Welcome to Cricklade

DESPITE the fact the high street is only 400 yards in length and as quintessentially 'villagey' as any visitor could ever wish for, Cricklade is a town.

The residents are naturally proud of the fact that their main street is the only main street in Wiltshire that can officially be called a 'town'. Its wide road has a generous collection of 17th and 18th century houses on either side, while interspersed among these ornamental little dwellings are ye olde traditional Indian takeaways and kebab houses.

Of course, the Thames at this point is little more than a brook but as you watch it slip away, it's thrilling to think it leads to the corridors of Parliament.

The Romans were the first to build a metalled road, Ermin Street, across what was until then, nothing more than a flood plain. The road, which ran between Speen, near Newbury and Gloucester, encountered marshy ground near Calcutt, but by building a raised causeway at the narrowest crossing place, it became passable throughout the year. The settlement, which grew up to the south of this crossing, became the town of Cricklade.

After the Romans, the Saxon village became an important site in Alfred the Great's defence of Wessex. Eleventh century documents show that 1,500 men were needed to defend the town.

From 979 to 1100 the town had its own mint - the few coins remaining are kept in museums. Then an extraordinary amount happened until a railway station was opened in 1883. It was finally closed to passengers in 1961. In 1987, the town celebrated the 1,100th anniversary of the Saxon borough, and in 1989 was twinned with the French town of Suce-sur-Erdre.

There are four churches in Cricklade: St Sampson's, which boasts a cathedral-like turreted tower built by the Duke of Northumberland in 1553, Latton Parish Church, Cricklade United Church and St Mary's Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church of St Mary may not be the parish church but it's a true beauty nonetheless. Located at the bottom of the High Street, it's another mishmash of architectural styles but whatever you'd call it, it's charming and lovely and sports a superb sundial, right outside on the corner of the street which.