Yarnbrook | |
|---|---|
Hamlet | |
 Baptist Chapel, Yarnbrook | |
  Yarnbrook  Yarnbrook  Yarnbrook | |
| Coordinates:51°17′42″N2°11′28″W / 51.295°N 2.191°W /51.295; -2.191 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Constituent Country | England |
| County | Wiltshire |
Yarnbrook is a largehamlet inWiltshire, England, between the towns ofWestbury andTrowbridge. Most of the settlement lies in thecivil parish ofNorth Bradley, the rest inWest Ashton. Most of Yarnbrook's houses line theA350 road, running between theM4 motorway nearChippenham and the south coast of England atPoole, Dorset.
Yarnbrook has never been a parish in its own right, but the name dates from at least the 16th century. In 1581 the Will of Agnes Guley, widow of Yarnbrook in North Bradley, wasproved atSalisbury.[1] In theMiddle Ages Yarnbrook was withinSelwood Forest, and theancient woodland calledPicket Wood which stands to the east of the present-day settlement is one of the few surviving areas of Selwood.[2] The first edition of the Andrews and Dury map of Wiltshire (1773) shows only Bradley Mill and a few other houses at Yarnbrook.[3]
The hamlet grew up around a crossroads where what is now the A350 meets theA363 and where apub, now called the Longs Arms and Hungry Horse, was built in 1803. This was recorded as "the Long's Arms, Yarnbrook", in 1842.[4]
Until 1805 a large area ofcommon land called Yarnbrook Common stretched from Yarnbrook to the boundaries of Westbury, and after this wasenclosed several terraces of small workmen's cottages were added to Yarnbrook. In 1874 a Baptist chapel was built to seat 120 people.[5] After theFirst World War, housing development began to spread along the Westbury Road.[2] In the mid 20th century a petrol filling station was opened at the former crossroads, immediately opposite the Longs Arms, and as traffic levels increased the crossroads was converted into aroundabout.
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