Calne

Market town in Wiltshire, England, 8 km/5 mi southeast of Chippenham, the river Marden runs through the town; population (2001) 13,800. Calne has a large bacon-curing industry.

The area was inhabited by the Romans from 55. The first recorded mention of the town of Calne was in 955. In the 10th century it was the site of a palace for the West Saxon kings. The town prospered during the Tudor period as a result of the wool trade. The Harris bacon-curing factory was established in the town in the 1800s, which at its height employed 2,000 people. It closed in 1983.

Bowood House, whose gardens were designed by English landscape gardener Capability Brown, lies 3 km/2 mi to the southwest of Calne. During the late 18th century, the Dutch physician Jan Ingenhousz discovered the procedure now commonly known as vaccination at Bowood. He is buried in the churchyard of the 12th-century St Mary's church. English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and British athlete Walter George both lived in the town.