History
A series of salvage excavations at Spratsgate Lane from 1986 to 1988, before the creation of the Cotswold Water Park, revealed part of an Iron Age and Roman settlement at Somerford Keynes. The earliest features discovered comprised a series of curvilinear enclosures dating from the early 1st century AD to the early 2nd century AD, which may have been part of a farmstead. A religious focus is also hinted at by an unusually large number of coins and brooches, which may have been votive deposits. Stone sculptural fragments were found of an eagle and a shield. These may have belonged to a representation of the Roman Capitoline triad (The gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva), and therefore point to an official religious presence.
The village is first mentioned in writing in AD 685. A charter in that year confirmed a gift of 40 hides of land by King Ethelred's nephew Bertwald, to St Aldhelm, the first abbot of Malmesbury.
The manor was held in 1211 by William de Cahaignes, an ancestor of the Keynes family.
The village has a flourishing history group, details of which appear in the external link below.
Read more about this topic: Somerford Keynes
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