Hardenhuish Park: Chippenham Town FC

Chippenham Town play their matches at Hardenhuish Park, which has been their home ever since 1919. The club was somewhat nomadic in the preceding years, playing at at least four other stadiums that we know of. A Main Stand was built at the ground, with other sections being added over the years that followed. In 1979, for example, a clubhouse opened, whilst seven years after that saw floodlights added. The ground’s modernisation in recent years has seen the likes of a covered stand being built behind one of the goals. The stadium is known for the noticeable slope of the pitch, running down towards the Town End.

There is a touch of disagreement around when, exactly, Chippenham Town Football Club was established. The club itself claims that it dates back to 1873, but local newspaper reports are of the opinion that it was founded on the third of December 1884. The first game was played two weeks later, in the eyes of the papers, when Chippenham Town took on Melksham. Regardless, one thing we do know is that the club helped to form the Wiltshire League in 1894, becoming one of the founding members. Success has been relative in the years that follows, winning the likes of the Western League and the Southern League.

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Hardenhuish Park Photos

Hardenhuish Park Stadium Behind the Goal

Hardenhuish Park Stadium View from the Stand

Hardenhuish Park Stadium Main Stand

Hardenhuish Park Seating Plan and Where to Sit

It is entirely fair to describe Hardenhuish Park as ‘basic’ when it comes to the stadium’s layout. There is a relatively small seating section that runs along about one third of one side of the pitch, which is part of the Main Stand that also includes the dressing rooms and other club areas. The two ends of the pitch behind either goal feature terraces, with an uncovered terrace running alongside the pitch on the opposite side to the Main Stand. This is not somewhere to head to if you’re a lover of your home comforts.

Chippenham Town FC Ticket Prices

Chippenham Town do well to keep their prices as low as they can, making it nice and easy to understand how much you’ll be expected to pay if you want to head along and watch one of their games. To give you a sense of what it’s likely to cost you, here is what the prices were during the 2023-2024 season:

• Adults – £15
• Senior Citizens – £11
• Juniors (16-18) – £5
• Child (5-15) – £3
• Under 5 – Free

The senior citizen price is also available to students that have a valid ID card as well as serving members of the Armed Forces. Those that aged under 16 will be able to get in for free provided they are accompanied by a paying adult.

How To Get Chippenham Town FC Tickets

Anyone that has ever gone to see a match involving a lower league side will know that a lot of the clubs down there have excellent websites. Chippenham Town are no exception, believing that giving people as much information as possible is the best chance of getting them into the ground when they’re up against televised fixtures. If you want to go to a Chippenham Town game then their website is therefore the best place to head to tell you what you need to know, although you won’t be able to buy tickets online and can only get in by buying a ticket on the turnstile.

Where to Buy

• Ticket Compare

Getting To Hardenhuish Park

Train – Chippenham Town’s home ground is about a mile away from Chippenham Railway Station, so if you’re heading in on train then you’ll have a walk of about 20 minutes or so in front of you before you get to enjoy some football.

Bus – If you’d like to take a bus to get to the ground then there are a couple of stops close by that service the likes of the 99 bus route. Check local timetables if you’d like more information.

Car – Obviously where you’re coming from will be the deciding factor for those looking to drive to a Chippenham Town match. If you’re coming from the North, East or West then you’ll be looking Junction 17 of the M4, at which point you’ll take the A350 for a few miles before heading towards the town centre and looking out for signs to the stadium. If you’re coming from Bath then the A4 will take you towards Chippenham, at which point you can get onto the M4 and follow the instructions from there. In essence, take the M4 to get towards Chippenham then follow the signs.

By Air – Being down south, Chippenham is relatively accessible from all of the London airports. Bristol is probably the closest, but if Heathrow, London Luton or Gatwick offer better flights then all of them are more than acceptable choices.

Taxi – With the train station being around a mile from the ground, you’re going to be likely to pay somewhere between £5 and £10 for a taxi between the two, traffic depending.

Parking Near Hardenhuish Park

There isn’t a car park for supporters at the stadium itself, which means that you’re left looking for places around the town to leave your car if you’ve decided to drive. The club recommends a local school, for example, with parking restrictions around the ground tending to be in place on a match day.

• See Available Parking Near Hardenhuish Park

Useful Resources

• Parking - Just Park

Pubs and Bars Near Hardenhuish Park

About Chippenham Town FC

When was Chippenham Town Football Club formed? It’s all but impossible to say, with the club claiming one thing and local papers another. Regardless, what we do know is that a match was played between Chippenham Town and Melksham on the 17th of December 1884, which is the first recorded instance of a game being played by them. Having helped to form the Wiltshire League in 1894, Chippenham Town finished joint-top at the end of the 1901-1902 season, eventually losing the play-off match 1-0 to Warminster Town. Two years later and the Bluebirds joined the Western League’s Division Two, continuing to play in the Wiltshire League at the same time. The first season they finish bottom of the former and second in the latter.

The club’s existence has been spent in the lower leagues, enjoying the sort of minor success that you’d expect. They won the Wilshire League in 1908, 1909 and 1929, for example, as well as the Western League Premier Division in 1952 and Division One in 1981, amongst other trophies. The 2022-2023 season was a big one for Chippenham Town, achieving their best FA Cup performance to that point when they made it to the second round, also getting to the third round of the FA Trophy, which was another club best. The club’s biggest win is 9-0, which they have managed on three separate occasions across different competitions.

Hardenhuish Park History

Currently known as the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium thanks to a sponsorship deal, Hardenhuish Park was built in 1919 and has been the home of Chippenham Town FC ever since. It is all but hidden from the road by trees and bushes, meaning that you could easily drive past it without ever even knowing it was there. The Main Stand is the dominant part of the ground, having been built and added to in the years since. The Clubhouse was built in 1979 and has since been converted in order to offer hospitality suites to supporters with deep pockets. The floodlights were put up in 1986, shedding light on the pitch when needed.

There had been a covered stand running alongside the opposite side of the pitch to the Main Stand, but this was damaged by storms and so another one was built in 1993. The Clubhouse that stands at Hardenhuish Park now was erected in 2020, housing a bar as well as a year-round facility for the community. In 1951, the record attendance was set at Hardenhuish Park when Chippenham United turned up for a Western League match, resulting in around 4,800 people turning up to see the local battle play out. The stadium has a modern capacity of 3,000, of which 300 can be seated in the Main Stand for a match.