By the Rev. J. E. Fackson. 21 
became as independent as before. The real conquest was by 
Claudius, 62 years after Christ; and under the Romans this 
island remained until a.p. 450. Not that Chippenham so re- 
mained ; for, (as just observed), of any town or even village having 
been on this site during the presence of the Roman scourge, 
no trace seems to have been discovered. In the neighbourhood 
there are several marks of Roman habitation; as at Studley, 
Bromham, Lacock, Box, and Colerne; (the remains of villas 
at the two latter places being at this moment open for inspec- 
tion); near Bath, of course, very frequent; but at Chippen- 
ham, so far as I know, nothing. Devizes rejoices in a Roman 
name—a mark of the scourge: but, (as will presently be ex- 
plained), that of Chippenham is Saxon; and, therefore, later 
than Roman. The site of the town is between, and at some dis- 
tance from, two great Roman roads; the Foss on the north, which 
ran from Bath by North Wraxhall and Sherston; and another on 
the south, which went from Bath by Neston, and a little south 
of Lacock, through Spy Park, past Wans House and Hedding- 
ton, to Marlborough. No main road passed over the site itself; 
so that as there is no Roman “Chippenham Station” to stop at, 
we may go on to the next scourge. 
Tue Saxons FRoM a.D. 450. 
It is to the early part of the Anglo-Saxon period, that Chip- 
penham seems capable of being traced; the name is undoubtedly 
of Saxon date; and, as to its meaning, there is no difficulty. It 
is not spelled quite in the original way; but names are often 
spelled as they are pronounced. Railway pronunciation has reduced 
it to two syllables—“Chip’nam:” and, on their labels, for the 
sake of still greater despatch in business, they have even shortened 
it to one—“Chip.” In so doing, however, (though without any 
design to restore the Anglo-Saxon tongue in its purity), they are 
really returning to that which is called, in grammar, the root 
of the word. In Saxon, c-e-a-p, pronounced cheap, signifies 
goods of any kind, cattle, or whatever is bought and sold; and the 
place where the buying and selling went on, was called—“ the 
chepyng.” The word is still retained in some of our towns, as 
