Draycot Cerne – What does it mean?

Draycot Cerne was simply 'Draicote' in the Domesday Book (1086), and is still often referred to simply as ‘Draycot’; it gets its full name from a mixture of Anglo Saxon, Celtic and French. ‘Draycot’ is a fairly common name in many villages dating back to the Anglo Saxon years and could mean either a place near a wood or a place near a steep hill. The suffix ‘Cerne’ comes from post-Norman lords of the manor, the de Cerne family, who held the land from about 1230 to about 1430. The de Cernes could have been from Cernay in France, although some sources suggest that they might have been from Cerne in Dorset. The parish church of St James, which has stood in the village since the late 12th century, has a brass memorial to Sir Edward de Cerne and his wife Ellen.

The parish originally comprised two small hamlets: Lower Draycot, near the church, and Upper Draycot; the latter grew to become today’s village of Draycot Cerne after the houses of Lower Draycot disappeared during the later 1800s. The parish also originally included a detached portion, to the east of Sutton Benger and along the meadows to the west of the river, near today’s Avon Weir. This portion of land, known as Draycot Sutton, was transferred to Sutton Benger in 1884. A 13th Century document shows that there was an agreement between Sir Philip de Cerne and the Abbot of Malmesbury (who was lord of the manor of Sutton Benger at the time) allowing people from ‘Dreycote’ free access through ‘Suttone’ to their land ‘near Cristemaleforde’, and vice versa.