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Monday, November 17, 2008, 08:00
Yate's name – it means a gateway or entrance into a forest – gives us a clue to its Saxon origins.
This was, of course, the Kingswood forest which once extended over a large area to the Severn shore.
Although there is no hard evidence, ancient documents tell us that some kind of religious house was founded here in about 770 AD.
Yate also gets a mention in the Domesday Book.
In Saxon times the area supported three “manors” – Yate, Brinsham and Stanshawes.
Built by the Berkeley family with its own deer park, Yate Court has lain in ruins since the Civil War.
The gatehouse now adorns Berkeley castle.
Brinsham Manor vanished long ago, in Tudor times, and the Stanshawes mansion was demolished and replaced by a Victorian edifice, now the Stanshawes Court hotel.
Poole Court, saved from demolition, is now home to Yate Town Council and the Yate Heritage Centre.
St Mary’s dates back to Norman times but was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries, and then extensively “restored” in Victorian times.
It’s worth a quick look around – you’ll discover a fine memorial brass to Alexander Staples, who died in 1590, plus his two wives and 11 children.
The churchyard is a bit more interesting – you’ll find a large number of chest tombs.
Nearby was the parish poor house, demolished when a new school was built on the site
(it’s now St Mary’s C of E school) in 1855.
The old Chipping Sodbury Union Workhouse, known as the “Spike”, is today used for community activities.
The Yate area, as far as Wickwar in fact, was once well known for a rare mineral called celestine, or spar, first dug in the late 1880s and used for refining sugar beet.
It was later used for pyrotechnics (fireworks), and more recently in the electronics industries.
The industry finally closed down in 1994.
The Yate area was also rich in coal. Mainly located around Engine Common, there were eight pits which were at their peak between 1830 and 1890.
Yate’s railway station, which opened in 1844, was closed in 1965 under the Beeching cuts.
Reopened in 1989, it now carries a high number of commuters.
In the early 1900s, an aerodrome was built nearby, with Parnalls transferring its aircraft manufacturing there from Bristol in the Twenties and Thirties.
The company built gun- turrets here during World War II, later turning to the manufacture of domestic appliances.
A number of people were killed in Luftwaffe raids on the factory in early 1941.
Today, Creda – which makes tumble dryers and washing machines – occupies the site.
Post war, Newman’s Industries moved on to part of the aerodrome to produce electric motors.
The works closed in 1988.
Despite this industry, it wasn’t until the mid Sixties that the development of Yate as we know it really started.
The population today stands at 22,000, with another 5,000 homes planned for the area, which includes Chipping Sodbury, by 2026.
Yate Heritage Centre, which opened in 1995, often puts on exhibitions about the area’s history as well as providing archive and research facilities for the public.
Pop in if it’s open.
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