Air conditioning installation in Gillingham
Gillingham is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset. It is the most northerly town in the county. Its built-up area had 11,010 residents at the 2021 census.
As the town grew, it took in the hamlets of Peacemarsh, Bay and Wyke. Other hamlets, such as Eccliffe, Madjeston and Milton on Stour, still sit within the wider parish.
The town was founded by the Saxons, although there is evidence of Roman settlement too. In the Middle Ages it had a royal hunting lodge, visited by four different kings. The Black Death struck in 1348, and half of the town’s 2,000 people died within four months.
The painter John Constable stayed at the vicarage in the 1820s. His painting of the old town bridge now hangs in the Tate Gallery. The church of St Mary the Virgin also holds a Saxon cross shaft from the 9th century.
In the 1850s, the railway brought new industries to the town. These included brickmaking, cheese production, printing and soap making. By the end of the 19th century, Gillingham also had one of the first petrol engine plants in the country.
The town grew quickly again during the Second World War, when evacuees arrived from London and other cities. Its place on the London to Exeter railway was key to that growth. Today, it hosts the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show each August, at a showground on the edge of town.
Streets, buildings and units across Gillingham
The town has around 70 shops and two commercial estates, Brickfields Business Park and Brickfields Industrial Estate. A shop or unit may therefore need a different system from a house.
Many buildings in the town are of Tudor origin. An older home near the centre may share a wall or sit close to next door. As a result, an installer will usually check where a pipe can run, without crossing onto someone else’s land.
A newer home on the edge of town may offer more space for an outdoor unit. Still, every property is different, so a survey decides the details. If you are also weighing up a heat pump, the difference between air conditioning and heat pumps is worth reading first.
Some addresses on the edge of town still go by Peacemarsh or Wyke. It is worth giving your exact location when you get in touch, since that helps the installer plan the visit well.
Distance, coverage and nearby towns
Gillingham lies about 25.3 miles by road from Salisbury, around 45 minutes’ drive. In a straight line, the gap is about 21.1 miles. The town also has a railway station on the line between Exeter and London Waterloo.
Shaftesbury sits about five miles to the south-east, and the town lies on the B3095 and B3081 roads. Two pages worth checking are air conditioning installation in Shaftesbury and our Wincanton installation page. For the nearest city, see air conditioning installation in Salisbury.
A single split system, fitted, typically costs around £1,500 to £3,000, though price still depends on the room and the building. UK law says only an F-Gas certified engineer may handle refrigerant, so always ask an installer to show that certificate. Our breakdown of installation prices covers what tends to move that figure up or down.
What happens next
Send one enquiry and we match your address with one pre-qualified installer who works here. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Get started with the enquiry form. You can still read more about air conditioning installation across Dorset and the wider region, if you want the fuller picture first.