Editing Cricklade (section)

==History==
Cricklade was founded in the 9th century by the [[Anglo-Saxons]], at the point where the [[Ermin Way]] [[Roman roads in Britannia|Roman road]] crossed the River Thames. It was the home of a royal mint from 979 to 1100; there are some Cricklade coins in the town museum.<ref name=winn>Christopher Winn: ''I Never Knew That about the River Thames'' (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 6.</ref><ref name="Mint">{{Cite web |url=http://www.northwilts-communityweb.com/site/Cricklade-Historical-Society/ |title=Cricklade Historical Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714200149/http://www.northwilts-communityweb.com/site/Cricklade-Historical-Society/ |archive-date=14 July 2011 }}</ref> The [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 records a settlement at ''Crichelade'', with a church, and at the centre of a [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of the same name.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU1093|cricklade|Cricklade}}</ref>

=== Anglo-Saxon fortification ===
Cricklade is one of 30 [[burh]]s (boroughs, i.e. fortresses or fortified towns) recorded in the [[Burghal Hidage]] document, which describes a system of fortresses and fortified towns built around [[Wessex]] by [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]]. Recent research suggests these burhs were built in the short period 878–879 to defend Wessex against the [[Vikings]] under [[Guthrum]], and to act as an offensive to the Viking presence in [[Mercia]]. Cricklade was an important part of these defences, being a short distance down [[Ermin Way]] from [[Cirencester]], where the Vikings made their base for a year. According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', completion of this system precipitated the retreat of the Vikings from Mercia and London to [[East Anglia]] in late 879.<ref name=winn/>

The square defences of the fortification have been excavated in several places on all four sides since the 1940s, possibly making them the most extensively sampled fortification of the period. In the initial phase, a walkway of laid stones marked the rear of a bank of stacked turfs and clay which had been dug from three external ditches.<ref name="Mint"/> In the second phase, the front of the bank, which after only a short time probably became degraded, was replaced by a stone wall. This wall enclosed the defences on all four sides, considerably strengthening the defensive capabilities of the burh. It has recently been suggested the stone wall was inserted in the 890s. Other burhs of the Burghal Hidage were also strengthened with stone walls, which suggests this was part of a systematic upgrade of the defensive provisions for Wessex, ordered by the king.<ref name="Mint"/>

The third phase is marked by systematic razing of the stone wall, which was pulled down over the inner berm (the space between the wall and the inner ditch). The stones were used to fill the inner two ditches, which shows the process was deliberate. A similar phase can be seen in the archaeological record at [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]], Dorset, another burh of the Hidage. Observations at other burhs suggest this phase of destruction was implemented over the whole of Wessex as a concerted policy, again, by inference, on the part of the king. The destruction may be linked to the accession of [[Cnut the Great|King Cnut]] in the early 11th century, to prevent the burhs being seized and used against him by his rivals.<ref name="Mint"/>

The fourth phase is marked by reuse of the original Anglo-Saxon defences by inserting a timber palisade along the line of the original wall. This probably marks a renewal of the defences of the town during the [[The Anarchy|civil war]] of 1144 under [[Stephen of England|King Stephen]].<ref name="Mint"/>

There is little archaeological evidence of the community protected by these defences in the Saxon period, although there are signs that streets were laid out in a regular fashion behind the main north–south High Street. A gate in the northern line of the defences led to a causeway over the flood plain of the Thames and a bridge over the river, which was probably of a defensive nature.<ref name="Mint"/>

=== Other settlements ===
Widhill, south-east of Cricklade beyond the [[River Ray, Wiltshire|River Ray]], had two small estates at the time of [[Domesday Book]]<ref>{{OpenDomesday|XX0000|lower-and-upper-widhill|Widhill}}</ref> and was later a [[tithing]] of St Sampson's parish, Cricklade.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol18/70-108 |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 18 |date=2011 |publisher=University of London |editor-last=Bainbridge |editor-first=Virginia |series=[[Victoria County History]] |pages=70–108 |chapter=Cricklade – Outer Cricklade |access-date=3 December 2022 |via=British History Online}}</ref> In 1934 the boundary of Cricklade parish was redrawn along the river, transferring the Widhill area into [[Blunsdon St Andrew]] parish (since 2017, [[St Andrews, Swindon|St Andrews]] parish).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blunsdon St Andrew AP/CP |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10398927 |access-date=3 December 2022 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=University of Portsmouth}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Election Maps: Great Britain |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref>

Outlying hamlets in Cricklade parish are [[Calcutt, Wiltshire|Calcutt]], Chelworth Lower Green, Chelworth Upper Green, Hailstone Hill and Horsey Down.

=== Later history ===
On [[John Speed]]'s 1611 map of [[Wiltshire]], the town's name is recorded as ''Crekelade''.<ref name="Mint" /> Cricklade Museum houses several publications recounting further historical details of the town and its people.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cricklademuseum.co.uk/publications/ |title=Cricklade Museum |work=cricklademuseum.co.uk |access-date=29 July 2016}}</ref>

The Jubilee Clock, on a cast-iron pillar, stands at a road junction on the High Street. It was erected in 1897 to mark [[Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1356060|desc=Jubilee Clock|access-date=14 November 2022}}</ref>