Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located at grid reference ST919733, some 21 km (13 miles) east of Bath and 163 km (96 miles) west of London. In the 2001 census the population of the town was recorded as 28,065. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon and is believed to have existed as some form of settlement since before Roman times. For a time Alfred the Great had a hunting lodge there. The town continued to grow when the Great Western Railway arrived in 1841, and while historically a market town the economy has changed to that of a commuter town.