Cricklade

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Cricklade

Coordinates: 51.6406° N 1.8633° W
Population	4,132
OS grid reference	SU095935
District	North Wiltshire
Shire county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SWINDON
Postcode district	SN6
Dial code	01793
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Wiltshire
Ambulance	Great Western
UK Parliament	North Swindon
European Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Wiltshire

Cricklade is a small town in north Wiltshire in England, on the River Thames, situated midway between Swindon and Cirencester. Cricklade was founded in the ninth century by the Saxons, and was chosen for the fact that it is where the Roman Ermin Street crosses the River Thames. In the 2001 census the population of the town was 4,132.^[1]

The town's main claim to fame is the large nature reserve, North Meadow, which harbours some 80% of Britain's wild Snake's Head Fritillaries in its 150 acres (just over 60 hectares), which flower in late April to early May. The meadow is situated between two rivers, the Thames and the Churn, and the unique habitat for the fritillary was created by winter flooding. Such meadows were once common in Britain, but with the advent of modern farming many were drained and ploughed for arable crops from the 1730s onwards. In the case of North Meadow, it escaped such a fate by virtue of the preservation of the Court Leet, the Saxon system of town governance which made sure the land was held in common.

There is a primary school called St Sampson's School, which is linked with the major local landmark, the Anglican St. Sampson's Church. The church has the third longest bellropes in Britain and was built by Henry VIII. There are two other churches in Cricklade, St Mary's, which is Catholic, and the United Methodist Church.

St Mary's, was declared redundant by the Anglican diocese of Bristol and was handed over in January 1984 to the Catholic community. The building was founded nearly 1,000 years ago and its features include a fine 12th Century Chancel Arch and medieval preaching cross. The Friends of St. Mary's Cricklade was formed in 1998 to care for the building and a restoration appeal has been launched. Mass has been celebrated in Cricklade since about 1939. In 1955 a former Baptist church was acquired and re-opened as the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury.

There is also an independent school called Prior Park Preparatory School.

In 2000 a disused airfield called Blakehill was bought to form a second larger meadow of around 600 acres (243 hectares), which was opened to the public in 2005.

Cricklade is twinned with Sucé-sur-Erdre in France.

There is a large clock, which is known as the Jubilee clock, and was erected in 1898 in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond jubilee in the preceding year. It stands outside The Vale Hotel in the high street, where the Town Cross once stood. There are two replicas of the cross in Cricklade; one is in St Sampson's grounds, the other in St Mary's, and there is a certain local rivalry as to which one is believed to be the original.

Cricklade has many public houses; the list currently includes The Vale, The Old Bear, The White Hart, The White Lion, The Red Lion, and The White Horse Member's Club. There is also the local museum, and there used to be a railway. However, nowadays, the railway around Cricklade is disused, and the track is by the local leisure centre, often used as a footpath. South of the town, however, the Swindon and Cricklade Railway is restoring the line as a leisure facility. As at 2006, passenger trains are being run between between Blunsdon railway station and Hayes Knoll station, and the line is being actively extended towards Cricklade.

Alex Tew was a resident of Cricklade at the time of creating The Million Dollar Homepage.