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Marlborough

Marlborough

Overview
Marlborough is a market town in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in the south west of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers 3,485 km²...

 on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London
London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...

 to Bath. It is well known for having the widest high-street in Britain.


The first sign of human habitation is the pre-historic mound (tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...

), in the grounds of Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is an English independent, co-educational boarding school located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800 pupils,...

. It is possibly of similar age to the larger Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill is a man-made chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies at ....

 five miles to the west. Legend has it that the Mound is the burial site of Merlin and that the name of the town, Marlborough comes from Merlin's Barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...

.
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Encyclopedia
Marlborough is a market town in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in the south west of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers 3,485 km²...

 on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London
London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...

 to Bath. It is well known for having the widest high-street in Britain.

History



The first sign of human habitation is the pre-historic mound (tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...

), in the grounds of Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is an English independent, co-educational boarding school located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800 pupils,...

. It is possibly of similar age to the larger Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill is a man-made chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies at ....

 five miles to the west. Legend has it that the Mound is the burial site of Merlin and that the name of the town, Marlborough comes from Merlin's Barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world...

. The town's motto is Ubi nunc sapientis ossa Merlini - Where now are the bones of wise Merlin.

Further evidence of human occupation comes from the discovery of the Marlborough Bucket an Iron Age
Iron Age
In archaeology, the Iron Age is the prehistoric period in any area during which cutting tools and weapons were mainly made of iron or steel. The adoption of this material coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles.The...

 burial bucket, with decorations of human heads and animals on sheet bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...

.

Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...

 remains and coins have been found two miles to the East of Marlborough, at Mildenhall
Mildenhall, Wiltshire
Mildenhall, "my-nəl" by local residents, is a small village about 2 miles east from the town of Marlborough on the road to Ramsbury, in the county of Wiltshire. The village is sometimes called Minal...

 (Cunetio).

A later Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...

 settlement grew up around The Green and two early river crossings were made at Isbury Lane and Stonebridge Lane.

The first written record of Marlborough dates from 1087 when the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...

 was finished. The borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 received its charter to hold a market in 1204.
  • In 1067, William the Conqueror
    William I of England
    William I , better known as William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy from AD 1035 and King of England from late 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name...

     assumed control of the Marlborough area and set about building a wooden motte and bailey castle
    Castle
    A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...

    , sited on the pre-historic mound. This was completed in around 1100 and stone was used to strengthen the castle, in around 1175.

  • William also established a mint
    Mint (coin)
    A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of an era...

     in Marlborough, which coined the William I and the early William II
    William II of England
    William II , the third son of William I "the Conqueror" of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers also over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...

     silver pennies. The coins display the name of the town as Maerlebi or Maerleber.

  • William I established the neighbouring Savernake Forest
    Savernake Forest
    Savernake Forest is located on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in the English county of Wiltshire. Location: Grid Ref: SU225667, 51°23′59″N 1°40′39″W.It is privately owned by the Trustees of Savernake Estate, the...

     as a favourite Royal hunting ground and Marlborough Castle became a Royal residence. Henry I
    Henry I of England
    Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

     observed Easter here, in 1110. Richard I (Coeur de Lion) gave the castle to his brother John
    John of England
    John , King of England, reigned from 6 April 1199 until his death. He acceded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I, who died without issue...

    , in 1186. Henry II
    Henry II of England
    Henry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...

     stayed at Marlborough Castle, in talks with the King of Scotland
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

    . King John was married here and spent time in Marlborough. He even established a Treasury
    Treasury
    A treasury is any place where the currency or items of high monetary value are kept. The term was first used in Classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or many similar buildings erected in Olympia, Greece by...

    . Later, Henry III
    Henry III of England
    Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

     was also married here.

  • Henry III held Parliament
    Parliament of England
    The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

     here, in 1267, when the Statute of Marlborough
    Statute of Marlborough
    The Statute of Marlborough was a set of laws passed by King Henry III of England in 1267. There were twenty-nine chapters, of which four are still in force...

    was passed (this gave rights and privileges to small land owners and limited the right of the King to take possession of land). This seven-hundred-year-old law states that no one shall seize his neighbour's goods for alleged wrong, without permission of the Court. It is the oldest piece of English
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

     law which has not yet been repealed.

  • The castle fell into disrepair by the end of the 14th century but remained Crown property. Edward VI
    Edward VI of England
    Edward VI became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestant ruler. During Edward’s reign, the realm was governed by a...

     then passed it to the Seymour family
    Seymour family
    Seymour, or St. Maur, is the name of an English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which the Duke of Somerset is the head.-Origins:...

    , his mother's relatives.

  • The 1204 Charter granted the Borough an annual eight-day fair, commencing on 14 August, the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady
    Assumption of Mary
    The Assumption of Mary is a belief held by Christians of the Catholic Church as well as some Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglicans, that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her life, was physically taken up into heaven...

     (15 August), in which "all might enjoy the liberties and quittances customary in the fair at Winchester
    Winchester
    Winchester is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. It lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of the River Itchen...

    ". He also established that weekly markets may be held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. These continue to this day.

  • In 1498 Thomas Wolsey was ordained priest in (the now redundant) St Peter's church. He later rose to become a cardinal
    Cardinal (Catholicism)
    A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...

     and Lord Chancellor
    Lord Chancellor
    The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

    .

  • In 1642, Marlborough's peace was shattered by the English Civil War
    English Civil War
    The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...

    . The Seymours
    Seymour family
    Seymour, or St. Maur, is the name of an English family in which several titles of nobility have from time to time been created, and of which the Duke of Somerset is the head.-Origins:...

     held the Castle for the King
    Cavalier
    Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier.-Early usage:...

     but the Town was for Parliament
    Roundhead
    "Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they were the supporters of Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I. Cromwell rose to prominence as a Member of Parliament and Parliamentary soldier, and eventually...

    . With his headquarters in nearby Oxford
    Oxford
    Oxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city has a population of just under 165,000, with 151,000 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre...

    , King Charles
    Charles I of England
    Charles I, , the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England...

     had to deal with Marlborough. "A Town the most notoriously disaffected of all that Country, otherwise, saving the obstinacy and malice of the inhabitants, in the situation of it very unfit for a garrison... this place the King saw would prove quickly an ill neighbour to him, not only as it was in the heart of a rich County, and so would straighten him, and even infest his quarters." The King sent Lord Digby
    George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
    George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol , was an English politician. He was born in Madrid, the eldest son of John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol and his wife Beatrice Walcott.-Early life:...

     to take the town of Marlborough. He left Oxford at the head of four hundred horses, on the 24th November. When he arrived, he chose to parley first, thus giving the inhabitants a chance to prepare defences and to recruit troops. They mustered about seven hundred poorly-armed men. At this point, the Town issued a reply to Digby. "The King's Majesty" he declared, "providing he were attended in Royal and not in war like wise, should be as welcome to that Town as ever was Prince to People; but as to delivering up the good Town of Marlborough to such a traitor as Lord Digby ... they would sooner die". After some early skirmishes, Royalist troops infiltrated the Town down its small alleyways. The Town was captured and looted and many buildings were set ablaze. One hundred and twenty prisoners were marched in chains to Oxford. The Town was later abandoned by the King and took no further part in the war.

  • On 28 April 1653, the Great Fire of Marlborough burnt two hundred and fifty houses to the ground. Fire swept through the Town again in 1679 and again in 1690. This time, an Act of Parliament
    Act of Parliament
    An act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament....

     was passed "to prohibit the covering of houses and other buildings with thatch in the Town of Marlborough".

  • In 1689, William III
    William III of England
    William III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...

     created Sir John Churchill
    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
    John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was a prominent English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries...

    , the distinguished Army general, Earl of Marlborough. In 1702, William's successor, Queen Anne
    Anne of Great Britain
    Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England and II of Scotland...

     created Churchill Duke of Marlborough
    Duke of Marlborough
    The Dukedom of Marlborough , is a hereditary title in the Peerage of England. The first holder of the title was John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , the noted English general, and indeed an unqualified reference to the Duke of Marlborough in a historical text will almost certainly refer to...

    .


In 2004, Marlborough celebrated 800 years of its Town Charter, among the celebrations was a street play by the Marlborough Players entitled "Wheels of Time" and a visit from HRH Prince Charles. During the rebuilding of the town after the Great Fire of Marlborough in 1653 which destroyed almost the entire town, the high street became what is claimed to be the widest in England. This allows ample space for a local market which is held twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Every summer the town holds a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....

 festival with local pubs, clubs, hotels and various other venues playing host to live jazz music over the course of a weekend. Every October the high street is closed for the two Saturdays either side of 11 October for the Marlborough Mop Fair
Mop Fair
Mop Fairs are a feature of many English towns and are traditionally held on or around "Old Michaelmas Day". They originated as a "hiring" fair and their history dates back some 600 to 700 years.-History:...

. This was originally a hiring fair for agricultural workers seeking employment but now has become a funfair
Funfair
A funfair or simply fair is a small to medium sized traveling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...

. The right of the town to close the road to hold the fair is set down in the Charter.

On the north side of the high street is the Merchant's House, which is currently under restoration but part of which is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays in summer. The house was built following the Great Fire of 1653. It was the property of a silk merchant and, rarely for a house of this type in a town centre, still retains its original room pattern. Of great interest are the wall paintings recently uncovered, which are undergoing careful conservation. One room painted in a striped pattern, copying silk hangings, is perhaps unique in Great Britain.

Governance



The local authority is Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council...

, which, at the 2009 elections, is Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...

 controlled. Marlborough lies within the Devizes constituency
Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)
Devizes is an English constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Until 1868, it was a parliamentary borough, returning two Members of Parliament...

.

Education



Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is an English independent, co-educational boarding school located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800 pupils,...

. The boarding school is located on the west side of the town.

The town's comprehensive state secondary school, St John's School and Community College
St John's School and Community College
St John's School and Community College is an age 11–18 mixed comprehensive school in the English town of Marlborough. As of November 2005, it has over 1,500 students...

, holds specialist Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...

 and Language College
Language College
Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages...

 status. It is considered an above average school and sixth form college by OFSTED. It was formed when the former Marlborough Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally schools teaching classical languages but more recently academically-oriented types of secondary school.The original purpose of...

 and Secondary modern school
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...

 were amalgamated.

Church of England



The town is at the heart of the Anglican Marlborough Deanery in the Diocese of Salisbury
Diocese of Salisbury
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. It covers Dorset and most of Wiltshire , and is a constituent of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Salisbury, currently the Right Reverend David Stancliffe, and the diocesan synod...

 in the Province of Canterbury
Province of Canterbury
The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England. It consists of 30 dioceses, covering roughly the southern two-thirds of England, along with the Channel Islands, the Falkland Islands, a few parishes in Wales, and...

. The Rural Dean
Rural Dean
In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, a Rural Dean presides over a Rural Deanery .-Origins and usage:...

, has responsibility for the Benefices of Marlborough
Marlborough Benefice
The Marlborough Benefice consists of the parishes of St Mary's Marlborough within the town, St George's Preshute, which also serves Manton to the west and St John the Baptist, Mildenhall . It is part of the in the Diocese of Salisbury of the Church of England, which is part of the Christian,...

, Ridgeway
Ridgeway Benefice
The Ridgeway Benefice consists of the Wiltshire parishes of Holy Cross Chiseldon with Draycot Foliat, Ogbourne St Andrew, which also serves the hamlets of Ogbourne Maizey and Rockley, Ogbourne St George. It is part of the in the Diocese of Salisbury of the Church of England, which is part of the...

, Upper Kennet and Whitton which in total comprise 16 parishes. Of the towns two Anglican Churches, St Peter's is no longer used and has become an Arts Centre and only St Mary's remains in use for worship.

Transport


Although once served by two railway lines
Marlborough railway stations
|}Marlborough in Wiltshire, England was served by two separate railway stations whose histories were intertwined. The two stations were built by different railway companies which started as competitors but ended up under the same ownership...

 (the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835, and ran its first trains three years later...

 and the Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway was, until the 1923 Grouping, an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland and London and South Western Railways allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton.-Formation:The M&SWJR...

) the town no longer has any direct rail access. However, the nearest railheads, by connecting bus are Bedwyn railway station
Bedwyn railway station
Bedwyn railway station is a railway station in the village of Great Bedwyn in the county of Wiltshire in England. It is also the main station for the market town of Marlborough a few miles away...

, Pewsey railway station
Pewsey railway station
Pewsey railway station is a railway station in the village of Pewsey in the county of Wiltshire in England. The station is on the Berks and Hants line and is served by intercity services operated by First Great Western to and from the West Country. The average journey time to London Paddington from...

 and Swindon railway station
Swindon railway station
Swindon railway station is in the town of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station entrance is on Station Road, to the south of the line.It is approximately from the central bus station and the town centre...

.

Notable Residents

  • Eglantyne Jebb
    Eglantyne Jebb
    Eglantyne Jebb was a British social reformer.- Early life :She was born in 1876 in Ellesmere, Shropshire, and grew up on her family's estate...

    , founder of Save The Children Fund, taught at St. Peter's Junior School which was then located at the western end of the High Street (now the location of the Town Library). It is said that Jebb was inspired to action by the rural poverty she saw amongst her pupils.

  • Nobel Prize winning author William Golding
    William Golding
    Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...

    , author of Lord of the Flies
    Lord of the Flies
    Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. It discusses how culture created by man fails, using as an example a group of British schoolboys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, but with disastrous results...

    , grew up in the town. Golding lived on a house in the Green and was educated at the former Marlborough Grammar School, where his father was a science master.

Culture and sport

  • Cadley Clay Shooting Grounds
  • Marlborough & District Angling Association
  • Marlborough and District Triathlon Club (a.k.a. MAD-Tri).
  • The Marlborough Choral Society performs three concerts per year.
  • The Marlborough Concert Orchestra was founded in 2006 and puts on concerts in the town.
  • The Marlborough Running Club organises the Marlborough Downs Challenge
    Marlborough Downs Challenge
    The Marlborough Downs Challenge is an ultramarathon across the Marlborough Downs. The race is nearly all on footpaths. It starts and finishes in Marlborough and the course goes as far as Devizes. The distance is 53 km . The race is organised by Marlborough Running Club. A 32 km event is organised...

  • The Marlborough Players stage regular performances in the town.
  • The Marlborough and Pewsey Judo Club at Pewsey Swimming and Sports Centre, Wilcot Road, Pewsey
  • U3A
  • Wiltshire Ramblers: NE Wiltshire Ramblers / Mid-Wiltshire Ramblers

Nearby places


Towns and cities: Devizes
Devizes
Devizes is a small market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, in the southern United Kingdom.-History:Devizes Castle was built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury in 1080 but the town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book...

, Calne
Calne
Calne is a town in Wiltshire, England. It is situated at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....

, Tidworth
Tidworth
Tidworth is a town in south-east Wiltshire, England with a growing civilian population. Situated at the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain, it is approximately 10 miles west of Andover, 12 miles south of Marlborough, 24 miles south of Swindon, 15 miles north by north-east of Salisbury and 6 miles east...

, Hungerford
Hungerford
Hungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 10 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,700 .- Geography :...

, Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings...

, Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town and unitary borough authority in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in south west England. It is midway between Bristol, west, and Reading, east. London is east....



Villages: Aldbourne
Aldbourne
Aldbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire in the United Kingdom.People from Aldbourne are nicknamed "Dabchicks" after the Little Grebe. Initially it is believed this was intended as an insult begun by the residents of nearby Ramsbury but has been adapted to a badge...

, Avebury, Burbage
Burbage, Wiltshire
Burbage is a large village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. It is approximately 6 miles south of Marlborough and 20 miles west of Newbury.-Local government:...

, Cadley
Cadley
Cadley can refer to:* Cadley, Lancashire, a suburb of Preston, Lancashire.* Two places in Wiltshire:** Cadley , a village at 51.28N 01.65W SU2454** Cadley , a hamlet at 51.39N 01.71W SU2066...

,Froxfield
Froxfield
Froxfield is a village and civil parish in the east of the English county of Wiltshire.-Location:Froxfield is located on the A4 road from London to Bristol.Position: Nearby towns and cities: Hungerford, Marlborough, Newbury, Swindon...

, Fyfield
Fyfield, Wiltshire
Fyfield is a village in the English county of Wiltshire.-Local government:Fyfield forms part of the civil parish of Fyfield and West Overton, which has an elected parish council...

, Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn
right|400px|View eastwards from Great Bedwyn showing canal and railwayGreat Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in the east of the English county of Wiltshire.-Location:...

, Little Bedwyn, Lockeridge
Lockeridge
Lockeridge is a village in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the edge of the West Woods in the Kennet Valley, west of Marlborough, east of Avebury and south of Swindon....

, Mildenhall
Mildenhall, Wiltshire
Mildenhall, "my-nəl" by local residents, is a small village about 2 miles east from the town of Marlborough on the road to Ramsbury, in the county of Wiltshire. The village is sometimes called Minal...

, Pewsey
Pewsey
Pewsey is a large village in Wiltshire with a population of 3,237 people located approximately 80 miles west of London. It is well connected for London, the West Country and Wales being close to the M4 motorway and the A303. Also, the village is served by Pewsey railway station on the Great...

, Oare
Oare, Wiltshire
Oare is a small village near Marlborough and Pewsey in the County of Wiltshire, England.The A345 road runs through the village.The Village is also home to New Orleans style 10 Piece Jazz Band ""....

, Milton Lilbourne
Milton Lilbourne
Milton Lilbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire and lies in Pewsey Vale between Pewsey and Burbage.Milton Lilbourne's population was listed on the Kennet District Council Website as 512 in 2006. These days the village is largely a mixed residential area centred...

, Ramsbury
Ramsbury
Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. In the Census 2001, the parish had a population of 3,257. Locals are known as the Ramsbury Bulldogs which is similar to the neighbouring village of Aldbourne where the locals are known as Dabchicks.-Location:Ramsbury lies in...

, Collingbourne Ducis
Collingbourne Ducis
Collingbourne Ducis is a small village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in the English county of Wiltshire in England. It is one of several villages on the River Bourne, which is a seasonal river usually dry in summer.-History:...

, Manton
Manton, Wiltshire
Manton is a small village in Wiltshire on the outskirts of Marlborough just off the A4 Bath Road.Manton village is part of the Parish of Preshute, and as such includes St Georges Church, and Preshute Primary The Oddfellows Arms is the only pub in the village.It is home to the historic Manton House...

, Clatford
Clatford
Clatford is a small hamlet situated approximately one mile from the village of Manton and about three miles from Marlborough, which is the nearest notable town, in Wiltshire, England....

, Chiseldon
Chiseldon
Chiseldon is a village in the borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, with a population of circa 3000.The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough...

, Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne Saint George is a village in Wiltshire, on the River Og. About five hundred people live in the village.There is a local school which teaches children from the villages of Ogbourne St George, Ogbourne St Andrew, Ogbourne Maizey, Rockley and smaller numbers from the town of Marlborough...

, Ogbourne St. Andrew
Ogbourne St. Andrew
Ogbourne St Andrew is a tiny village in Wiltshire. It is near the village of Ogbourne St George and the hamlets of Ogbourne Maizey and Rockley. The village is lacking in local facilities because it changed from a farming-based community into a commuter-based one and therefore lost its local shop...

, Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat is an hamlet in Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon which is about north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre...



Places of interest: Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is the site of a large henge and several stone circles surrounding the village of Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe, about 5,000 years old. Although older than the megalithic stages of Stonehenge to the south, the...

, Kennet Long-Barrow, Savernake Forest
Savernake Forest
Savernake Forest is located on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in the English county of Wiltshire. Location: Grid Ref: SU225667, 51°23′59″N 1°40′39″W.It is privately owned by the Trustees of Savernake Estate, the...

, Crofton Pumping Station
Crofton Pumping Station
Crofton Pumping Station is a pumping station near the village of Great Bedwyn in the English county of Wiltshire: it supplies the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal with water....

, Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill
Silbury Hill is a man-made chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies at ....

, Wilton Windmill
Wilton Windmill
The Wilton Windmill is a five floor brick tower mill located on a chalk ridge between the villages of Wilton and Great Bedwyn in the southern English county of Wiltshire...

, Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the...

, Stourhead
Stourhead
Stourhead is a 2,650 acre estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England. The estate includes a Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland...

, Alton Barnes (crop circles
Crop Circles
Crop Circles was a collaboration between the psychedelic trance band Etnica and a Milanese group called Lotus Omega . An album, entitled "Tetrahedron", should have been released around 1998, but the project was abandoned because the British label Auracle Recordings went bankrupt...

).

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