitage dedicated for the use of a hermit (replaced in 1628 by a house bearing the same name today)

Priory of the White Friars dissolved

St. Margaret's Priory dissolved

Marlborough Free Grammar School founded; St. John's Hospital closed

Coat of Arms confirmed to the borough

An almshouse in existence

Charter of incorporation granted by Elizabeth I; pin making is well established in the town

The ducking stool constructed at a cost of 7s 6d ( 37p)

Marlborough has been a centre for the sale of cheese from this time

A pest house is in the borough

A new Guildhall, incorporating a market house, stands at the east end of High Street on the site of the High Cross until destroyed in the Great Fire

Workhouse built

Town captured by Royalists in the Civil War; the town's gallows last used to execute 2 Welshmen who deserted from the Royalist forces

Parliamentary forces re-occupy the town

Two silver gilt Borough maces made at a cost of £16

The Great Fire of Marlborough destroys 250 buildings with damage estimated at £70,000; the Merchant's House in the High Street built for Thomas Bayly, a rich silk merchant

Town Hall rebuilt on same site (present day site)

Following a sermon by George Fox in 1656 c.24 Quakers are imprisoned and publicly humiliated

Quaker meeting house built at Manton Corner

Rope making established in the town

Charles II stayed at the Castle

Samuel Pepys stayed at the White Hart

William Penn preached at the Quaker meeting house

Town lighted by oil lamps

Race meetings held on Barton Down

Workhouse demolished and rebuilt in Hyde Lane

Castle appears as a crest on the Borough Arms

The almshouse becomes St. Mary's Workhouse

Presbyterian chapel in Back Lane certified

John Wesley preached in the town

Castle Inn opened

The Antelope Inn in High Street renamed Castle and Ball

The Marlborough Journal printed weekly

There is a coffee house in the town

Congregational School for Dissenters founded by Cornelius Winter

Marlborough Academy opened

Thomas Hancock, inventor of the process of India Rubber manufacture, born in Marlborough

There are 25 inns in the town

Town Hall rebuilt by John Hammond

Cow Bridge built (also known as Ducks Bridge or Pewsey Road Bridge)

Presbyterian chapel in Back Lane, by this time a Congregational chapel, closed

White Horse cut on Granham Hill

The pillory used for the last time

Methodist chapel certified in Oxford Street

Methodist church built in New Road

A new Congregational chapel (later the United Reformed Church) built in the Marsh

Private gas company formed

Primitive Methodist's Ebenezer chapel built in Herd Street; Priory House built on the site of the priory buildings

Gas lighting has been installed in part of the Town Hall by this time

Gas lighting has been installed in High Street by this time

Preshute Church of England Primary School founded; brewing is one of the chief trades in the town by this time

St. Mary's Workhouse closed

From this date all inhabitants of Marlborough granted rights of pasturage on Marlborough Common

Workhouse in Hyde Lane sold

Marlborough College founded; Castle Inn closed; Ailesbury Arms established

The Marlborough Reading and Mutual Improvement Society formed; agricultural machinery is being manufactured in the town; there are 7 cheese factors in the town

Preshute School built

Duke of Wellington visits Marlborough College

Chapel of St. Michael & All Angels, at Marlborough College, built

St. Peter's School founded

44 stage coaches a day are stopping at Marlborough by this time; police station opened in St. Margaret's

Plymouth Brethren meeting in Kingsbury Street

The Bridewell gaol closed and opened as a Police Station; Church of St. George, Preshute, rebuilt; St. Peter's School built

St. Mary's School opened in Herd Street

The Marlborough Times founded

The Marlborough and Hungerford Express printed weekly

St. Peter's church restored

Railway line linking Marlborough with the Great Western main line at Savernake opened

Savernake Cottage Hospital founded; James Morrison & Co. commence manufacture of rope and twine

Plymouth Brethren moved to a building in High Street; Local Board of Health established

Town Hall altered and repaired to improve accommodation for county sessions; schoolroom built at the Congregational chapel in the Marsh

Isolation hospital built in Blowhorn Street; Marlborough Town Football Club formed

Savernake Hospital moved to present day location on London Road

Numbering of houses in the town introduced

Zoar Baptist Chapel opened in St. Martins

Post Office on south side of High Street burned down and replaced on north side

Railway line linking Marlborough to Swindon open by this time

A new Chapel of St. Michael & All Angels, at Marlborough College, built

Marlborough Golf Club founded

Mains water supply has been provided by this time; railway line between Marlborough and Grafton via Savernake opened; Bear and Castle hotel rebuilt

Police Station built in George Lane

Free Grammar School closed

Sewage works opened in Elcot Lane

Town Hall rebuilt by C E Ponting

Marlborough Grammar School founded on site of the Free Grammar School

There is gas lighting throughout the borough by this time

New Post Office built in High Street

Methodist church rebuilt on same site in New Road and becomes known as New Road Chapel

Corn Exchange converted to a cinema

St. Mary's and St. Peter's parishes amalgamated

War Memorial erected at junction of Salisbury Road and London Road

First council houses built; William Golding the novelist lived at 29 The Green and attended Marlborough Grammar School

Zoar Baptist Chapel closed

Town mIll ceased to be a working mill

Electric lighting introduced; all brewing has ceased in the town

Cemetery opened on Marlborough Common; Cow Bridge rebuilt as a concrete beam bridge by F.S. Cutler

Ebenezer chapel closed

Motorised fire engine bought

Isolation hospital demolished

The town pump and weighbridge removed from High Street

High Level railway station closed

County branch library opened on the Green; new swimming baths opened; Wingrove & Edge Ltd. established as a sheepskin tannery in Angel Yard; first Roman Catholic chapel established in Elcot Lane

Kingsbury Hill House School opened

Gas Works closed

Winston Churchill accepted the Freedom of Marlborough; Marlborough Secondary Modern School opened on Marlborough Common; T.H. White Ltd acquire the agricultural engineering business originally started in 1870 by T.Pope

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit the town

New pedestrian bridge built over the Kennet at Isbury Lane crossing

The production of hide leather at Wingrove & Edge Ltd begun; Town Mill demolished

New Fire Station opened in the Parade

Major restoration work carried out to St. Mary's church

Marlborough Common levelled and re-seeded

New Roman Catholic Church built in George Lane

Council houses built on part of Port field

New Grammar School built; all railway passenger services withdrawn

Marlborough Grammar School rehoused in new buildings south of the town; St. Peter's Junior School moved to the former Grammar School building at The Parade

Library moved to present site in High Street

James Morrison & Co. cease the manufacture of rope and twine

Upper storeys of the Polly Tea Rooms in High Street destroyed by fire; Marlborough Secondary Modern School moved to new buildings in Chopping Knife Lane

Cinema is closed; M4 between London and the West opened

Congregational church unites with Presbyterian church to become United Reformed Church

St. Mary's Infants School opened in George Lane replacing the school in Herd Street; Marlborough ceases to be a borough and becomes a parish with town status; St. Peter's church redundant

Marlborough Grammar School and Marlborough Secondary Modern School amalgamated to form St. John's Comprehensive School

St. Peter's Charitable Trust set up to look after St. Peter's church, now deconsecrated

United Reformed Church closed and amalgamated with newly designed Christchurch (former Methodist chapel)

Marlborough International Jazz Festival founded

By this time the Tourist Information Centre occupies St. Peter's church; Hills Group moves its headquarters from Swindon to offices on the site of the Ailesbury Arms Hotel

The Merchant's House owned by a charitable trust, renovated and opened to the public

Fire at the Castle and Ball

Restoration work on the Castle and Ball completed