Corsham is a quiet, unspoilt town where peacocks wander freely around the streets. It owes its prosperity to the wool trade and quarrying of golden Bath stone, brought to life in the town's heritage centre.
A popular weekly market takes place every Tuesday and there is a wealth of beautiful and historic buildings waiting to be discovered, including 17th Century Flemish buildings, the Lady Margaret Hungerford Almshouses, weavers' cottages, old inns and the elegant Town Hall.
And don't miss Corsham Court - a splendid example of Elizabethan architecture, housing an internationally acclaimed collection of old masters. Its extensive grounds were laid out by renowned landscape gardener Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.
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!
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Tempting places to eat and drink range from tea shops and cafes to pubs and restaurants, while shopping is a pleasure, with everything from major discount outlets to unique, individual retailers.
There is an excellent year-round programme of arts and entertainment on offer, and enough festivals and sports and leisure opportunities to satisfy even the most active of visitors... not to mention our outstanding range of places to visit.