Keynsham - History

History

Evidence of occupation dates back to prehistoric times, and the town site is scattered with Roman remains, such as the Roman villas at Somerdale which were discovered during the construction of the factory in 1922, and included the discovery of two stone coffins, a villa with nine intact panels of mosaic flooring at Durley Hill and a burial site between Keynsham and Saltford.

It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cainesham, meaning St Keyne's home. It is believed that Saint Keyne lived in the 5th century. Her father was named as Brychan. According to local legend, St Keyne was warned by the local King that the marshy area was swarming with snakes, which prevented habitation. St Keyne prayed to the heavens and turned the snakes to stone. The fossil ammonites found in the area were believed to be the result. The parish of Keynsham was part of the Keynsham Hundred,

The settlement developed into a medieval market town, its growth prompted by the foundation of the influential and prosperous Keynsham Abbey, which had been founded by the Victorine congregation of canon regulars around 1170. It survived until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, and a house was subsequently built on the site. The remains have been designated as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage.

Keynsham played a part in the Civil War as the Roundheads saved the town and also camped there for the night, using the pub now known as the Lock Keeper Inn as a guard post. During the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 the town was the site of a battle between royalist forces and the rebel Duke of Monmouth.

Before the creation of Chew Valley Lake and river level controls at Keynsham Lock and weir, Keynsham was prone to flooding. The Great Flood of 1968 inundated large parts of the town, destroying the town's bridges including the county bridge over the Avon which had stood since medieval times, and private premises on Dapps Hill; the devastation was viewed by the Duke of Edinburgh. After the flood the Memorial Park, which had been laid out after World War II was extended.

Keynsham rose to fame in the mid-1960s after featuring in a long-running series of advertisements on Radio Luxembourg for Horace Batchelor's Infra-draw betting system. To obtain the system, listeners had to write to Batchelor's Keynsham post office box, and Keynsham was always painstakingly spelled out on-air, with Batchelor famously intoning "Keynsham – spelt K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M – Keynsham, Bristol". This was done because the proper pronunciation of Keynsham – "Cane-sham" – does not make the spelling of Keynsham immediately obvious to the radio listener.

Since the 1950s Keynsham has become a dormitory town for Bristol and Bath. The High Street shopping area has been remodelled, and a Town Hall, Library, and Clock Tower were built in the early 1970s.