Yate is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

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 authorit ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It lies just to the southwest of the

Cotswold Hills 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 Jura ...

and is northeast of

Bristol city centre Bristol City Centre is the commercial, cultural and business centre of Bristol, England. It is the area north of the New Cut of the River Avon, bounded by Clifton Wood and Clifton to the north-west, Kingsdown and Cotham to the north, and ...

and from the centre of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, with regular rail services to Bristol and Gloucester. Developing from a small village into a town from the 1950s onwards, the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

listed Yate's parish population as 21,789. The market town of

Chipping Sodbury Chipping Sodbury is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sodbury, in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It was founded in the 12th century by William ...

(population 5,045) is contiguous with Yate to the east. In addition, a large southern section of the built-up area spills over into the parish of Dodington (population 8,206), and as a result, the total population of Yate's urban area is estimated at 35,000.

Location

Yate is located in

in the South West of England. The town is northeast of Bristol city centre, which is about away by road. Apart from

to the east, Yate is surrounded by countryside and is situated to the south-west of

the Cotswolds 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 J ...

. The A432 is the main road to serve Yate and runs through the centre of the town. The Yate-Chipping Sodbury conurbation is near the centre of the South Gloucestershire district. It is situated between suburban Bristol to the southwest and the Cotswold escarpment to the northeast.

History

The first mention of Yate is the existence of a religious house in about AD 770; Yate is also mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086. The name is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

word ''giete'' or ''gete'', meaning 'a gateway into a forest area'. During the Anglo-Saxon period and well into

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, most of this part of south Gloucestershire was covered with forest. Through the centuries the land was cleared for farming. The town's parish church, St Mary's, dates from Norman times. It was altered during the 15th century and was extensively restored in 1970. St Mary's Primary School, situated outside the churchyard walls, was built on the site of a former poorhouse. It was the opening of the railway station in 1844, as part of

Bristol and Gloucester Railway The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was a railway company opened in 1844 to run services between Bristol and Gloucester. It was built on the , but it was acquired in 1845 by the Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester Ra ...

, that established Yate, with Station Road becoming the central thoroughfare. The cattle and produce markets were held around this road, and businesses were established there. Yate railway station was closed by the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the M ...

in January 1965, but was reopened in May 1989; the

Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

-built engine shed is preserved nearby. In the 1960s Yate was designated as a development area and the building boom began. The creation of a new town included a large retail shopping area, sports and leisure development together with public buildings. When a secondary school was built in the late 1970s, it was supposed to be called Brinsham Green School, after Brinsham Lane at nearby Yate Rocks. Owing to a spelling error, however, it was in fact called

Brimsham Green School Brimsham Green School is a comprehensive secondary school in Yate, South Gloucestershire, England. Situated toward the northern edge of Yate and serving both the town and adjacent South Gloucestershire villages, Brimsham Green School has moder ...

. The town further expanded in the 1990s and 2000s with the construction of housing at North Yate. This housing estate continued to use the corrupted name of Brimsham. To locals the area is known as Brimsham Park.

Yate railway yard

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, a railway transfer yard was constructed for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, probably as part of Operation Bolero to assist the buildup of troops and stores before

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Two large storage sheds survived on the site until 2008. At the end of the Second World War, the site was taken over by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

and became known as the Sea Transport Stores Depot. It was occupied by the Highways Agency until the sheds were demolished for development. Oxford Archaeology has been commissioned to undertake an investigation as to the military significance of this site. The opinion of Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society has also been sought.

Design

Major growth in Yate started in the early 1920s with the construction of the Moorland Road estates behind Station Road, close to the Parnall aeroplane factory. In the 1950s the Ridge housing estate was developed. The area between these estates was still being mined for celestine and therefore could not be built on until the mineral had been extracted. In the 1960s the area around Stanshawes was exhausted of celestine and the housing boom started with the major construction taking place in the south. Much of this development was planned using the Radburn model, a design that created a vehicle-free environment by the use of green spaces and linking paths at the front of the houses. This model was used until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the planners reverted to traditional street design methods for the development of the remainder of North Yate, Brimsham Park and the Newmans factory site.

Administration

National

Yate is represented in the UK Parliament by the constituency of Thornbury and Yate. Aerial of Yate, South Gloucestershire, England 24May17 arp

County

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part 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 ...

until 1974 it then became part of the district of

Northavon Northavon was a district in the English county of Avon from 1974 to 1996. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 as part of a reform of local authorities throughout England and Wales. Under the reorganisation, ...

within the newly formed county of Avon. In 1996, Avon was abolished, and the area became part of the unitary authority of

and rejoined the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

of Gloucestershire.

Local

Yate Town Council provides local services, which are displayed on their website.

Industry

Before the Second World War, Yate had an aircraft manufacturing industry ( Parnall) with a grass aerodrome. During the Second World War, Parnall specialised in making

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

s. A number of people were killed in raids by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

on the factory in February and March 1941. Following the war, the Parnall factory turned to the manufacture of domestic goods and was famous for its washing machines. In 1958 Parnall merged with Radiation Ltd to become known as Jackson, producing the Jackson range of cookers. Through mergers and acquisitions, Jacksons is now part of Indesit and the Jackson name is no longer used. Newman's of Bristol had a large factory on Station Road, from 1932 until the 1980s, in its heyday in the 1960s, employing over 1,500 people. Yate has had three natural products associated with it:

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

to the east, celestine or spar near the centre of the town and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

to the west. The need for limestone increased with the growth of roads, while the demand for coal grew with the diminishing supply of timber. Celestine, the major

strontium Strontium is the chemical element with the symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is e ...

mineral, was first dug in the late 1880s and was initially used for the refining of

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

. At one time Yate's celestine accounted for 95 per cent of the world's production. It colours flames red, and so was important for pyrotechnics such as fireworks, military and signal flares and tracer bullets. The last commercial excavation of celestine from the Yate area was for use during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The mining company, Bristol Mineral and Land Co, closed in 1994.

Amenities

The town has a skatepark at Peghill. Yate Common on Westerleigh Road is used for dog walking, nature watching, kite flying, circuses and fairs. The common has a stretch of unused

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

(), known as the "Road to Nowhere", which has been used for filming in TV programmes such as '' Casualty''. This was part of a scheme to create a bypass from Rodford Way in South Yate to Nibley. The scheme was only partially completed in 1974, the year when Yate became a part of Avon. Completion of the road would have entailed building a bridge over the railway, but finance for this was never made available. The town has several parks and areas of open space. The largest of these is Kingsgate Park, which has an adventure playground for children. The town is served by a community radio station,

GLOSS FM GLOSS FM was an online community radio station in the United Kingdom, broadcasting to Thornbury and District, South Gloucestershire. Its strapline is "Your Local Station". It originally started broadcasting to the South Gloucestershire area o ...

which broadcasts 365 days a year on its webcasts and twice a year on 87.7 MHz FM. A Cineworld cinema opened in the new Riverside shopping centre in April 2016. The town benefits from a four appliance firestation, with a retained Crew 24 hours and then further tenders staffed on a voluntary basis. Next to the firestation is a 6 bay ambulance station with a further 3 ambulances and 2 response cars stabled outside.

Schools

Yate has two secondary schools, eight infant/junior schools and one special needs school.

Secondary schools

* Brimsham Green School * Yate Academy (formerly King Edmunds School) * Chipping Sodbury School

Primary schools

* North Road School * Abbotswood School * Tyndale School * St Mary's School * St Paul's School * The Ridge Juniors * Broadway Infants * Wellesley School * Woodlands School

Special school

* Culverhill School * South Gloucestershire Sports and Education

Shopping

Construction of a pedestrianised shopping centre of around a hundred shops began in the early-to-mid-1960s. The shopping centre was opened by

Patricia Phoenix Patricia Phoenix Booth (born Patricia Frederica Manfield; 26 November 1923 – 17 September 1986) was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member ...

, Mary Rand and Ted Ray. As in most British new towns, modern art was incorporated, in the form of the Four Seasons sculpture, and a spire-shaped sculpture, which could be seen for miles. This sculpture existed until the early 1990s when it was removed during the revamping of the centre, which included the erection of glass roofs over the walkways. An extension to East Walk was constructed at the start of the 1980s, and an extension to West Walk was constructed in the early 1990s. During the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, the shopping centre hosted Yate's annual festival. On opening day a celebrity launched the festival by releasing balloons. In December 2006, the owners of the shopping centre (Dominion Corporate Trustees) announced plans to enlarge and modernise it. In Phase 1 one of the main changes has been the replacement of the existing small Tesco with a large Tesco Extra. To replace lost shopping centre parking following the enlargement, the store is on stilts, with parking beneath. It opened on 24 October 2011. In 2008, construction of a new health centre began on the site of the old one, costing around £12 million. The West Gate Health Centre was officially opened on 8 March 2010. In August 2009, plans were agreed for

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

to pull down their store and replace it with a more modern store, known as a Tesco Extra. The plans include four more shop units, moving the bus station and a revamped entrance to East Walk. The revamp of the town's bus station was officially opened in January 2010. A temporary Tesco store was opened on 28 February 2011 while the new Tesco Extra was under construction. The old

closed its doors on 27 February 2011 and the Tesco Extra store opened on 24 October 2011.

Plans

Yate and Chipping Sodbury have been earmarked for 5,000 new homes to be built by 2026. While the location of the housing has yet to be decided, the expected areas are to the north of Yate, and towards Chipping Sodbury.

Transport

Railway

Yate railway station serves the town. The railway station is located on the main

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

line between Bristol Parkway and Cam & Dursley, and is operated by

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 ...

Buses

Bus services within the Yate area are mainly provided by

First West of England First West of EnglandCompanies House extract company no 25088
...

. Other operators who provide bus services to/from Yate include Coachstyle, Eurocoaches and Stagecoach West. Regular bus services link Yate with Bristol city centre. There are also buses from Yate running to

, Cribbs Causeway,

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, Tetbury and Westonbirt Arboretum. Additionally, buses link Yate to a number of other towns/villages within South Gloucestershire and west Wiltshire including

Acton Turville Acton Turville is a parish in the Cotswold Edge ward within South Gloucestershire, England. It lies 17 miles (27 km) east-northeast of Bristol and 93 miles (150 km) due west of London, with the M4 south of the parish. Acton Turville ...

, Badminton,

Charfield Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend. Village Charfield is a me ...

, Chipping Sodbury, Downend, Emersons Green,

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...

, Fishponds, Frenchay,

Iron Acton Iron Acton is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England. The village is about west of Yate and about northeast of the centre of Bristol. The B4058 road used to pass through the village but now by-passes it ju ...

, Kingswood,

Luckington Luckington is a village and civil parish in the southern Cotswolds, in north-west Wiltshire, England, about west of Malmesbury. The village is on the B4040 road linking Malmesbury and Old Sodbury. The parish is on the county border with Glouces ...

, Pucklechurch, Mangotsfield, Old Sodbury, Sherston, Staple Hill, Thornbury, Tormarton, Westerleigh, Wick, Winterbourne and

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

. Buses in Yate pick up and set down at Yate Bus Station which is at Yate Shopping Centre. A number of bus services also pass Yate railway station. Yate Park and Ride is located at the western edge of the town and has services to the town centre and to Bristol.

Twin town

Yate is twinned with Bad Salzdetfurth in Germany and Genieri in

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Local sport

Athletics

Yate and District Athletic Club is a track-and-field club based at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex (YOSC). Formed in 1983 by Mike Smith. An eight-lane track was completed in December 1988 and formally opened by Olympian,

Lynn Davies Lynn Davies CBE (born 20 May 1942) is a Welsh former track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He was the 1964 Olympic champion in the event. He was born in Nantymoel near Bridgend and was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Athle ...

in 1989. Floodlighting was added in 1992. in 1997 Yate & District Athletic Club agreed to form partnership with Westbury Harriers In 2020 the club joined the newly formed National Athletics League

Cricket

Chipping Sodbury Cricket Club is Yate's nearest cricket club, providing cricket for men, women, boys and girls. They play their home matches on their two grounds at the Ridings playing fields in Chipping Sodbury.

Football

Yate Town F.C. play in the Southern League

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

. There is also a ladies' football team, Yate Town Girls/Ladies FC, that play in local leagues. Yate is also home to Yate United Youth F.C., the largest local ''youth only'' football club, established in 1971. They play their home matches at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex, Sunnyside Playing Fields and Kelston Close playing fields. The largest local club is St. Nicholas F.C. Otherwise known as St. Nick's, this club has a total of 21 teams, including two ladies and one men's team. They play at The Ridings, Wickwar Road, Chipping Sodbury. The women's first team, St Nicholas L.F.C., play in South West Division One of the

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League inclu ...

, and play their home games at Yate Town's ground on Lodge Road.

Hockey

Yate Hockey Club runs teams from adult to junior. Its home ground is Yate Outdoor Sports Complex, which it shares with Badminton and Pucklechurch Hockey Club.

Rugby

Yate Rugby Football Club were founded 2016 by club owner and founder Stewart Stacey. The club play their home fixtures at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex. Yate RFC currently play under Gloucestershire RFU, in Bristol & District 2 league they finished fourth place in the 2018/19 season, their highest league position in the club's history. The club have a second team known as Yate Yaks that play friendlies and raise money for charity.

Martial arts

Bujinkan Kagami Dojo teaches traditional Ninjutsu and Samurai warrior arts at Yate Leisure Centre.

Estates in Yate

Abbotswood

Abbotswood has a small shopping centre, privately owned blocks of flats, a youth club and a church.

North Yate

Construction began in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Brimsham Park

Construction of the estate began in the early 1990s.

The Ridge

The Ridge is a large housing estate with two local schools, Broadway Infants School and the Ridge Junior School. There are shops in the centre of the estate including a Nursery, Hairdressers, Dry Cleaners, convenience store and dentists.

Ladden

Construction of a new garden village started at the northern side of Yate in Summer 2018. As of 2020 it is still under construction.

Notable residents

* J.K. Rowling, author of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

'' fantasy series, was born in 1965 at the Chipping Sodbury Maternity Hospital (later the Chipping Sodbury Memorial Day Centre), on Station Road, Yate. Until the age of four, she lived with her parents in Sundridge Park, Yate. Lynne Hutchinson, ''Concerns raised about future of former Chipping Sodbury cottage hospital site'', Gazette Series, 6 September 2012
. Retrieved 6 April 2013 The Chipping Sodbury Memorial Day Centre was sold by the North Bristol NHS trust in 2012 and has now been converted to 9 luxury apartments. * Cole Skuse, (born 29 March 1986) professional footballer. * The artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

is believed to be Robin Gunningham, born on 28 July 1973.

Location grid

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire Radburn design housing estates