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Draycot Cerne (Draycott) is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sutton Benger, in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Chippenham.
The parish was referred to as Draicote (Medieval Latin) in the ancient Domesday hundred of Startley when Geoffrey de Venoix ("the Marshal") [1] was lord and tenant-in-chief in 1086. [2] 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. [3] [4]
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. [5] 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. [6] The parish of Draycot Cerne, together with Seagry parish to its north, was added to Sutton Benger civil parish on 1 April 1934. [7] 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. [5]
St James's Church, a Grade II* listed building, was built around 1260 and has a 16th-century tower. [8] It was declared redundant in 1994 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. [9]
The benefice was united with Seagry in 1939 [10] but in 1954 the union was dissolved, [11] and for church purposes the village is now within the parish of Kington Langley. [5]
A medieval manor has occupied the site since the 14th century. [5] 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. [12] [13] Further work was undertaken in 1784, including the design of a ceiling by James Wyatt, [14] with one of his pupils, and again, in 1864, after Lord Cowley's inheritance. [15] The house was demolished in 1952–4. [16]
The following family members were active in English politics:
Between 1412 and 1610, the Long family held Draycot House jointly with South Wraxall Manor, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.
Other members:
The Draycot Estate covered 4,300 acres (17 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. [17] It was the third-largest holding of the Tylney-Long baronets. [17]
Kington Langley is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Bowldown.
North Bradley is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, between Trowbridge and Westbury. The village is about 1.75 miles (2.8 km) south of Trowbridge town centre. The parish includes most of the village of Yarnbrook, and the hamlets of Brokerswood, Cutteridge and Drynham.
Sutton Benger is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of the town of Chippenham. The parish includes the hamlet of Draycot Cerne.
William Richard Arthur Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 5th Earl of Mornington was a British nobleman.
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet was an English politician and Royalist soldier.
Sir Robert Long was an English knight and landowner.
Sir Walter Long was an English knight and landowner, born in Wiltshire, the son of Sir Robert Long and his wife Barbara Carne.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Long, both in the Baronetage of England. Both are extinct.
Sir James Long, 5th Baronet was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1729.
Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet, was an English politician.
Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons for 32 years from 1762 to 1794.
Sir Thomas Long of Draycot was an English landowner and knight. He is known to have served as one of the Members of Parliament for the borough of Westbury in 1491 and was twice High Sheriff of Wiltshire.
Sir Walter Long was an English landowner and Member of Parliament.
Robert Long of South Wraxall and Draycot Cerne in Wiltshire, was an English lawyer and landowner. He served as a Member of Parliament, mostly as an occasional knight of the shire for Wiltshire, and was the founder of the prominent Long family of South Wraxall and Draycott.
Seagry is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Malmesbury and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Chippenham. Its main settlements are the village of Upper Seagry, which was first mentioned in official records under the name Over Seagry, and the hamlet of Lower Seagry, which was first documented (1218) as Nether Seagry.
St James's Church in Draycot Cerne, Sutton Benger, Wiltshire, England was built between 1260 and 1280. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 1 June 1994, and was vested in the Trust on 17 May 1995.
Longe is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin. The name Longe derives from the Anglo-Norman French ‘Lung’ or ‘Lang’ for tall or high. The family descend from the noble family of de Préaux who were barons in Préaux, Roumois and Darnétal, Normandy. Variants of the name include: le Long, de Long, Le Lung, Longe, Long and Longue. The family are believed to have arrived in England following the Norman Conquest and during the early 13th century divided into two branches, the Wiltshire branch and the Norfolk branch. In the Hundred Rolls of 1273, early variations have been found including, Henry le Longe in Buckinghamshire, John le Longe in Huntingdonshire; and Walter le Longe in Shropshire.
Catherine Tylney-Long was a 19th-century British heiress, known as "The Wiltshire Heiress."
Baron Henri Joseph François de Triqueti, also spelt Henry de Triqueti, was a French sculptor and artist.