Notable Inhabitants
Notable people from Calne include Saint Edmund, John Pym and the athlete Walter Goodall George who held the world record for the mile from 1886 to 1915. George also held more than 13 world records for running at the time and still holds a world record simply for holding the mile record longer than anyone else. There are two plaques in Calne to commemorate his life, one in front of the Town Hall and one at ground level just inside the recreation grounds.
The country estate of Bowood House lies near Calne. It was here that Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 1774; there is a plaque in the town centre commemorating this. Jan Ingenhousz repeated Joseph Priestley's experiments and found it was sunlight which acted upon the plants to create oxygen. There is a pavement display outside the Millennium library in Calne in his honour.
There is also a plaque on the wall of the house where Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed from 1814 to 1816 as part of the Morgan household whilst writing his Biographia Literaria.
The singer-songwriter-author Julian Cope resided in a small village 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Calne, towards Avebury, until 2006, and lived in Calne itself for some years before he moved with his family to the village.
The actor David Hemmings lived in the Old Mill in Calne for many years up until his death in December 2003. His funeral was held at St. Mary's Church.
Isaac Nichols, a transported convict who became the first postmaster of Sydney, New South Wales was born here in 1770.
Clive Farahar, the books and manuscripts expert on the BBCs Antiques Roadshow lives in the town and has a business there.
In 2008 the singer-songwriter Robbie Williams purchased a £7 million property in the nearby Parish of Compton Bassett. Compton Basset House came complete with gamekeeper lodgings, tennis court, helipad and extensive grounds. The property is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east of central Calne. Compton Basset House was also previously owned by the famous architect Sir Norman Foster (now Baron Foster of Thames Bank) of "Gherkin" fame, but was sold by him in 1992.
The family seat of the 9th Marquess of Lansdowne, Bowood House is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of the town.
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