Kemble is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Kemble and Ewen, in the

Cotswold The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Juras ...

district of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. Historically part of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, it lies from

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

and is the settlement closest to

Thames Head Thames Head is a group of seasonal springs that arise near the village of Coates in the Cotswolds, about three miles south-west of the town of Cirencester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. The spring water comes from the limestone ...

, the source of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 940. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 1,036.

Governance

The village lies in Kemble

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of Cotswold District Council, which stretches from

Somerford Keynes Somerford Keynes (, ) is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, close to the River Thames and about 5 miles (8 km) from its source. It lies on the boundary with Wiltshire, midway between Cirencester, Swindon and Malmesbury. The ...

to the south-east over to

Rodmarton Rodmarton is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire. History Evidence of a Roman settlement has been found at Rodmarton. Through the parish runs a Roman trackway from Cirencester and Chavenage Green, adjacent to which is a long barrow ...

in the north-west. The ward population recorded in the 2011 census was 1,955.

Church and history

Kemble was the site of a 7th-century pagan, Anglo-Saxon cemetery. The village church today has a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

door and a tower dating from 1250, to which a spire was added in 1450. The full restoration in 1872 included bringing here brick by brick the

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

at nearby Ewen, to form a new south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. Kemble Church is part of the Thameshead benefice, covering the congregations of Kemble,

Ewen Ewen is a male given name, most common throughout Scotland as well as Canada, due to the immigration of Scottish people. It is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name, Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, ''Uuen'' (or ' ...

, Poole Keynes,

, and Shorncote. The benefice since 2001 also includes Coates,

, Sapperton, Tarlton and

Frampton Mansell Frampton Mansell is a small English village 5 miles (8 km) east-south-east of Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the parish of Sapperton. It lies off the A419 road between Stroud and Cirencester. It has a prominent mid-19th century, Grade II listed ...

Air facilities

Cotswold Airport Cotswold Airport (formerly Kemble Airfield) is a private general aviation airport, near the village of Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. Located southwest of Cirencester, it was built as a Royal Air Force (RAF) stat ...

(previously known as Kemble Airport) on the edge of the village hosted the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Red Arrows The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams ...

'' aerobatic display team from 1966 until 1983. After the Red Arrows moved to

RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First ...

, the station was used by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

as a maintenance facility. The airfield today is used by light industry, flying clubs and private aircraft owners, for events including two annual air displays, and for scrapping and storage of airliners. The firm Delta Jets rebuilds, maintains and flies historic jet aircraft, particularly

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

s. The Bristol Aero collection had a museum at the airfield until 31 May 2012.

Aston Down Aston Down is in Gloucestershire, South West England, east of Minchinhampton, southeast of Stroud and west of Cirencester. The nearest settlement is the large village of Chalford, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northwest. The airfield was use ...

airfield, to the north-west, formerly belonged to the RAF but is now used for

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...

by the

Cotswold Gliding Club The Cotswold Gliding Club (CGC) is based at Aston Down airfield, between Cirencester and Stroud, Gloucestershire, Stroud in Gloucestershire, South West England. The club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for Gl ...

Amenities

Kemble railway station Kemble railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. The station is on the to "Golden Valley" line. Despite its rural location, Kemble station has a high number of passengers, due mainly ...

is on the Golden Valley Line, served by eastbound

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

trains to

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

and

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...

, and westbound services to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and

Cheltenham Spa Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

.Departures from Kemble 6 February 2019
Real Train times. Kemble was once a railway junction. The branch lines from Cirencester and

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in ...

were dismantled in the 1960s. Kemble Primary School has about 100 pupils. The pub, ''The Tavern'', is next to the station. The village also has a combined post office and local store.

References

External links