Corsham Timeline

Discoveries of such items as coins and an arch suggest possible Roman occupation

Stone has been quarried at Corsham from this time

King Ethelred owns a country palace in Corsham

Domesday Book records Corsham as a royal manor with a church and 2 mills, about 240 acres in size. The population is between 600 and 640. The church and its lands are held by the abbey of St. Stephen of Caen

St. Bartholomew's Church largely rebuilt

Lady Chapel added to St. Bartholomew'sChurch

Henry III gives most of the manorial lands to tenants for an annual rent of approx. £73.

A weekly market is granted, to be held on Fridays

The manor reverts to the Crown

Market day changes to Thursday

The church returned to King Henry II

The Lady Chapel at St. Bartholomew's church rebuilt by Thomas Tropenell

Hartham Park Estate acquired by the Goddard family

By this date the manor house was in ruins

The manor bought by Thomas \"Customer\" Smyth

Thomas Smythe builds Corsham Court on the site of the old manor house

The cloth industry flourishing as a home industry controlled by clothiers

Corsham Court owned by the Hungerford family

A nunnery becomes the Red Lion Inn

Pickwick Manor built

Society of Friends' meeting house in Monk's Lane built

Lady Margaret Hungerford Almshouses and a free school built, endowed by Lady Margaret, widow of Sir Edward Hungerford

Society of Friends' meeting house purchased by Congregationalists and becomes Monk's Lane Chapel

From this time Bath stone is quarried on a large scale for building purposes

Poor House established

Corsham Court bought by Paul Methuen

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown employed to enlarge the park and house at Corsham Court

The market cross irreparably damaged

The Red Lion, now owned by the Methuen family, renamed the Methuen Arms

Market Hall built by Paul Methuen

Malthouse licensed for preaching for Congregationalists

Neston Park built

Congregational Church in Pickwick Road opened

Major restoration work to Hartham Park House completed to the designs of the architect James Wyatt

John Nash employed to enlarge the house at Corsham Court: cloth industry ceases

Census records 2,402 inhabitants

Edward Hasted, author and historian, is Master of Corsham Almshouse

Spire on St. Bartholomew's Church in dangerous condition and removed

Lady Methuen's School for Girls founded

Particular Baptist Chapel at Pound Pill probably founded

Ebenezer Chapel in Priory Street opened

Charles Dickens stayed at the Hare and Hounds in Pickwick. Believed to be the inspiration for The Pickwick Papers published in 1936

Baptist Church, Moor Green, founded

Poor House closed

British and Foreign School for boys founded in Station Road

National School for Girls founded

Box railway tunnel, built for the Great Western Railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, completed. At two miles long it was the longest tunnel at the time. 4,000 workmen and 300 horses were brought into Corsham to construct the tunnel: Corsham Railway Station built

There are about 20 shops in the town: organised cricket is first played in the town

Stone quarrying flourishing

Ebenezer Baptist Chapel at Velly founded

Hartham Park purchased by T. H. A. Poynder who begins to enlarge and improve the house using the designs of architct Philip Hardwick: Pickwick Elememtary School opens: Lady Methuen's School and the National School for girls amalgamated as Methuen Elementary School

Zion Hill Baptist Chapel built

Corsham Choral Society founded. The first conductor was Joseph Goold

Harold Goold Spackman takes over as conductor of the Corsham Choral Society.

Neston Primary School opened as Corshamside School

By this time there are over 5 miles of underground quarry roadways

Congregational Chapel heated by gas supplied by Corsham Gas Company

Church of St. Philip and St. John, Neston, built

Jubilee Memorial Hall opened at side of Ebenezer Chapel in Priory Street

Major restoration work to St. Bartholomew's Church

Corsham Methodist Church built in Pickwick Road

Market Hall partly rebuilt and becomes the Town Hall

Corsham Town Football Club founded

Corsham Town Band founded

Corsham Waterworks opened and first piped water supply provided

Two passenger trains collide in Box Tunnel injuring 20 people

Corsham County School (incorporating the old British School) opened

Mayo Drinking Fountain built in memory of Charles Mayo, first Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council: Fire Station opens in Stumps Lane (later Priory Street)

The Royal Oak in existence

By this time there are 60 miles of underground quarry roadways

New sewage works completed

A new Methodist Church built

First motor bus in Corsham on the route between Bath and Chippenham

Methodist Church Hall built

New cemetery at Ladbrook Lane consecrated

Church of St. John the Baptist at Gastard built

Town Hall used as a hospital

Liberal Hall used as a private school (Priory Street School)

Town Hall renovated and public bath installed

War memorial built

Pickwick School closed

Methuen School merged with Corsham County School and renamed Corsham County Junior School. The old Methuen School becomes Corsham County Infants' School: Recreation Ground opposite Meriton Avenue opens

Electric street lighting introduced

Public library established in the Town Hall

Bandstand on the Recreation Ground completed

Stone quarrying in decline: Regal Cinema opens in Pickwick Road

Corsham Choral Society ends

Gas lamps replace electric lamps in the town's streets

There are about seven quarries still in production

Construction of the Central Ammunitions Depot underground in disused mines begins

A gas-mask factory opened in the old Pickwick School premises

Street name plates are installed: the post office moves to the High Street

Corsham Court used as a convalescent home during World War II and old underground quarries used for aircraft parts manufacture

The old Liberal Hall, now named Priory Street Hall, used as a Roman Catholic Chapel

Corsham Centre opened as a cinema and canteen for munitions workers: Olga Lehmann paints murals in 6 canteens in the underground tunnels: Corsham Regis Primary School opens

Roman Catholic church moves to its present site in the old Pickwick Elementary School

Bath Academy of Art established at Corsham Court: electric street lights replace gas lights in the town again

Garden of Remembrance built in Stokes Road. HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (at that time just Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten) unveils the memorial wall

'No Waiting' restrictions first introduced in High Street

Burlington Bunker prepared in the underground tunnels to house 4000 central government personnel in the event of a nuclear war

Corsham Maternity Hospital and closed and the railway station closed for goods traffic

Lypiatt Primary School opened

Corsham Secondary Modern School opened

The Rising Sun demolished by an explosion caused by a gas leak

Bandstand demolished

Pest House demolished

Sir Michael Tippett living in the town

Corsham Civic Society set up to represent the people of Corsham in all aspects of conservation, preservation and promotion of the town

The Central Ammunitions Depot closes

Corsham railway station closes

St Patrick's Catholic Primary School opened

Regal Cinema renamed Corsham Film Theatre and the new library opens in Pickwick Road

Congregational Church closed and converted to offices

The Corsham School, a purpose-built comprehensive school, opens

New shopping precinct built in Newlands Road

Corsham Swimming Pool opened

Corsham twinned with Jargeau in France

Corsham Film Theatre closes

Bath Academy of Art, now merged with Bath College of Higher Education, moved to Bath

Camilla Parker-Bowles (later HRH The Duchess of Cornwall) lives at Middlewick House

First annual Corsham Festival held; the Springfield Sports Centre opens

Tennis courts at Springfield built

Corsham County Junior School moved to new buildings at Pound Pill

Royal Navy Store Depot, Copenacre closed

Corsham ceases to be a parish council and becomes a town council

Rudloe Manor closed as an RAF operational site

Census records 10, 780 inhabitants

Burlington Bunker decommissioned

An automatic winding mechanism for the clock at St Bartholomew's Church installed. Previously the clock had to be wound manually every 24 hours