Calne (/kɑːn/)[2] is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,[3] at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

[6] 74 or more households were held almost outright by burghal tenure (as citizens of a borough), and the lordship of its large outlying land was divided between the king (of whom 45 burgesses were tenants) and the church.

[7][8] Calne had a significant woollen broadcloth industry in the 18th century, and evidence of this can be seen set around the triangular green by the parish church, where 24 listed buildings remain, five at Grade II* including the Tounson almshouses for the neediest poor[9][10][11][12][13] and Georgian era clothiers' houses.

This solid marine deposition is chiefly one chemical, calcium carbonate, and is dug in nearby pits for its main use in cement and as fertiliser on acid ground.

As the canal passed through open country near Stanley, east of Chippenham, a short branch led through three locks to a wharf in Calne.

The opening of Black Dog Halt in the early 20th century provided insufficient demand to slow a progressive decline.

The branch closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in September 1965, having made the biggest loss per mile of any line in the country.

[citation needed] Subsequently, Calne's main industry other than being a small market town was the imposing C&T Harris pork processing factory.

It is said that the pork-curing industry developed because pigs reared in Ireland were landed at Bristol and then herded across England on drovers' roads to Smithfield, London.

[16][17] John Harris and his wife Mary Perkins had eleven children, and three of them, Thomas, George, and Charles, expanded the family business.

[19] C&T Harris built a five-storey factory in the centre of the town in the 1930s,[20] which at its height employed 2,000 people to process 5,000 pigs each week into bacon, pies, sausages and cooked meats.

The departed industry is celebrated by a bronze sculpture of two pigs, installed in 1979 by Calne Civic Society on Phelps Parade in the town centre.

[23][24] During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Calne saw rapid expansion compared to most other towns in the South West region, with a population which the district council projected to peak at around 19,000 by 2015 but which has since been surpassed.

The Lansdowne Park housing development (completed in early 2007[25]) has substantially increased the size of the town, creating a new northwestern suburb, including a new primary school, a medical centre and a small shopping area.

The development's name reflects its proximity to the seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne, whose family have owned the nearby Bowood House country estate since 1784.

This facility is managed by Calne Town Council was built with £1.2 million funding from Hills Property, provided as part of the planning agreement for their King Edward Close development.

Calne is home to approximately twenty pieces of public art, ranging from bronze and ceramics to murals and mixed-media structures.

An inn in the centre of the town – now the Lansdowne Strand Hotel – is a Grade II* listed building, dating in part from the 17th century and re-fronted in the 18th.

[32] Since the demolition of the Harris pork factory and the completion of the first phase of redevelopment/regeneration in 2001, Calne has seen Cotswold stone, similar to local limestone, being used together with smart red brickwork, formerly reserved for fine historical buildings.

[46] Particular Baptists built Zion chapel in 1836 on the street now called The Pippin; this too remains open, and is a feature of Calne's pedestrian precinct.

[47] Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel in Back Road in 1811, and opened a larger church at Silver Street in 1867, which continues in use.

[1] There were 19,732 in the built-up area, which extends further south to include those parts of Quemerford lying in Calne Without parish, as well as Stockley hamlet.

Following boundary changes which came into effect at the 2024 general election, the four electoral divisions covering Calne civil parish are split between two Westminster constituencies.

Jan Ingenhousz repeated Joseph Priestley's experiments and found it was sunlight which acted upon the plants to create oxygen (photosynthesis).

Sarah Grand (1854–1943), a feminist activist and writer, settled in Calne in 1942 after her house in London was damaged by a German bomb.

[64] The singer-songwriter-author Julian Cope resided in nearby Yatesbury until 2006, and lived in Calne itself for some years before he moved with his family to the village.

[66] In common with the surrounding villages, hotels cater to the following attractions: Blackland Lakes is a large camping site on the southern edge of Calne which is popular with anglers and tourists alike.

The club currently fields a 1st and 2nd XV, alternating home games on Saturdays, and also a junior team who play on Sundays.

They organise an annual 10 km multi-terrain running race called the SMaRTT Smasher, on an out-and-back route along the cycle path towards Chippenham.

Ordnance Survey maps published in 1959–61 show Quemerford village along the A4 east of the town, a few houses at Calne Marsh along the Swindon road on the northeastern outskirts, and Lickhill Farm standing in farmland to the northwest.