Yatton

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For the village in Herefordshire, see Yatton, Herefordshire.
Yatton
Somerset

Church of St Mary
Location
Grid reference: ST425655
Location: 51°23’8"N, 2°49’32"W
Data
Population: 7,552
Post town: Bristol
Postcode: BS49
Dialling code: 01934
Local Government
Council: North Somerset
Parliamentary
constituency: 		North Somerset

Yatton is a village and parish in Somerset, located 11 miles south-west of Bristol. The parish forms part of the Winterstoke Hundred.[1] Its population in 2011 was 7,552.[2] The parish includes Claverham, a small village which was originally a farming hamlet.

The origins of the village and its name are unclear; however, there is evidence of Iron Age hill fort and a Roman villa in the area. The arrival of the railway in the 19th century and more recent road building have led to expansion of the village with Yatton now acting as a home to many commuters, while also supporting manufacturing industry and commerce. The village is located on the North Somerset Levels, where the low-lying land, a mixture of peat, estuarine alluvium and low hills of sand and gravel, is crossed by a myriad of watercourses, providing a habitat for several scarce species.

St Mary's Church dates from the 14th century and there are a range of other places of worship. In addition to religious groups, Yatton has several sporting clubs and other community groups.

History

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.[3] The village has at one time or another been called Jatune, Eaton (from ea (river) and tun i.e. the settlement on the River Yeo and Yatton Blewitt, and is recorded as Lature in the Domesday Book.[4]

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.[3] The remains of an Iron Age hill fort at Cadbury Hill have been discovered,[5] as well as a Roman villa, temple and hoard of coins.[6] Older Christian burial grounds have also been discovered on Cadbury Hill.[7]

Railway

Yatton railway station

In 1840s, the Bristol & Exeter Railway, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel as consulting engineer, was opened. It was initially leased to the Great Western Railway (GWR) but taken back into full ownership in 1849 and gained its own individuality which lasted until 1876 when all the broad gauge companies in the West Country merged into an enlarged GWR. The station was originally called Clevedon Road and renamed Yatton Junction when the Clevedon branch was built in 1847. Other branches followed, to Cheddar/Wells (1869) and the Wrington Vale Light Railway (1901) to Blagdon from Congresbury.

Train waits at Yatton station to depart to Clevedon on 31 August 1962.

Although the branch line to Blagdon 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. It is now possible to walk or cycle along the former route of the Strawberry Line (so called because of the trade in Cheddar's strawberries) from Yatton to Cheddar. A local group successfully raised funding to establish a community cafe in the old waiting room building at the station, and the cafe opened for business in December 2010.[8]

20th century

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 and Second World Warss.[9] 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.

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 60-room hotel and leisure centre.[10]

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.[11]

Geography

Panoramic view of the village of Yatton from Cadbury Hill, showing the North Somerset levels and the Severn Estuary in the distance
Panoramic view of Yatton from Cadbury Hill. In the distance on the left are Flat Holm, Sand Point and Woodspring Priory. The Church of St Mary is the most prominent landmark in Yatton; in the distance one can see the Church of All Saints in Kingston Seymour. On the other side of the Severn Estuary are the coast of Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. The panorama is bisected by the M5 motorway and the Great Western Railway.

The area around Yatton and Claverham, which falls within the North Somerset Levels, is a mixture of peat, estuarine alluvium and low hills of sand and gravel with, to the south the limestone ridge of Cadbury Hill, which rises to 250 ft.[12] On its summit stands an Iron Age hill fort known, in archaeological circles, as Cadbury-Congresbury in order to differentiate it from the Cadbury hillfort in South Cadbury. It appears to have been constructed in the Iron Age when one or more ramparts, with walls and ditches, were built on the steep slopes of the hill to defend an area covering some 8½ acres.[13]

Biddle Street has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest where management practices and the variation in the soils has resulted in the watercourses supporting a wide range of aquatic plant communities. Where open water occurs plants such as common water-starwort (Callitriche stagnalis), European frogbit (Hydrocharis morsusranae), fan-leaved water-crowfoot (Ranunculus circinatus). The calcareous influence of the underlying Compton soils also encourages whorled water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) and stonewort (Chara sp). Also present are the nationally scarce rootless duckweed (Wolffia arrhiza) and hairlike pondweed (Potamogeton trichoides).[14]

Economy

Row of shops in pedestrianised precinct. In the foreground a bus shelter and tree.
Page's Court, known locally as 'The Precinct'

Today Yatton is a large village. Page's Court — the village's shopping precinct —  includes a bank, supermarket and several local shops.

There are a number of thriving local businesses, including Pullin's Bakers, Simulation Systems Ltd,[15] Stowell Concrete,[16] Smart Systems,[17] Oxford Instruments,[18] Titan Ladders[19] and Bob Martin Petcare.[20] Farming remains an important activity in the area.

Religious sites

The south side of St Mary's church

St Mary's Church, in central Yatton, built around 1400,[21] is often called the "Cathedral of the Moors" since it is so large compared to the village. 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. There are stained glass windows with the coats of arms of local lords of the manor.[22] It has been designated as a Grade-I listed building.[23] The Old Rectory was a Prebendary house, built in the 15th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[24]

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.[25] Horsecastle Chapel, an independent evangelical church, is on Horsecastle Farm Road. River of Life Church, (was YCF) affiliated to the Assemblies of God, meets in Yatton Infant School.[26] St Dunstan's, a Roman Catholic chapel of ease to the parish in Clevedon, is on Claverham Road.[27]

The Church of St Barnabas in Claverham, dates from 1879 and is a Grade-II listed building.[28]

Sport

There are active cricket, football and rugby clubs, two parks (Hangstones and Rock Road), a number of public houses, and many other leisure and sporting activities, including the Cleeve Claverham and Yatton Scout Group.[29]

Yatton Rugby Club was founded in 1968. They run three senior sides and have an extensive junior set-up.[30]

Claverham (Yatton) Cricket Club was formed in 1905 and provides cricket to all playing levels and ages.[31]

Notable people

George Lukins, also known as the Yatton dœmoniac,[32][33][34] was an individual famous for his alleged demonic possession and the subsequent exorcism that occurred in 1788.[35] Ken Day was born in Yatton in 1919 and played first-class cricket for Somerset in seven matches between 1950 and 1956.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Somerset Hundreds". GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/. Retrieved 9 September 2011. 
  2. ↑ "2011 Census Profile" (Excel). North Somerset Council. http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/Environment/Planning_policy_and-research/researchandmonitoring/Documents/North%20Somerset%20Small%20area%20geography%20profiles%20tool.xls. Retrieved 4 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "History of Yatton and its Ancient Parish Church". Yatton Moor Team Ministry. http://www.yattonchurches.org/yatton/yatton_history.html. Retrieved 13 November 2010. 
  4. ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimborne, Dorset: Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-874336-03-2. 
  5. ↑ Alcock, Leslie (1971). Arthur's Britain. London: Allen Lane: The Penguin Press. ISBN 0-7139-0245-0. 
  6. ↑ Scarth, Harry. "Roman burial at Cadbury Hill, near Yatton". Wrington online. http://www.wringtonsomerset.org.uk/history/roman/scarth.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  7. ↑ "Yatton and Cadbury Hillfort Circular". Bristol City Council. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/download/asset/?asset_id=32656203. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  8. ↑ "FAQ". Strawberry Line Cafe Project. http://www.strawberrylinecafe.co.uk/. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  9. ↑ "War memorial". British Listed Buildings. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-505183-war-memorial-yatton. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  10. ↑ "Cadbury House Hotel". Doubletree by Hilton. http://www.cadburyhotelbristol.co.uk/. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  11. ↑ "Bridge Inn". Bridge Inn. http://www.bridgeinn-yatton.co.uk/index.php. Retrieved 13 November 2010. 
  12. ↑ "History". All about Claverham. http://claverham.imagine-it.co.uk/more02.asp. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  13. ↑ Payne, Andrew; Corney, Mark; Cunliffe, Barry (2007). "The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England". English Heritage. p. 1. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.10744. 
  14. ↑ "SSSI citation sheet for Biddle Street". English Nature. http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1006788.pdf. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  15. ↑ "A Brief History of SSL". Simulation Systems Ltd (SSL). http://www.simulation-systems.co.uk/Brief_History_of_SSL.php. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  16. ↑ "Our works". Stowell Concrete. http://www.stowellconcrete.co.uk/works.php. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  17. ↑ "About us". Smart architectural aluminium. http://www.smartsystems.co.uk/content/1/18/about-us.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  18. ↑ "Plasma Technology UK". Oxford Instruments. http://www.oxford-instruments.com/contacts/etchdep/Pages/etching-deposition-growth-contacts.aspx. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  19. ↑ "Titan Ladders". Titan Ladders. http://www.titanladders.co.uk/PAGES/home.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  20. ↑ "Contact us". Bob Martin. http://www.bobmartin.co.uk/contactus.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  21. ↑ Poyntz Wright, Peter (1981). The Parish Church Towers of Somerset, Their construction, craftsmanship and chronology 1350 – 1550. Avebury Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86127-502-0. 
  22. ↑ Deas, Nicholas, A.. "Yatton armorial glass". Extracts from SANHS Proceedings. http://www.sanhs.org/Proc%20Yatton.htm. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  23. ↑ "Church of St Mary". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=33810. Retrieved 19 November 2007. 
  24. ↑ "The Old Rectory". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=33808. Retrieved 9 April 2009. 
  25. ↑ "Yatton Methodist Church". Yatton Methodist Church. http://www.yatton-methodist.org.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
  26. ↑ "River of Life Church". River of Life Church. http://www.rolchurch.co.uk/. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
  27. ↑ "Yatton Methodist Church". Yatton Methodist Church. http://www.clevedon.friary.info/. Retrieved 6 July 2009. 
  28. ↑ "Church of St. Barnabas". Images of England. English Heritage. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=33828. Retrieved 4 December 2006. 
  29. ↑ "Cleeve Claverham and Yatton Scout Group". Cleeve Claverham and Yatton Scout Group. http://www.ccyscoutgroup.org.uk/. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  30. ↑ "Yatton Rugby Club". Yatton Rugby Club. http://www.yattonrfc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2008. 
  31. ↑ "Claverham (Yatton) Cricket Club". England and Wales Cricket Board. http://claverham.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  32. ↑ Authentic anecdotes of George Lukins, the Yatton dœmoniac. G. Routh. 1788. https://books.google.com/books?id=T-2-QAAACAAJ&dq=george+lukins&cd=8. Retrieved 31 December 2007. 
  33. ↑ Easterbrook, Joseph; Lukins, George (1788). An appeal to the public respecting G. Lukins, (called the Yatton Demoniac) containing an account of his affliction and deliverance, etc.. https://books.google.com/?id=tAw0HAAACAAJ&dq=george+lukins&cd=20. Retrieved 31 December 2007. 
  34. ↑ Patients and practitioners. Cambridge University Press. 13 February 2003. ISBN 978-0-521-53061-3. https://books.google.com/?id=SZ5Bubh1MzsC&pg=PA159&dq=George+Lukins&cd=21#v=onepage&q=George%20Lukins. Retrieved 31 December 2007. 
  35. ↑ Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, Volume 85, Issues 2–3. John Rylands Library – University of Manchester. 2005. https://books.google.com/?id=QyUoAQAAIAAJ&q=George+Lukins&dq=George+Lukins&cd=36. Retrieved 31 December 2007. 
  36. ↑ "Ken Day". Cricket Archive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3515/3515.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 

Outside links

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