Colerne

Colerne
Population	2,807 (2001 census)
Unitary authority	Wiltshire
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western

Colerne, a medium sized village within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, lies midway between Bath and Chippenham in the county of Wiltshire, England. It has an elevated position (some 700 feet up) and overlooks the Box Valley to the south (home of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Box Tunnel). It is bordered by a section of the famous Roman road, the Fosse Way to the west and by Bybrook to the south east.

Colerne had a population of 2,807 in 2001, and is frequently described as The Village on the Hill.

Placename

The name Colerne appears in the Domesday Book (1086), but over the centuries there have been various interpretations of the name such as Collerne or Cullerne, although these are wrong. The Malmesbury Register of 1156 makes reference to Culerna or Culerne. Local pronunciation leans towards the cul form.

This leads to some ambiguity in the meaning of Colerne. Gover, Mawer and Stenton talk of about the aern meaning house in their 1939 publication The Place Names of Wiltshire. They say col-aern might well denote a house where charcoal was made, used or stored.

The altitude of the village lends credence to the idea that the first syllable col is derived from the Welsh or Cornish col - a peak. This is discussed in John C. Langstaff's 1911 publication Notes on Wiltshire Names. This would mean the dwelling on the peak. Alternatively it could mean the cold dwelling from the Anglo-Saxon cald or cold.

However none of the above are true. Colerne or Cullerne, as spelt in the Domesday book is a derivation of a celtic word meaning Holly. A place where 'Holly' grows. The Gaelic, or more accurately Goidelech language of the celts suggests 'Cuellan' as being Holly. The Brythonnic version ie., Welsh, Celyn is Holly or Celynnen meaning Holly branch. Eventually after invasions from Europe and the development of the language what we now know as 'Old English' Holly was spelt 'Holegn' with 'H' pronounced gutturally. At North Colerne there is the remains of an Iron Age hill fort where it is noticeable that certain species of Holly trees grow. Colerne was named by the Celts as a place where Holly grows. There is a place in Southern Ireland 'Collon' which means the same thing.

Local government

Colerne civil parish is administered by a parish council and by the Wiltshire Council unitary authority.

Trivia

Colerne Church

• The clock on the church tower only has one hand. There is a similar one-handed clock on Westminster Abbey.
• Bristol Rovers training facilities are based in Colerne.
• The former RAF Colerne, located nearby, was one of very few airfields suitable for the rare Westland Whirlwind during World War II, operated by No. 263 Squadron RAF.
• The former RAF Colerne,hosted 616 squadron, the first Allied squadron with jets, relocating with Gloster Meteor Is from Culmhead and then re-equipping with Meteor IIIs

Notable residents

• Derek Fowlds (b. 1937), the British actor (of Yes Minister fame, and formerly straight man to Basil Brush) was a former resident of the village.
• Brian Ashton (b. 1946), rugby union player and England coach from late 2006 to April 2008, is a resident of the village.
• Goldfrapp (b. 1966 & b. ?), the electronic music duo, are former residents of the village.
• Identity Crisis post punk pioneers had a studio in a Colerne farm in the 1980s.
• Kristan Bromley (b. 1972), the former World Cup and current European skeleton Champion.
• Shelley Rudman (b. 1981), Britain's number one female skeleton athlete and the partner of Kristan Bromley, are currently resident in Colerne.
• Geof Willis (b. 1954), the author of the 'The Epehy Affair' was born in Martins Croft.

The Colerne Donkey

According to village legend, a Colerne parson in former years owned a donkey to which he was much attached. While the clergyman was away, the unfortunate ass died, and the sexton felt it proper to have the beast buried in consecrated ground. But the undertaker, inexperienced in interring specimens of E. asinus, neglected to dig the grave wide and deep enough, so the donkey was buried feet-up with its hooves sticking out. The parson had the animal reburied when he returned, but the story was already out, and well into the 20th century young men from the nearby villages of Box or Marshfield who were at a loose end needed only visit Colerne and mention the word Donkey sufficiently loudly in order to be rewarded with a violent altercation on a moment's notice. It was also the habit for visiting footballers unacquainted with Colerne history to be dispatched to the home dressing room with a piece of sandpaper and instructions to ask to polish the donkey's hooves. This usually resulted in the erstwhile innocent becoming sadder and wiser in short order.

External links

• [1] - The Cotswolds AONB
• Colerne Net – portal
• Ecolerne – sustainable village group
• Wiltshire Planning – Breach Wood Colerne