Yateley
| Yateley | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 Houses by Yateley Green | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU8160 |
| Location: | 51°19’60"N, -0°50’19"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 20,214 (2009) |
| Post town: | Yateley |
| Postcode: | GU46, GU17 |
| Dialling code: | 01252, 01276 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hart |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Hampshire |
Yateley is a suburban town in Hampshire. Yateley's northern border is the River Blackwater around the Yateley Lakes, which form the Trilakes Country Park just across in Berkshire.
The southern edge of the town is curbed by the A30, by Yateley Common and by Blackbushe Airport.
Nearby hamlets in the parish include Frogmore and Darby Green.
Churches
- Church of England: St Peter's
- Baptist: Yateley Baptist Church
- Roman Catholic: St Swithun's
The town
The area around St Peter's Church, the Dog & Partridge public house and the village green is still referred to as 'the village'. The suburb grew around it. Yateley overall is a residential area with local businesses and light service industries. The B3272 Reading Road acts as the town's main business link, with numerous shops and other businesses located along this road.
Yateley Green opens out to the west of the village. There are tennis courts there, a playground, Town Council offices and 'The Tythings' community hall and is the location for the annual May Fayre, one of the largest events of its kind in southern Britain. Yateley Cricket and Hockey Club is adjacent to the Blackwater Valley golf course, off Chandlers Lane.
There are several traditional public houses, besides the Dog & Partridge: the White Lion, the Royal Oak, the Cricketers, the Anchor and The Highwayman (formerly Poets' Corner, formerly the Monteagle Arms, formerly The Lanes).
The town has no railway station but is close to several larger towns which do, including Farnborough, Camberley, Bracknell and Reading. Nevertheless, it holds its own as a commuter town.
History
The name Yateley derives from the Middle English 'Yate' meaning 'Gate' (into Windsor Forest) and 'Lea' which was a 'forest clearing'. Although in historic records, variations of the spelling include Hyatele, Yateleghe, Yatche, Yatelighe, Yeatley, Yeateley and Yatelegh.[1] The town's logo is a three-barred gate with the keys of Saint Peter (the church dedication) and the Tudor rose of Hampshire.
Yateley Hall in the town dates from the 13th century, but the town itself was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
In the early 17th century, Monteagle Farm was one of the minor properties of the discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot, Lord Monteagle. A tradition has grown up that some of the first plans for the plot were put together there, but this is highly unlikely. However, roads of the residential area around Monteagle Lane have been named after some of the conspirators in memory of the connection.
Through the next few centuries, Yateley developed into a coaching-hub between London and Reading. Local legend has it that the curate of Yateley, named Parson Darby, was a highwayman who used the Reading Road as his main stamping ground. Darby Green, where he was hanged, is named after him. The "beast" of Yateley Morris Men is a hooden horse wearing a highwayman's disguise, in memory of Parson Darby.
The Yateley Society is a registered charity one aim of which is to research and provide information to the public on the history, natural history, architecture and geography of Yateley.
Yateley Manor
Yateley Manor School is an independent school catering for around 500 pupils aged 3 to 13.[2] The majority of pupils from this school go on to Lord Wandsworth College, Wellington College, Berkshire and Farnborough Hill. The school is active in sport and is a very active supporter of chess and strongly promotes the benefits of chess as part of the curriculum. It has just (2008) become the new sponsor of the National Schools Chess Championships.[3]
Blackbushe Airport
Blackbushe Airport at Yateley caters for leisure flights, flying lessons and small business flight operations. The complex also contains a thriving car auction, a go-kart track, parts of an abandoned Second World War airfield (those parts of RAF Hartfordbridge which are not now part of Blackbushe Airport).
The airport is also the venue for the popular Blackbushe Sunday Market.
Sport
- Football:
- Yateley FC, established in 1927, has a men's team and 13 youth teams.
- Darby Green and Potley FC
Yateley in literature and on television
- Flora Thompson, author of the trilogy of novels 'Lark Rise to Candleford' is recorded in the 1901 Census as living and working in the Yateley Post Office.
- The Office (the "mockumentary" television series) has the lead character David Brent explain at one point to the audience "When I'm finished with Slough there's… Reading, Aldershot, Bracknell, you know. I've got Didcot, Yateley…". There is a medium-sized business park located near Blackbushe Airport.
- Test the Nation was a BBC television programme on English and spelling. The overall winner from the Internet was a man from Yateley, but the programme misspelt the name of the town as "Yately".
Trivia
- The Dog and Partridge public house in Yateley used to be the official headquarters of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. Its one-time feline leader, Catmandu, was killed by a road vehicle on Reading Road.
- Yateley's fishing complex has become well known for carp fishing.