Kemble, Gloucestershire
| Kemble | |
|---|---|
 Cotswold Airport, previously known as Kemble Airport, looking east in 2009 | |
  Kemble Location within Gloucestershire | |
| Population | 1,036 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | ST987973 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CIRENCESTER |
| Postcode district | GL7 |
| Dialling code | 01285[2] |
| Police | Gloucestershire |
| Fire | Gloucestershire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Kemble is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Historically part of Wiltshire, it lies 4 miles (6.4 km) from Cirencester and is the settlement closest to Thames Head, the source of the River Thames. At the 2011 census it had a population of 1,036.[1]
Governance
The village lies in Thames Head electoral ward, which stretches from Kemble in the south to Frampton Mansell in the north-west. The population of the ward as recorded in the 2011 census was 1,955.[3]
Church and history
Kemble was the site of a 7th-century pagan, Anglo-Saxon cemetery. The village church today has a Norman 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 at nearby Ewen, to form a new south transept.[4]
Kemble Church is part of the Thameshead benefice, covering the congregations of Kemble, Ewen, Poole Keynes, Somerford Keynes, and Shorncote.[5] The benefice since 2001 also includes Coates, Rodmarton, Sapperton, Tarlton and Frampton Mansell.[6]
Air facilities
Cotswold Airport (previously known as Kemble Airport) on the edge of the village hosted the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic display team from 1966 until 1983. After the Red Arrows moved to RAF Scampton, the station was used by the US Air Force as a maintenance facility.[7] The airfield is used by light industry, by flying clubs and by private aircraft owners, for events including two annual air displays, and for scrapping and storage of airliners. Delta Jets rebuild, maintain and fly historic jet aircraft, particularly Hawker Hunters. The Bristol Aero collection had a museum at the airfield until 31 May 2012.
Aston Down airfield, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north-west, formerly belonged to the RAF but is now used for gliding by the Cotswold Gliding Club.
Amenities
Kemble railway station is on the Golden Valley Line, served by eastbound Great Western Railway trains to Swindon and London Paddington, and westbound services to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa.[8] Kemble was once an important railway junction. The branch lines from Cirencester and Tetbury were dismantled in the 1960s.
Kemble Primary School has around 100 pupils. The pub, The Tavern, is next to the station. There is also a combined post office and local store.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Area: Kemble (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statisdtics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ "01285 area code – Area-codes.org.uk". www.area-codes.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ "Thames Head ward 2011". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Christopher Winn: I Never Knew That about the River Thames (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 3.
- ^ Kemble Church information page
- ^ Somerford Keynes church information page
- ^ http://www.cotswoldairport.com/history
- ^ Departures from Kemble 6 February 2019 Real Traintimes
External links
