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Keyford is a historic settlement 0.5 miles from the town of Frome in Somerset, England. Originally a Saxon settlement, it was separate from Frome for many centuries, but now forms part of the town.

Geography

Keyford comprises two adjacent but distinctively different settlements: Great Keyford and Little Keyford. It lies directly south of Frome town centre, astride the B3092 road leading to Maiden Bradley.  

Great Keyford, the larger of the two settlements, sits on the brow of the hill around the junction of Rossiter’s Hill/Lock’s Hill and Keyford/Culverhill. With its traffic light controlled junction and passing traffic, this area has a more urban character than Little Keyford which lies in a more secluded location off the foot of Culverhill.

Governance

Frome parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.  

The settlement falls within the Non-metropolitan district of Mendip, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Frome Rural District, which is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.  

Somerset County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.  

The area is in the Keyford electoral ward, which extends from the A36 in the East to ?? The Butts in the West. The total ward population was estimated at 6,782 in 2020.

It is also part of the Somerton and Frome county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.  

History

In the Domesday book, Keyford was called Chaivert. This became Cayfor, the same as Cafer, an old English word appearing in cafertun, meaning enclosure or court.  

Keyford was a Saxon settlement called in Domesday Book Caivel or Chaivert, a name which may derive from Old English caeg-fyrhth, a woodland or frith. In the time of Edward the Confessor, the whole of Keyford had belonged to a Saxon called Levedai but it was divided between the Bishop of Coutances and Turstin FitzRolf, giving rise to Great and Little Keyford, names recorded as early as 1405. The two settlements, though close together, have distinctive characters.

Little Keyford was independent of Frome for centuries and now, though encompassed by the town, it retains a secluded village atmosphere. Tanning is first recorded at Lower Keyford in 1666. A 15th-century manor house belonging to the Twynhoe family was ruinous by 1740 but medieval fabric can be seen in the walls of the building listed as Nos. 55-67 (odd). The remains of late medieval wall painting have also been found on site. A few buildings of a tannery that closed in the 20th century remain. Until the 1950s the hamlet was dominated by a large Victorian building known as Stevens’ Asylum (opened 1803).

Keyford was a separate manor, and possibly had its own market, and its own market cross, which was only removed when the Asylum was built. The cross stood in the open space where Grove Lane came down into Lower Keyford. Grove Lane was the approach to the home of the Cabells, whose house was demolished by Lord Cork.

The family of Twiniho occupied the Manor House at Lower Keyford, often incorrectly called the Nunnery. No nuns lived there. Master Twinnow appeared in the Frome registers in 1578. This had brought him to the manor of Keyford, more properly Cayford.  Since there was no river or quay, the word Keyford does not refer to either word.

Shops and Industry

Keyford originally had many shops and industries.

The street now called The Cooperage had a cooperage, where barrels were made. The site was subsequently was owned by Wilson and Scotchman which produced vats, pumps, malt machinery and refrigerators.

There was also a carriage works (SMR 23540), a brush factory (SMR 23541) and the saw mill (SMR 23548).

The Keyford company was originally based in Keyford, manufacturing parts for the engineering industry.

Shops

Townscape and architectural character

Keyford has numerous listed buildings. It is characterised by two-storey 17th- and 18th-century houses on either side of the thoroughfare which, close to the crossroads, is one way. Being at the top of a hill, there are views northwards of distant trees above the rooftops of Frome itself. Clay pantiles and stone predominate. The Crown Inn is a late 17th-century building with two gables typical of Frome’s 17th-century vernacular.  Dating from the 18th century, No. 25 Keyford has an intact double bowed historical shop front with 20 panes to each window. There are four unusual terraces of 19th-century houses: Keyford Place, Redland Terrace, Keyford Gardens and Keyford Terrace. The latter three are orientated almost at right angles to the main street, with access along a pedestrian footpath across the front of the terrace and large front gardens. Nos. 1-14 Keyford Terrace are grade II listed, as is the lane’s lamp post.(opp No.4) dating from c.1816. Dating from 1903, numerous other Victorian Cockeys lamps remain in Keyford.

The main road, Keyford, has some XX listed buildings.

Keyford Terrace and other 19th-century terraces including Keyford Place, Keyford Gardens and Redland Terrace);

Keyford Terrace has XX listed buildings. Lower Keyford has XX six listed buildings, including Stonewall Manor (c1700) an Elizabethan Manor House

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1057812

New Buildings is an early 18th-century housing development.

The Dippy is a large public open space between Keyford and Lower Keyford.

Lower Keyford is a secluded hamlet which contains an informal ‘square’ formed by the blocking of the road. Absence of pavements adds to a rural feel. Buildings have a haphazard relationship to the narrow thoroughfare and plot sizes are large. Well preserved 17th-century buildings such as no. 47 (Keyford Farmhouse) and no. 36 (Stonewall Manor - unusually roofed with stone tiles) testify to the area’s historic origins.

Several terraces or alleys were built at right angles from the main street, notably Keyford Terrace and Keyford Gardens.

Dating from XXXX, New Buildings is an early example of planned worker’s housing

Stone mullioned windows with side-hung casements are common until the 17th century. Later houses have vertical sliding sashes or, in small cottages, two-light casements.

Medieval: the cottages at Lower Keyford possibly representing the remains of Keyford Manor (SMR LB 26511).

Keyford has a number of whole or partly altered historic shopfronts (No. 25 Keyford is a good example of a double bowed shop front).

A GR V post box is situated at   

Gorehedge

On 15th February, 1897, E. Margaret Thompson wrote a letter to the Somerset Standard, in which she said:

“Considering the story related in Frome that Gore Hedge derives its name from the fact that the heads of certain adherents of the Duke of Monmouth in his rebellion of A.D.1685 were set upon that spot, it may be of interest to some of your readers to know that the place was so-called long before. In A.D. 1487 Henry Vincent, of Keyford, left in his will 6s. 8d. ‘for the repair of the way which lies by a hedge called Gore Hegge.’ Before Bath Street was in existence, perhaps before Rook Lane was in being, the way along Gore Hedge was probably well worn by Keyford folk on their way to and from the market, and on all other occasions of intercourse between them and Frome town.'

Sites of crosses

There was formerly a wayside cross at the junction of Lower Keyford and Stevens Lane (SMR 23527). The remains of an octagonal cross base and shaft stump were removed in the late 18th or early 19th century, and reused in a nearby wall, which was itself demolished in 1960 and used as hardcore.

Notable people

Benjamin Baker, engineer, who built the Forth Bridge, the Aswan Dam and the Hudson River Tunnel.

Ankarette Twynyho, executed for the murder of Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence,

External links

• http://www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk/places/frome/frsts.htm
• Frome

Category:Hamlets_in_England