Yeovilton
| Yeovilton | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Weir on the River Yeo at Yeovilton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST545229 |
| Location: | 51°0’13"N, 2°38’56"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,226 (2011) |
| Post town: | YEOVIL |
| Postcode: | BA22 |
| Dialling code: | 01935 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Yeovil |
Yeovilton is a village in Somerset, in the south of the county a mile east of Ilchester and five miles north of Yeovil (which is on the border with Dorset). The village had a recorded population of 1,226 in 2011.
The civil parish if not the church parish includes the village of Podimore (also known as or Puddimore or Milton Podimore) and the hamlets of Speckington and Bridgehampton.
The village is home to the RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) and the associated Fleet Air Arm Museum.
Geography
Yeovilton stands on the north bank of the River Yeo opposite Limington.
The parish is largely flat, lying mostly between 50 feet and 75 feet above sea level, on the alluvium of the Yeo and Cam valleys and partly on clay loam on the Lower Lias.
Churches
The parish church in Yeovilton is the Church of St Bartholomew. It dates from around 1300 century and is a grade II* listed building.[1] From 1642 Richard Sterne held the rectory of Yeovilton before going on to become Archbishop of York. The rector between 1762 and 1805 was Daniel Dumaresq after his period as an educational consultant to Russian and Polish monarchs. Since 1993 the church has been owned by the Royal Navy, and it serves as the Memorial chapel for the Fleet Air Arm.
At Podimore the parish church is the Church of Saint Peter, which dates from the 14th century and has been designated a grade I listed building.[2]
History
Yeovilton is close to the route of the Fosse Way a Roman road that linked Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) in the southwest to Lincoln (Lindum Colonia), by way of Ilchester (Lindinis), Bath (Aquae Sulis), Cirencester (Corinium Dobunnorum) and Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum). There is evidence of a Romano-British farmstead under what is now the airfield.[3]
Between 899 and 925 an estate in Yeovilton was granted by King Edward the Elder, and between 955 and 959 King Eadwig gave a further holding of five hides to Brihtric.
In 1411 the lord of the manor was John Rogers, who also held the manor of Barwick, and by 1602 these had been inherited by Henry Lyte. The holding was purchased by. D. W. Digby of Sherborne Castle in Dorset in 1857, and remained with the Digby family until 1919.[4]
The village was host to a stage start of the Tour of Britain in 2007.
Since 1993 the Fleet Air Arm’s Memorial Church has been the Church of St Bartholomew in Yeovilton.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Yeovilton) |
References
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (262788) Saint Bartholomew
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (262773) Church of Saint Peter
- ↑ Lovell, Julie (2006). "Excavation of a Romano-British farmstead at RNAS Yeovilton". Somerset Archaeology and Natural History 149: 7–70.
- ↑ Yeovilton – Victoria County History