Woodyates

Woodyates
240px Woodyates
Woodyates  Woodyates shown within Dorset
OS grid reference	SU0219
Civil parish	Pentridge
Ceremonial county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SALISBURY
Postcode district	SP5
Dialling code	01725
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	North Dorset
List of places UK England Dorset

Woodyates is a small hamlet, sometimes considered a village, in the county of Dorset, near its border with Wiltshire, in the west of England.

History

The name means "wood gates" and is believed to refer to the position of Woodyates at the entrance to the wooded area of Cranborne Chase.

The topographer James Bell described it thus in 1835 -

WOODYATES (West), an extra-parochial liberty, in the hundred of Wimborne-St-Giles, Shaston (East) division of the co. of Dorset. It consists of a single farm, and is crossed by the Roman road from Dorchester to Old Sarum.

The Roman road (Ackling Dyke) is especially well preserved. In Highways and Byways in Dorset (1935), Sir Frederick Treves notes that "In no part of Dorset can the actual undisturbed Roman road be seen at greater advantage or for greater extent than about Woodyates."

A Romano-British defensive ditch called Bokerley Dyke also runs near the village.

The estate also contained an important coaching inn, once called the Woodyates Inn, later the Shaftesbury Arms. This was a staging point of the Trafalgar Way, and a commemorative plaque can be seen there.

In the 18th century, Woodyates was a property of Thomas Pitt.

Woodyates was the site of the training establishment of William Day, who sent out the winners of many important horse races including Foxhall, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris, Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire in 1881.

Present day

Woodyates is served by a Damory Coaches bus which runs between Salisbury and Wimborne St Giles.

See also

• List of places in Dorset