Chipping Sodbury is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated 13 miles north-east of Bristol and directly east of Yate. The town was founded in the 12th century by William le Gros. It is the main settlement in the civil parish of Sodbury, which also includes the village of Old Sodbury.
The wide main street of Chipping Sodbury. Cars are parked where market stalls would once have been.
Chipping Sodbury Town Hall
The main street of Chipping Sodbury seen from an aircraft (2017)
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural towns with a hinterland of villages are still commonly called market towns, as sometimes reflected in their names.
The market square of Shrewsbury, an English market town
The market square (Marktplatz) of Wittenberg, a marked town in Germany
Market cross in a market, French, c.1400
Modern market hall in Frankfurt-Höchst, where the market dates back to at least 1356
