Welcome to Chipping Norton

Chipping Norton is situated in the beautiful Cotswold hills, in the county of Oxfordshire, approximately 65 miles northwest of London and 8 miles east of Stow-on-the-Wold.

The town has a population of around 6,000 according to the 2001 census. Administratively it is within the local government district of West Oxfordshire which covers an area of approximately 714 sq kms.

It is an attractive hilltop market town which is built mostly of hard, grey limestone - the High Street is completely enclosed by 18th century stone frontages - and which is picturesque enough to be protected by several conservation orders. Notable historic buildings include the Church of St Mary and the grand Bliss Mill (now luxury flats), which once employed hundreds of local people producing its famous tough tweeds. It stands as a monument to the 19th century architecture of the industrial revolution. Chipping Norton is a convenient base for touring the nearby villages.

The town's history dates from Saxon times although there is evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area. A timber motte and bailey castle was erected during the Norman period, the earthworks of which still exist. In the Middle Ages, like other parts of England, wool production brought great wealth to the Cotswolds and Chipping Norton and many of the town's surviving mediaeval buildings were built on the proceeds of that trade. As the wool business declined, arable farming came to the fore and this remained an important industry. During the 18th and 19th centuries other industries became established here and these included brewing, glove-making, tanning and an iron foundry. The railway arrived in Chipping Norton in 1855, with a second line being opened in 1887, and rail services survived in the town until the 1960s when they were closed under the Beeching Cuts. Chipping Norton was a municipal borough until 1974, but its status was changed under the Local Government Act 1972 to become part of the district of West Oxfordshire.

Historically, the town's economy was based on the production of wool and later tweed. Today it is still a working agricultural community although there is also a focus towards tourism and the service industries.

The name Chipping means 'a market, a market-place' from the Old English 'Chippin' and Norton means 'north farmstead or village'. The settlement was recorded as 'Nortone' in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as 'Chepingnorthona' in 1224. (Oxford Dictionaryof English Place Names: A.D.Mills)