page_title: Chippenham
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Chippenham / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chippenham Folk Festival; Rag Morris, the University of Bristol Morris side, dancing in front of the Rose and Crown, Chippenham.
context_page_description: Chippenham is a market town in northwest Wiltshire, England. It lies 20 miles east of Bristol, 86 miles west of London and 4 miles west of The Cotswolds AONB. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon and some form of settlement is believed to have existed there since before Roman times. It was a royal vill, and probably a royal hunting lodge, under Alfred the Great. The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841; it is now a major commuter town.
  Chippenham is twinned with La Flèche in France and Friedberg in Germany. The town's motto is "Unity and Loyalty".
context_section_description: The Chippenham Folk Festival takes place every year, usually over the Whitsuntide weekend.
  The town holds an annual festival in remembrance of American rock and roll singer Eddie Cochran, who died on 17 April 1960 following a car accident in Chippenham on his way back to London during a tour. Singer Gene Vincent and songwriter Sharon Sheeley survived the accident.
  From 1963, the Town Museum was housed in the Yelde Hall. By 1999, it had outgrown the site and moved to the former Magistrates' Court in the Market Place (opened on 23 March 2000). The museum charts the history of the town from Neolithic times until today. By 2005, the museum had attracted over 90,000 visitors.
caption: Chippenham Folk festival
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