Calne

Calne
Population
OS grid reference	ST998707
District	North Wiltshire
Shire county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CALNE
Postcode district	SN11
Dialling code	01249
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Devizes

Calne is a town located in central Wiltshire, in the South West England region of the United Kingdom.

It lies on the River Marden, the Wilts and Berks Canal and the A4 road 19 miles (30 km) east of Bath, 6 miles (10 km) east of Chippenham and 90 miles (145 km) west of London. It is a small (though expanding) town with a population of 13,606 according to the 2001 Census (14,800 est. 2006) and is situated at the north western extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

Calne's best known industry was the Harris Pork processing facility that dominated the town architecturally and provided employment directly and indirectly to many of the residents until the early-1980s - at its closure in 1983 for example it employed over 2,000 people out of a town population of 10,000. It is said that the pork curing industry developed because pigs reared in Ireland were landed at Bristol and then herded to London through Calne. The factory started in the second half of the 18th century when brothers John and Henry Harris started businesses which merged in 1888 as C. & T. Harris & Co. The factory has now been fully demolished and the area where it used to be located redeveloped as shops, housing and a library. As a result of the closure of the factory unemployment in the town increased considerably and for much of the 1980s Calne suffered many of the problems more normally associated with large cities. Calne also had a significant woollen industry in the past, and evidence of this can be seen on The Green in Calne, where many buildings such as cloth mills involved in this industry remain.

The Porte Marsh Industrial Estate on the north side of the town now provides the bulk of the town's internal employment - it is home to around 100 companies in predominantly light industries and IT. The Belgian company Deceuninck has invested considerably in this area and operates two large facilities at Porte Marsh, notably a new production and distribution centre which now dominates the north side of town. Another significant employer is the Exception Group, a large electronics company. In 2006 plans to build a sizeable cement production plant on the Porte Marsh site were vigorously opposed by local residents and planning permission was refused by the council . However, it is yet to be seen whether an appeal for construction is to be successful in 2007.

Modern Calne

Calne is now considered to be one of the fastest-expanding towns in the South West England region. Its population is projected to peak at around 16,000 by 2010.

The Lansdowne Park housing development (begun in the 1990s and due to be completed in late-2007) has substantially increased the physical scale of the town, creating an entirely new northwestern suburb, inclusive of a new state-of-the-art primary school, medical surgery and a small shopping area. This area has particularly attracted professional workers from traditionally more expensive areas such as Bath, Bristol, Marlborough and as far afield as the 'silicon valley' towns of central Berkshire. However, parts of Lansdowne Park have been mismanaged by certain developers, who have left several pockets of the development unlandscaped. Thus parts of the development appear incomplete and shoddy, whilst other areas are highly attractive and well-finished.

Aside from the final completion of Lansdowne Park, small pockets of new housing developments are evident across the town, but on a far smaller scale. Plans are also afoot (pending further funding) for the creation of a major new outdoor sports facility at Beversbrook on Calne's northern edge, though a new leisure complex is not part of these plans.

Notable Architecture

Notable buildings in the town include St Mary's Church, a wonderful array of houses on The Green and a splendid Town Hall. Of particular note is the new Library which has won awards for its innovative design and was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2001, although this is already in need of stonewashing.

Calne town centre is blessed with a number of attractive old buildings which are worthy of renovation and regeneration, but which have unfortunately been left to erode or have been shoddily redeveloped. There are also outline plans to redevelop the unsightly Phelps Parade shopping area in the town centre, an increasingly shabby-looking red brick shopping precinct which dates back to the early-1970s and does not fit kindly with the stonewall character of the town (one idea is to reclad it in the local buff stone).

The second major phase of central Calne's redevelopment is still at the planning stage. One idea is an attempt to attract proper restaurants into the town, which the town is almost completely bereft of, aside from a scattering of fast-food takeaways and a couple of Indian restaurants.

However, since the demolition of the Harris pork factory and the completion of the first phase of redevelopment/regeneration in 2001, Calne has, in general, been successfully transformed into an attractive setting compared to its run-down image of the 1980s-1990s.

Transport & Infrastructure

Calne's former railway station opened in 1863, the terminus of a branch line of the Great Western Railway from Chippenham. There was initially one intermediate stop - Stanley Bridge Halt. The opening of another quite late in the line's history - Black Dog Halt, was not enough to slow the inevitable decline. The branch closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in September 1965, having achieved the dubious distinction of making the biggest loss per mile of track of any line in the country.

A northern bypass (part of the A3102) was completed in 2001 and an eastern bypass is under consideration for possible construction in 2009-2011. The justification for construction would be to ease increasingly heavy rush-hour traffic congestion on the A4 which bisects the town, caused in part by the town's rapidly expanding population and the council’s decision to narrow Wood Street to single lane traffic. However, it is feared that a new bypass may also lead to the premature development of eastern Calne, with many residents believing that the town should be free from further expansion for a few years in order for it to fully absorb and sustain the current wave of development.

The general concern with modern Calne is that the town's facilities and infrastructure are not perceived to be growing exponentially with the rapidly rising population. For example, the town's only public sports centre, The White Horse Leisure Centre (built in 1976) had been allowed to become increasingly run down and was eventually closed in late-March 2007, forcing many residents to either join more expensive private sports centres or travel to other areas for better facilities. Nearby towns such as Devizes and Marlborough, both smaller than Calne in terms of population, boast shining new sports centres and swimming pools, which is all the more surprising since these towns are growing at a far slower rate.

Calne is also known for harbouring both the most prosperous and least prosperous communities in Wiltshire.

Aside from its Sainsbury's, Somerfield and Iceland supermarkets, Calne is somewhat lacking for residents seeking retail therapy. Several units remain empty and the town has witnessed its fair share of transient enterprises. It is believed that once Phelps Parade has been successfully redeveloped (or completely replaced), the central business district will be able to attract chain outlets such as Woolworths, Wilkinsons, Argos and a larger Boots to the town. Most residents travel to Chippenham, Bath, Devizes, Swindon and even Bristol for a more fulfilling shopping experience beyond buying groceries.

The M4 motorway at Junction 16 (Wootton Bassett/Swindon West) lies 13 miles (21 km) to the north of Calne, and the westbound M4 junction 17 just north of Chippenham is 12 miles (19 km) to the west. The closest main passenger airport is Bristol International Airport, 38 miles (61 km) to the southwest. Calne is also one the largest UK towns not served by a rail station, nor does it have a bus station, though in March 2007 it was designated as a National Express stop .

Education

St Mary's School [1] is regarded as one of the UK's most prestigious independent schools for girls, with sumptuous grounds and a modern sports centre. The John Bentley School [2] is the local comprehensive high school situated on the southern periphery of Calne, and is a noted languages school.

The closest further and higher education institutions are the Wiltshire College site in Chippenham (10 km / 6 miles away) (Wiltshire College also has a small centre at The Green in Calne) and the University of Bath campus at Claverton Down in Bath, 18 miles (29 km) to the west.

File:Calne coa.png

The arms of Calne Town Council

Representatives

Calne is located in the Devizes constituency and governed by Calne Town Council [3], North Wiltshire District Council [4] and Wiltshire County Council [5]. Ellenor Bland, who rose to national prominence in November 2006, sits on Calne Town Council.

Notable Inhabitants

Notable people from Calne include Saint Edmund, John Pym and the athlete Walter Goodall George who held the world record for the mile from 1886 to 1915. The country estate of Bowood House lies near Calne. It was here that Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774; there is a plaque in the town centre commemorating this. There is also a plaque on the wall of the house where Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed from 1814 to 1816 as part of the Morgan household whilst writing his Biographia Literaria. The singer-songwriter-author Julian Cope resides in a small village 7 km (4.5 miles) east of Calne, towards Avebury. The term Scramel originated in Calne, thought to have been modified from Cornish sayings.

Local Points of Interest

• Cherhill White Horse - 5 km (3 miles) east of central Calne, carved into the south face of Cherhill Down, in the village of Cherhill (pronounced 'Che-rhill') on the A4 Calne - Marlborough road.

Cherhill White Horse seen from Cherhill village

• Lansdowne Monument - situated close to the summit of Cherhill Down, the 38 m high (125 ft) stone needle provides impressive views of Calne and the surrounding landscape. The mountains of South Wales can be seen on particularly clear days through binoculars.
• Bowood House (including the kilometre-long Bowood Lake) - an English Heritage site, is 5 km (3 miles) to the west of Calne, accessible via the village of Derry Hill.
• Avebury stone circle & Avenue (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - Europe's largest megalithic stone circle site is 12 km (7.5 miles) east of Calne.
• North Wessex Downs AONB - the range's highest summit is the Tan Hill-Milk Hill ridge near Allington, at 294 m (964 ft), 14.5 km (9 miles) southeast of Calne. This area is popular with hill walkers, and several hills over 250m (820 ft) high are situated adjacent to Calne.

Surprisingly, neither Avebury or Bowood House are signposted from the town, nor is the nearby historic city of Bath or major town of Swindon, both within 30 km (19 miles) of Calne. Blackland Lakes is a large camping site on the southern edge of Calne which is popular with anglers and tourists alike. It is regarded as an ideal base for tourists wishing to visit the many and varied sites in the Calne area. The 'lakes' themselves are in fact large angling pools.

The town is also a corner point of the Wiltshire crop circle triangle, which incorporates the area between Calne, Marlborough and Warminster where a large concentration of initially unexplained formations have appeared in corn fields across the area, particularly since the 1970s. The majority of these formations have been handiwork of local hoaxers using rudimentary instruments to manifest surprisingly large and complex patterns in the fields, many of which feature fractalesque and 'alien lander' designs. However, a small number of recorded crop circles continue to defy explanation, though many scientists believe that as-yet unexplained micro-meteorological conditions rather than extraterrestrial visitations or Gaiaic forces are the cause of these. The small 'Silent Circle' information centre and roadside cafe at Cherhill, just to the east of Calne, is a good source of 'enlightenment' for the many visitors to the area looking for something unworldly to appear.

Calne Town Football Club play in the Western Premier League and finished in a respectable 5th position (of 20 teams) in the league table at the end of the 2005-2006 season. Their ground is located on the north side of the town.

Suburbs

Quemerford, Lansdowne Park, Calne Marsh, Lickhill, North End, Bentley Grove

Twin Towns

Calne is twinned with the towns of :

• Charlieu in France
• Eningen in Germany
• Caln Township (note: Caln not Calne) in Pennsylvania, USA (which was so named because it was established by people from Calne, Wiltshire in the early eighteenth century)

Nearby Villages & Hamlets

Calne is surrounded by numerous settlements including :

• Avebury
• Beversbrook hamlet
• Bremhill
• Calstone
• Charlcutt
• Cherhill
• Clevancy
• Compton Bassett
• Derry Hill
• Fishers Brook
• Foxham
• Goatacre
• Heddington
• Highway
• High Penn
• Hilmarton
• Lower Compton
• Lyneham
• Mile Elm
• Ratford
• Sandy Lane
• Spirthill
• Stockley
• Studley
• Yatesbury

Nearest Towns & Cities

• Chippenham (10 km / 6 miles)
• Devizes (14 km / 9 miles)
• Melksham (14 km / 9 miles)
• Wootton Bassett (16 km / 10 miles)
• Corsham (21 km / 13 miles)
• Marlborough (21 km / 13 miles)
• Trowbridge (25 km / 16 miles)
• Swindon (27 km / 17 miles)
• Bath (30 km / 19 miles)
• Bristol (55 km / 34 miles)
• Salisbury 55 km / 34 miles)
• South Wales border near Chepstow (63 km / 39 miles)

References

Community website for Calne and the SN11 postcode area ==External Links==

• calne.org.uk