Chippenham in the context of "Jeremy Corbyn"

The Battle of Edington or Battle of Ethandun was fought in May 878 between the West Saxon army of King Alfred the Great and the Great Heathen Army led by the Danish warlord Guthrum. The battle took place near Edington in Wiltshire, where Alfred secured a decisive victory that halted the Viking advance into Wessex.

The engagement followed a period of sustained Danish incursions into Anglo-Saxon territory. In early 878, Guthrum launched a surprise attack on Chippenham, forcing Alfred into hiding in the marshes of Athelney. After rallying local forces, Alfred confronted and defeated Guthrum at Edington, then laid siege to the Viking position, compelling their surrender.

Malmesbury (/ˈmɑː(l)mzbəri/) is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately 14 miles (23 km) west of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Bristol, and 9 miles (14 km) north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upper waters of the Bristol Avon and one of its tributaries.

Once the site of an Iron Age fort, in the early medieval period Malmesbury became the site of Malmesbury Abbey, a monastery famed for its learning. It was later home to one of Alfred the Great's fortified burhs for defence against the Vikings. Æthelstan, the first king of all England, was buried in the abbey when he died in 939. As a market town, it became prominent in the Middle Ages as a centre for learning, focused on and around the abbey.

Wiltshire (/ˈwɪlt.ʃər, -ʃɪr/; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east and south, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon.

The county has an area of 3,485 km (1,346 sq mi) and had a population of 767,575 in 2024. The county is mostly rural, and the centre and south-west are sparsely populated. Swindon is located in the north-east, and the county's other major settlements include the city of Salisbury in the south-east and the towns of Trowbridge and Chippenham in the west. For local government purposes the county comprises two unitary authority areas, Swindon and Wiltshire.

After the final defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War against Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, the future Charles II of England (already by that time King of Scotland) was forced to flee England. With the support of a network of Royalist gentry, Charles first attempted to escape into Wales, then to Bristol disguised as a servant, then to the south coast at Charmouth. Finally, he rode east to Shoreham from where he sailed for France on 15 October 1651. During the six-week flight, he passed through numerous English counties, and at one point was forced to hide in an oak tree on the grounds of a house that was being searched by Parliamentarian soldiers. A £1000 reward had been offered for information leading to Charles's capture.

Wiltshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, South West England. It was formed on 1 April 2009 following the abolition of Wiltshire County Council and the districts of Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire, all of which were replaced by Wiltshire Council, which is based at County Hall in Trowbridge. The remaining part of the ceremonial county is the Borough of Swindon, administered by a separate unitary authority. In 2024, the population was 523,700.

Salisbury, the district's only city, is its largest settlement, followed by Chippenham and Trowbridge.