Yatton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See also: Yatton, Herefordshire
| Yatton | |
  Yatton shown within Somerset |
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| Population | 9,176 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Unitary authority | North Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | BS49 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Woodspring to become North Somerset at next general election |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Yatton is a village in North Somerset, England, located 11 miles (18 km) south west of Bristol. Its population in 2001 was 9,176.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Toponymy
The origin of the name 'Yatton' is uncertain. It may come from the Anglo-Saxon 'gatton' meaning 'village on the track'; the track in question is a path of limestone leading from Cadbury Hill. It may also mean 'gateway to the hills' or the city or may be derived from the Old English words ea and tun meaning 'The water enclosure' relating to its location near the Congresbury Yeo. The village has at one time or another been called Jatune, Eaton and Yatton Blewitt, and recorded as Lature in the Domesday Book.[2]
[edit] Pre history
Situated on an area of slightly higher, drained ground surrounded by moorland (locally called a 'batch'), Yatton was a well established village by Norman times. The remains of an Iron Age hill fort at Cadbury Hill have been discovered,[3] as well as a Roman villa, temple and horde of coins. Older Christian burial grounds have also been discovered on Cadbury Hill.
[edit] Railway
In the 19th century, Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway was constructed through Yatton; lines branched off from Yatton to Cheddar, Clevedon and Blagdon. Although the branch line to Blagdon (Wrington Vale Light Railway) was closed to passengers in 1932, and the Clevedon and Cheddar/Wells lines were closed during the 1960s, the classically Victorian station designed by Brunel is still in use.[4] It is now possible to walk or cycle along the former route of the 'Strawberry Line' from Yatton to Cheddar (so called because of the trade in Cheddar's strawberries), and all of it now is easily passable on foot or by bicycle.
[edit] War memorial
In 1922 the site formerly known as 'The Pound' was purchased and the Yatton Parish War Memorial was erected. The memorial is located at Top Scaur, at the Congresbury end of the High Street, and is inscribed with the names of Yatton villagers who died in the First World War and Second World War. Each year on Remembrance Sunday a march is held from St Mary's Church to the memorial, where wreaths are laid by villagers and local organisations.
[edit] Demography
After the Second World War the size and population of Yatton expanded dramatically. With a railway providing good access to Weston-super-Mare, Bristol and London, and similarly good access by road, the village saw large amounts of new housing development. Today the number of pre-war buildings is much smaller than the number of more recent residential and commercial constructions. According to the 2001 census, Yatton's population was 9,176.[1]
[edit] Page's Court
Today Yatton is a large village. Page's Court — the village's shopping precinct containing a bank, supermarket and several local shops — could now be thought of as Yatton's focal point, rather than St. Mary's Church.
[edit] Religion
St Mary's Church, located in central Yatton, is often called the 'Cathedral of the Moors' due to its size and grandeur in relation to the village. While the current church was constructed in the 14th century, it is likely that a previous Christian church was located on the same site. The tower has three stages with diagonal weathered buttresses with crocketed pinnacles. There is a south east hexagonal stair turret rising above the parapet with panelled sides to the top, and an open cusped parapet. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.[5]
As well as St. Mary's (Church of England), Yatton has Methodist, Catholic and independent places of worship. Yatton Methodist Church is situated on the High Street, opposite the main shopping precinct. Horsecastle Chapel, an independent evangelical church, is situated on Horsecastle Farm Road. Yatton Christian Fellowship, affiliated to the Assemblies of God, meets in Yatton Infant School. St. Dunstan's Roman Catholic place of worship is situated on Claverham Road.
[edit] Schools
Yatton has infant and junior schools. Secondary education is not available in the village, and so many of Yatton's children commute daily to the nearby village of Backwell in order to attend Backwell School.
[edit] Social activities and Sports
There are active football and rugby clubs, two parks ('Hangstones' and 'Rock Road'), a number of public houses, and many other leisure and sporting activities, all of which are listed on the Parish Council web site.
[edit] Fire station
Yatton fire station opened in 1947, after the Fire Services Act 1947, when fire service responsibility transferred from national government to local authority control after World War II. The Fire station is still today situated at the original site in Rock Road, Yatton, which pre 1947 was a roller skating rink.
The original station was demolished in 1972 when it was replaced with a new more modern station by somerset County Council. In 1974 when Avon County Council was formed, Yatton went from Somerset 'A' Division to Avon 'C' Division.
In 1994, a serious fire within the fire station itself destroyed the roof and the majority of the furnishings within. The fire was started by an electrical fault on the appliance, confirmed by the current Station Manager Gary Carr-Smith. The refubishment of the station was completed in September 1995 and the station was re-opened by former fire fighter and local councillor Mr Les Fido. However, the fire crews had been operational again and responding within 24 hours of the fire, operating from a temporary structure in the fire station's drill yard.
Today Yatton fire station, which is part of Avon Fire and Rescue Service, runs with 16 retained firefighters and two appliances, a water tender ladder and a specialist hose laying vehicle. Its firefighters respond to emergencies in a 40 square miles (104 km²) area covering, Yatton, Cleeve, Kingston Seymour, Congresbury and Wrington, with an average of 130-150 callouts per year. Calls vary from small grass fires to full major alerts and road traffic accidents on the busy A370 main road.
[edit] Expansion
There are a number of thriving local businesses, including Simulation Systems (Ltd), Stowell Concrete, Smart Systems, Oxford Instruments, Titan Ladders and Bob Martin. Farming remains an important activity in the area, although the number of farms is now much lower than it was before World War II.
The village has continued to increase in size with several new developments planned or currently being constructed north of the railway station near North End Road and Arnold's Way. Development to the south and east of the village has made the villages of Yatton, Claverham and Cleeve almost continuous as far as the A370. Cadbury House Country Club is being developed to become a high quality 60-room hotel and state of the art leisure centre.
The hamlet of North End lies to the north of the Arnold's Way roundabout, just before the junction for Kingston Seymour, and contains between 15 and 20 properties including a number of farms and the Bridge Inn hotel.
[edit] References
- ^ a b 2001 Census Ward Information Sheet: Yatton (PDF). North Somerset Council. Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
- ^ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Dovecote Press. ISBN 1874336032.
- ^ Alcock, Leslie (1971). Arthur's Britain. London: Allen Lane: The Penguin Press. ISBN 0-7139-0245-0.
- ^ Yatton Station Buildings and Footbridge. Images of England. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
- ^ Church of St. Mary. Images of England. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
[edit] External links
- Yatton Community Website
- Yatton Parish Council
- Yatton RFC
- Yatton Moor Team Ministry
- Yatton Athletic Senior Football Club
- St Mary's Church Pre-school
- Yatton Infant School
- Simulation Syatems Ltd.
- Yatton at the Open Directory Project
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| The towns and villages: Congresbury | Kenn | Kingston Seymour | Puxton | Yatton | |
| SSSIs: Biddle Street, Yatton | Puxton Moor | Tickenham, Nailsea and Kenn Moors | Yanal Bog | |
