Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester.

[3] Cricklade was founded in the 9th century by the Anglo-Saxons, at the point where the Ermin Way Roman road crossed the River Thames.

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.

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.

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.

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 King Cnut in the early 11th century, to prevent the burhs being seized and used against him by his rivals.

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.

[16] The club was founded in 1992 by ex-school players from many schools, meeting at the bar of the Vale Hotel, Cricklade, then owned by ex-President and life members the Ross family.

[17] Over the years Cricklade Rugby Club has toured over England, West and South Wales and Ireland, with teams spanning a broad range of levels of skill and age category.

[17] The Cricklade Show is held each summer, typically featuring music, dancing and a cricket match.

[22] Since Autumn 2013, Cricklade Town Hall has shown films every 4th Tuesday of the month from September to April.

[23] North Meadow is a large nature reserve which preserves some 80 per cent of Britain's wild snake's head fritillaries in its 150 acres (61 ha).

The meadow lies between the Thames and the Churn, which create a unique habitat for the fritillary by winter flooding.

North Meadow escaped this owing to preservation of its court leet, the Saxon system of town governance that ensured the land was held in common.

In 2000, a disused airfield, formerly RAF Blakehill Farm, was bought from the Ministry of Defence by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust[25] to form a second larger meadow of around 600 acres (240 ha), which opened to the public in 2005.

It rears a small quantity of organic grade beef, usually from rare breeds such as English Longhorns.

Cricklade lies between the east and west sections of Cotswold Water Park, an extensive nature reserve formed from disused gravel pits.

The large tower with four corner pinnacles, the dominant landmark of the town, was built in 1551–1553 by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, father-in-law to Lady Jane Grey.

[34] Standing just inside the Saxon town wall, it dates from the 12th century and has a low tower completed about 1400.

[45] Sucé lies just north of Nantes in the Loire Valley, 30 miles (48 km) from the Atlantic coast.

[46] This caused controversy among residents of the High Street, who considered their view across the open space would be spoilt and there would be noise from the halyards on the poles.

The open space behind the garden is a scheduled monument, as this is the location of the Saxon town walls, although they are no longer visible.

[48] There is a local museum in Calcutt Street run by the Cricklade Historical Society, housed in a former Baptist chapel.

South of the town, the Swindon and Cricklade Railway is restoring the line as a leisure facility.

Since 2007 passenger trains have been run between Blunsdon and Hayes Knoll, and in 2014 the line was extended to Taw Valley Halt on the edge of Swindon.