Colerne: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 60 - 165 Trimnells House
 This 19th-century, converted Victorian farmhouse is situated within the charming Cotswolds village of Colerne. Surrounded by countryside, guests can e… More | ||||||
Colerne: Guide
Colerne, a medium sized village, lies midway between Bath, Somerset|Bath and Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham in the county of Wiltshire, England. It has an elevated position (some 550 feet up) and overlooks the Box Valley to the south (home of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Box Tunnel). It is bordered by a section of the famous Roman road, the Fosse Way to the west and by By Brook to the south east.
Colerne had a population of 2,807 in 2001, and is frequently described as The Village on the Hill.. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
Placename
The name Colerne appears in the Domesday Book (1086), but over the centuries there have been various interpretations of the name such as Collerne or Cullerne. The Malmesbury Register of 1156 makes reference to Culerna or Culerne. Local pronunciation leans towards the cul form.
This leads to some ambiguity in the meaning of Colerne. Gover, Mawer and Stenton talk of about the aern meaning house in their 1939 publication The Place Names of Wiltshire. They say col-aern might well denote a house where charcoal was made, used or stored.
The altitude of the village lends credence to the idea that the first syllable col is derived from the Welsh or Cornish col - a peak. This is discussed in John C. Langstaff's 1911 publication Notes on Wiltshire Names. This would mean the dwelling on the peak. Alternatively it could mean the cold dwelling from the Anglo-Saxon cald or cold.
Local government
Colerne civil parish is administered by a parish council, North Wiltshire District Council, and Wiltshire County Council.
Trivia
The clock on the church tower only has 1 hand. There is a similar 1 handed clock on Westminster Abbey.
Bristol Rovers training facilities are based in Colerne.
Notable residents
The British actor Derek Fowlds (of Yes Minister fame) is a resident of the village.
The electronic music duo Goldfrapp are former residents of the village.
Former World Cup and current European Skeleton (sport)|skeleton Champion Dr Kristan Bromley and his partner, Britain's number one female Bob Skeleton athlete Shelley Rudman, are currently resident in Colerne.
References
External links
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This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Colerne". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.