Yatton Keynell
Encyclopedia
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located about five miles (8 km) west of Chippenham
Chippenham
Chippenham may be:* Chippenham, Wiltshire* Chippenham * Chippenham, Cambridgeshire-See also:* Virginia State Route 150, also known as Chippenham Parkway, USA* Cippenham, Berkshire, UK...
, and about five miles (8 km) to the east of the border with South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, on the B4039 road via Castle Combe
Castle Combe
Castle Combe is a small village in Wiltshire, England, with a population of about 350. It is renowned for its attractiveness and tranquillity, and for fine buildings including the medieval church. The 14th century market cross, erected when the privilege to hold a weekly market in Castle Combe was...
. Its economy is historically agricultural although it is now more of a residential area for surrounding towns; its population in the first census of 1801 was 353 and by the most recent of 2001, this had risen to 745. The village is surrounded by a green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
and is largely a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
which explains why unlike other settlements it has not expanded very much over its history.
History
The village was mentioned in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as "Getone". Its name moved through several variations of this and the "Keynell" appears to have been added some time in the thirteenth century after Henry Caynell, who had a holding in 1242. At about this time, the family gave a tract of land to Stanley Abbey
Stanley Abbey
Stanley Abbey was a medieval abbey near Chippenham, Wiltshire in England which flourished between 1151 and 1536.- Foundation :The abbey was given by Empress Matilda in 1151 to monks from Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. Originally at Loxwell, to the east of Chippenham, it moved to nearby Stanley...
, and the village itself became a grange of the abbey.
A member of the same family, Sir William Keynell, appears to have given the village its current name; in 1250 he built the village church as thanks for his safe return from The Crusades; as a result, it bears the unusual dedication to St Margaret of Antioch
Margaret the Virgin
Margaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...
. Its tower is fifteenth century, but the building was mostly restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
in 1868 to a design by George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
.
There is also an Ebenezer Chapel dating back to 1835 to cater for free church
Free church
The term "free church" refers to a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separated from government . A free church does not define government policy, nor have governments define church policy or theology, nor seeks or receives government endorsement or funding for its general mission...
worshippers.
The village pub, "The Bell", takes its name from being opposite the church and dates back to the seventeenth century. In 1764, deeds show its name as "The Old Inn" and consisting of outhouses, stables, a brew house, garden and orchard, remains of which are still visible. The adjacent road, now the B4039 to Castle Combe
Castle Combe
Castle Combe is a small village in Wiltshire, England, with a population of about 350. It is renowned for its attractiveness and tranquillity, and for fine buildings including the medieval church. The 14th century market cross, erected when the privilege to hold a weekly market in Castle Combe was...
and beyond, was a toll road
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
and there was a tollbooth close by as recently as 1871.
A farmhouse
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
, called Park Farmhouse, on Grittleton Road is dated to 1778 but was once known as "Small Pox Farm" and was possibly once an isolation house.
The village contains an unusual milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
showing its distance from Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, as 97 miles, and Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury
Chipping Sodbury is a market town in the county of South Gloucestershire, south-west England, founded in the 12th century by William Crassus . The villages of Old Sodbury and Little Sodbury are nearby...
as 11 miles.
The nearby hamlet Tiddleywink
Tiddleywink
Tiddleywink is a hamlet consisting of eight cottages on the B4039 road, near the village of Yatton Keynell, about three miles to the west of Chippenham, Wiltshire, England...
made national news in 2003 following a campaign by the locals to get it officially recognised on maps.
Facilities
The primary school in the village, By Brook Valley CE Primary School, is used by children from surrounding villages; there is also a separate Under-Fives Group.The village has a general store and a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, which was proposed for closure in 2008.
There is a doctors' surgery in Jubilee Field.
The village holds an annual fundraising fete
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
in June of each year and a Christmas Market each December.
Notable people
- John AubreyJohn AubreyJohn Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...
, antiquary and writer, known for his descriptions of AveburyAveburyAvebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
and StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
, attended the church school. - Sir Charles Snell, owned land in Yatton Keynell and sold it to invest in the ship ‘Angel Gabriel’ for the expedition by RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
to Guiana in 1595. The family owned ‘The Manor House’ in West Yatton Lane from the late 17th century. - Mr Mark Hayward, landlord of the Bell Inn (17th Century Inn is situated in the centre of the village close to the Post Office), address: High Street, Yatton Keynell, SN14 7BG, phone for booking: 01249 782216
Elected representatives
The village is represented in parliament by James Gray and in Wiltshire CouncilWiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were...
by Jane Scott
Jane Scott (politician)
Jane Antoinette Scott OBE is an English Conservative politician, Leader of the former Wiltshire County Council from 2003 to 2009 and of its successor the new Wiltshire Council from June 2009....
, both Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
.