YETMINSTER VILLAGE

 

http://www.yetminsterparishes.gov.uk/

 

 

FRIENDS OF YETMINSTER STATION:

 

An initiative to "adopt" the local railway station and build community involvement in a local and valuable asset.

 

For more information please email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

 

The Parish of St Andrew’s Yetminster in the Diocese of Salisbury is large and its origins, it seems, go back at least to Saxon times.

Nowadays the village is perhaps best known for its Fair held each year on the 2^nd Saturday in July  when the streets are thronged with visitors who wait to hear the clock ring out the National Anthem (on only 5 notes instead of 7!) and the church itself is filled with flowers and exhibitions. The village lies on the “Macmillan Way”, a long distance walking route, and is well served by the Heart of Wessex Railway.

Well known too for its Irish Dancers and for its association with the Yetties (the Folk Group), the village has a population of about 1450. There are many amenities: St Andrew’s Church, St Andrew’s Church of England School, the Methodist Chapel, the White Hart Pub, a Post Office and Spar Shop, Railway Station and buses, a flourishing Health Centre; a vet; the Montessori Nursery and other Toddler and Playgroups;  the Old School Gallery, The Ark - selling antiques etc. There is a small industrial complex with joinery, motoring accessories, car sales, gear-box engineering and car repairs. A sports field with a playground and a Scout Hut  has a  tennis court. There are allotments too. The refurbished Jubilee Hall next to the church, has large and small halls, kitchen, Rector’s office and up-to-date facilities. Many activities take place here.

Today “as you walk round the village you will see many old and beautiful houses…mainly of uniform design and not dominated by one large manor house as in many villages” (ref “A Walk Round Yetminster” see Yetminster Publications). But Yetminster is not just old houses. Round the heart of the village are several thriving estates built in the latter half of the 20^th century and within the heart of the village some sensitive in-filling has been allowed.

The name comes from “Eata Minster”. A Minster was a church used as a base by priests from which they could evangelise the surrounding area. “Eata” could be the name of the original landowner but it also means “gate” and is the name of a Northumbrian saint too, so the name remains somewhat obscure.

From at least the time of Domesday, Yetminster was owned by the Bishop of Salisbury. Wishing to make provision for some of the Prebends (or Canons) of the Cathedral in Salisbury, he divided the property into 4 manors, one of which he kept for himself, not to live in but to enjoy the income derived from the Manor. In about 1560 (after the Reformation) Queen Elizabeth I seized this part from the Bishop and bestowed it on her favourite, Sir Walter Raleigh, and thus it eventually became part of the Digby Estate in Sherborne.

Yetminster never had a Lay “Lord of the Manor” or an important family or “big” house as so many other villages had. Instead, the Prebendal system, roughly explained in the preceding paragraph, brought a great measure of independence and stability to the village. (ref The Prebends p. 1 and 25 ff. see Yetminster Publications)

By the 18th c. Yetminster had its own Grammar School. The village flourished and had almost the appearance of a small town. During the 19^th c. the railway came and Yetminster’s trades and farming survived and thrived. (ref “Badges and Beans” see Yetminster Publications). The Methodist Chapel was built in 1859 and the little church school which had opened in Church Street became part of the nationwide network of elementary schools and is now St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School.

Some famous people had connections with Yetminster: Sir Robert Boyle of Boyles Law, and Benjamin Jesty, who was the first vaccinator, are just two of them.

To find out about publications go to Yetminster Publications

For more information try the following:

To find out more about the School visit their website www.standrewsyetminster.org.uk

To find out more about the Yetminster Health Centre, visit their website www.yetminsterhc.com

To find out more about the Yetties, visit their website www.theyetties.co.uk

To find out more about accommodation and tourist information, visit www.heartofwessex.org.uk

To find out more about walking the Macmillan Way, visit the website http://www.macmillanway.org/

and https://www.walkandcycle.co.uk/trail?trailcode=DORSTR0031

For details of the Jubilee Hall, and bookings, contact the Three Valleys Office - see Contact Us page.

or email:      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.