Kemble, Gloucestershire

Kemble
Kemble from above
Kemble is located in Gloucestershire
Kemble
Kemble
Location within Gloucestershire
Area0.4050 km2 (0.1564 sq mi)
Population940 (2020 estimate)
• Density2,321/km2 (6,010/sq mi)
OS grid referenceST987973
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCIRENCESTER
Postcode districtGL7
Dialling code01285[1]
PoliceGloucestershire
FireGloucestershire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Gloucestershire
51°41′N 2°01′W / 51.683°N 2.017°W / 51.683; -2.017

Kemble is a village in the civil parish of Kemble and Ewen,[2] 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. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 940.[3] At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 1,036.[4]

Governance

The village lies in Kemble electoral ward of Cotswold District Council, which stretches from Somerford Keynes to the south-east over to Rodmarton in the north-west. The ward population recorded in the 2011 census was 1,955.[5]

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.[6]

Kemble Church is part of the Thameshead benefice, covering the congregations of Kemble, Ewen, Poole Keynes, Somerford Keynes, and Shorncote.[7] The benefice since 2001 also includes Coates, Rodmarton, Sapperton, Tarlton and Frampton Mansell.[8]

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.[9]

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 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.[10] Kemble was once a railway junction. The branch lines from Cirencester and Tetbury 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "01285 area code – Area-codes.org.uk". www.area-codes.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Kemble and Ewen". Mapit. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Kemble". City Population De. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Area: Kemble (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statisdtics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Thames Head ward 2011". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  6. ^ Christopher Winn: I Never Knew That about the River Thames (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 3.
  7. ^ "Home". www.kemble.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Somerford Keynes church information page". Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  9. ^ "History – Cotswold Airport | Executive Airport Reimagined".
  10. ^ Departures from Kemble 6 February 2019 Real Train times.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kemble.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kemble.

51°41′N 2°01′W / 51.683°N 2.017°W / 51.683; -2.017