Yate
is a town in South Gloucestershire, north-east of Bristol. Its ancient
parish extended across a largely flat vale, which until the 13th century
lay within Horwood forest, and
was then cleared, inclosed and farmed as rich pasture by the tenants of
the influential owners of its three manors. A limestone ridge fringing
the vale provided good building stone, and across the parish seams of
coal and a rare mineral - celestine - have
been exploited until recent times. Yate lay on an important early route
between Bristol and Oxford, and its mineral wealth attracted early
railway links, so that it was well placed for industrial development.
Bristol-based industries moved there during the
decades after 1900, including wartime aviation production, so that
Yate’s population and housing began to increase.

During
the 1950s a ‘new town’ plan was devised which carefully controlled
Yate’s expansion, and included pioneering housing estate design, diverse
industrial development and a large
and progressive shopping mall. Yate’s boundaries were redrawn in 1988,
and the population of this vibrant, modern town now exceeds 20,000.