{{Short description|Village in Wiltshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Use British English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | coordinates = {{coord|51|30|23|N|2|05|44|W|type:city(50)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Draycot Cerne | static_image_name = Church of St James - Draycot Cerne (geograph 2824189).jpg | static_image_caption = Church of St James | population = | population_ref = | civil_parish = Sutton Benger | unitary_england = Wiltshire | lieutenancy_england = Wiltshire | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = South Cotswolds | postcode_district = SN15 | postcode_area = SN | post_town = CHIPPENHAM | dial_code = 01249 | os_grid_reference = ST934787 | website = }}
'''Draycot Cerne''' (Draycott) is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sutton Benger, in Wiltshire, England, about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} north of Chippenham.
== History == The parish was referred to as ''Draicote'' (Medieval Latin) in the ancient Domesday hundred of Startley when Geoffrey de Venoix ("the Marshal")<ref>[http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I07915 RootsWeb: Geoffrey de Venoix le Marshal], accessed June 2017</ref> was lord and tenant-in-chief in 1086.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|ST9278|draycot-cerne|Draycot Cerne}}</ref> The morpheme ''dray'' is common in England's place names, yet unused elsewhere in the English language, so is considered an ancient Celtic word. By the 14th century, the old village was known as Draycot Cerne, in part to differentiate it from similarly named villages in other areas of England. The suffix ''Cerne'' is the French surname of the lords of the manor.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/placenamesofwilt00ekblrich#page/72/mode/2up/search/cerne The Place Names of Wiltshire (English Place-Name Society), pp. 69-70, 72-73.]</ref><ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:EB1911_-_Volume_23.djvu/905 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 23, page 862.]</ref>
The ancient parish of Draycot Cerne comprised three manors: Draycot Cerne, Knabwell (or Nables) and a detached part to the southeast at Avon, near Kellaways.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 14 pp75-82 – Parishes: Draycot Cerne|author-first1=A.P.|author-last1=Baggs|author-first2=Jane|author-last2=Freeman|author-first3=Janet H|author-last3=Stevenson|editor-first=D.A.|editor-last=Crowley|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol14/pp75-82|publisher=University of London|year=1991|access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref> The old village of Draycot Cerne (also known in the 19th century as Lower Draycot), close to the church and Draycot House, was removed by Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley after 1865 and Upper Draycot was renamed Draycot Cerne. All of the cottages and farms of Draycot Cerne were within the Draycot Estate, belonging to Draycot House.
In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 113.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10402657/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Draycot Cerne CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=4 December 2023}}</ref> The parish of Draycot Cerne, together with Seagry parish to its north, was added to Sutton Benger civil parish on 1 April 1934.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10402657|title=Relationships and changes Draycot Cerne CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=4 December 2023}}</ref> In 1971 all land north of the newly built M4 motorway, including part of the former Draycot parish, was transferred to a recreated Seagry parish.<ref name="vch" />
==Former parish church== {{Main|St James's Church, Draycot Cerne}} St James's Church, a Grade II* listed building, was built around 1260 and has a 16th-century tower.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1200500|desc=Church of St James|access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref> It was declared redundant in 1994 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-james-church-draycot-cerne.html|title=St James' Church, Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire|website=The Churches Conservation Trust|access-date=29 May 2017}}</ref>
The benefice was united with Seagry in 1939<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 34643 | date = 7 July 1939 | page = 4652 }}</ref> but in 1954 the union was dissolved,<ref>{{London Gazette | issue = 40149 | date = 16 April 1954 | pages = 2286-2287 }}</ref> and for church purposes the village is now within the parish of Kington Langley.<ref name="vch" />
==Draycot House== A medieval manor has occupied the site since the 14th century.<ref name="vch" /> Old Draycot House was probably built for John Long in the mid 15th century. The house was extensively re-modelled, over the years, by the Long family. In 1773–75 Sir James Tylney-Long (1736-1794) added a new south front, and east and west wings around the core of the medieval manor.<ref>WSA 190:1</ref><ref>[http://www.geraldineroberts.com/tag/draycot-house/ Draycot House, by Geraldine Roberts], accessed June 2017</ref> Further work was undertaken in 1784, including the design of a ceiling by James Wyatt,<ref>{{Cite web |title=James Wyatt {{!}} Ceiling Design for Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/383630 |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref> with one of his pupils, and again, in 1864, after Lord Cowley's inheritance.<ref>WSA 1001/1-7</ref> The house was demolished in 1952–4.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/houses/lh_wiltshire_draycothouse_info_gallery.html|title=Draycot House | England's Lost Country Houses}}</ref>
==The Long family of Draycot Cerne== The following family members were active in English politics: *Robert Long (died 1447) *John Long (c.1419–1478) *Sir Thomas Long (c.1451–1508) *Henry Long (c.1489–1556), High Sheriff of Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset *Richard Long (courtier) (c. 1494–1546), younger brother of Henry *Sir Robert Long (c. 1517–1581) *Sir Walter Long (c.1594–1637) *Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet (c.1600–1673) of Westminster, younger brother of Sir Walter *Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet (c.1617–1692) *Sir Robert Long, 3rd Baronet (1673–1692) *Sir Giles Long, 4th Baronet (1675–1698) *Sir James Long, 5th Baronet (1681–1728/29) *Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet (1704-1767) *Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet (1737–1794) *Sir James Tylney-Long, 8th Baronet (1794–1805)
Between 1412 and 1610, the Long family held Draycot House jointly with South Wraxall Manor, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.
Other members: *Anne Long (c.1681–1711), a well-known figure in London society *Catherine Tylney-Long (1789–1825), inherited the estate in 1805 *William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington (1813–1863), son of Catherine
== The Draycot Estate == The Draycot Estate covered {{convert|4300|acres|km2}} at its most, covering as landlord (with some principal demesne, i.e. private parkland) all but a small minority of land (remaining commons, rectories, vicarages and glebelands) of Draycot Cerne, Kellaways, Sutton Benger and Seagry, parts of Startley, Little Somerford, Christian Malford and Kington Langley.<ref name="couzens">''Hand of Fate. The History of the Longs, Wellesleys and the Draycot Estate in Wiltshire.'' Tim Couzens 2001 {{OCLC|49204947}}</ref> It was the third-largest holding of the Tylney-Long baronets.<ref name="couzens" />
==Notable people== *John Buckeridge (c. 1562–1631), theologian, was born in Draycot Cerne.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/jbuckeridge.html|title = RBH Biography: John Buckeridge, Bishop of Rochester (1562-1631)}}</ref> *John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher and writer, was a frequent visitor to old Draycot House.<ref name="couzens" /> His biography, by Ruth Scurr, was illustrated on the front cover with a watercolour of Aubrey and Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet of Draycot hunting together.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ruthscurr.co.uk/books.html|title=Ruth Scurr - Writer, Historian & Literary Critic - Error|access-date=4 June 2017|archive-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812184137/http://www.ruthscurr.co.uk/books.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some of the correspondence between Aubrey and Sir James Long, at the Bodleian Library, is published in ''Early Modern Letters Online''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://emlo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/forms/quick?everything=Sir+James+Long&search_type=quick|title = Early Modern Letters Online : Results}}</ref> Other letters were directed to Aubrey via Robert Hooke at Gresham College.<ref>Bodleian Library Ref MS Aubrey 12 ff. 267-268. 16 July 1676.</ref> *John Britton (1771–1857), antiquary, was educated at Draycot House school, although he later complained about the quality of the teaching.<ref name="couzens" /> *Francis Kilvert (1840–1879), the diarist, was a frequent visitor to Draycot Cerne.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.christmas-time.com/ct-christmas1870.htm|title = Ct-christmas1870}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=How Did You Spend Christmas? |url=https://wshc.org.uk/blog/item/how-did-you-spend-christmas.html |website=Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre |date=29 December 2015 |access-date=24 April 2023}}</ref> *Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley inherited the former Long family estate of Draycot Cerne in 1863 from his cousin the 5th Earl of Mornington, and lived there in retirement until his death in 1884. *Prince Franz von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg of the House of Hatzfeld and his wife, Clara, leased Draycot House between 1896 and 1915. He was the owner of Ascetic's Silver, the winner of the 1906 Grand National. She was the adopted daughter of the American billionaire Collis Potter Huntington.<ref name="couzens" />
== Further reading == *{{Cite book |last=Nicol |first=Cheryl |title=Inheriting the Earth: The Long Family's 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire |publisher=Hobnob Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1906978372 |location=Warminster |oclc=1007842988}} *{{Cite book |last=Couzens |first=Tim |title=Hand of Fate: The History of the Longs, Wellesleys and the Draycot Estate in Wiltshire |publisher=ELSP |year=2001 |location=Bradford on Avon |oclc=49204947}}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commons category}}
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Category:Villages in Wiltshire Category:Former civil parishes in Wiltshire