Corsham owes its prosperity to the wool trade and quarrying of the golden Bath Stone - their stories are captured in the Heritage Centre.
Armed with a copy of 'An Illustrated Guide to Corsham', discover the wealth of beautiful and historic buildings including Corsham Court, 17th Century Flemish buildings, Hungerford Almshouses, weavers cottages, old inns and the elegant Town Hall. Copies of this guide are available from this website - see Order a Brochure.
Pickwick, once an adjoining hamlet, gave its name to Moses Pickwick an abandoned baby, this name later being seen on a carrier's cart by Charles Dickens who used it for his Pickwick Papers.
Nearby is the village of Box from where stone was first quarried in the 8th Century. By the end of the 19th Century these were the most productive in the world. Brunel completed his railway from Bristol to London in 1841 and on the A4 the Western Classical Portal of his famous 2 mile Box Tunnel can be viewed. Some of his first timid travellers left the train before it entered the tunnel and rejoined it the other side!
The town market is held on a Tuesday.
For further information about Corsham and the surrounding area, contact Corsham Tourist Information & Heritage Centre (01249 714660) corshamheritage@northwilts.gov.uk, or visit www.corsham.gov.uk
