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South
Cerney has a range of local amenities including a
Post Office and newsagents (known as South Cerney News),
Londis general store, hairdressers, Indian restaurant/takeaway,
fish and chip shop, a pharmacy and a dental surgery. There
are 3 public houses in South Cerney, The Old George,
The Oak and The Eliot Arms (which also has accommodation). There are also other bed and breakfast facilities
available in South Cerney such as Meadow Cottage.
You
can also have a round of golf at the 18 hole South Cerney
golf course on the edge of South Cerney village, near to South
Cerney Airfield
South
Cerney has a growing business community with many companies
occupying the industrial and business estates that have built
up on the outskirts of South Cerney.
South Cerney is in the heart of the Cotswold Water
Park and only a stones throw from lakes where you
can sail and fish.
For more information on the Cotswolds, visit the Cotswolds
web site
Cerney
Wick is also just a short distance from South Cerney and is
home to The Crown and Trinity Church.
South
Cerney History
The
Cotswold Water Park is made up of over 130 lakes
that have been created by gravel extraction. Thousands of
years ago an ice sheet that covered the Midlands began to
melt, turning into rivers. These rivers and streams took with
them sand and gravel, depositing them up to 20 feet thick
in places.
These
sand and gravel deposits lay relatively undisturbed until
people began to excavate these resources in the early 1920s.
As a result the area was left scarred with huge hollows and
pits. Water began to naturally fill these pits, turning them
into freshwater lakes, and the area now known as the Cotswold
Water Park was born.
Over
recent years these lakes have increasing become popular places
where anglers can fish, water skiers and jet skiers can ski,
sailors can sail their yachts and walkers can enjoy miles
of countryside walks.
The
Cotswold Water Park has become a renowned conservation area,
several of the lakes are now Sites of Scientific Interest,
and large numbers of waterfowl breed and winter here.
In
recent years holiday villages and holiday homes and housing
developments such as those found at the Watermark Club and
the Lower Mill Estate have sprung up around some of the lakes
offering a range of differing accommodation including wooden
chalets with gardens bordering the lakes.
As
a result of this explosion of activity over recent years,
the local villages have become more popular and South Cerney
especially has thrived. It was a pretty enough village in
its own right, but has always been in the shadows of its more
famous neighbour, Cirencester
The
South Cerney church contains a beautiful carved wooden head
and foot of Christ, taken from a crucifix in Compostela, dating
from the 12th Century.
At the end of Silver Street in South Cerney is St Edwards
College, founded by Anne Edwards in 1834 (the primary school
in South Cerney is called Anne Edwards School) to house the
widows of clergymen. And in nearby Station Road, an attractive
row of gabled cottages dates from the 16th and 17th Centuries.
The remains of the some of the old railway line can also be
found in this area of the village.
All
in all, South Cerney is an area to watch. Residents and visitors
have seen its popularity and nearby facilities increase greatly
over recent years but South Cerney itself still has the charm
of a Cotswold village. Industrial areas have sprung up on
the outskirts of South Cerney, bringing even more requirements
for housing and a large estate was built on the land sold
by Aggregate Industries some years ago.
And
with the ever increasing interest and demand for "leisure
pursuits" being as strong as ever, it seems that the
area will continue to grow in popularity for many years to
come.
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