Keynsham

Keynsham ( KAYN-shəm) is a town and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset district of Somerset, England. It lies close to the south-eastern outskirts of the city of Bristol, on the A4 road that links Bristol and Bath. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 19,596 and the built-up area had a population of 19,255. It was listed in the Domesday Book as Cainesham (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of Saint Keyne. The site of the town has been occupied since prehistoric times, and may have been the site of the Roman settlement of Trajectus. The remains of at least two Roman villas have been excavated, and an additional 15 Roman buildings have been detected beneath the Keynsham Hams. Keynsham developed into a medieval market town after Keynsham Abbey was founded around 1170. It is situated at the confluence of the River Chew and River Avon and was subject to serious flooding before the creation of Chew Valley Lake and river level controls at Keynsham Lock in 1727. The Chew Stoke flood of 1968 inundated large parts of the town. It was home to the Cadbury's chocolate factory, Somerdale, which opened in 1935 as a major employer in the town. It is home to Memorial Park, which is used for the annual town festival and several nature reserves. The park is also the centre of the annual chicken race, held every October. The town is served by Keynsham railway station on the London-Bristol and Bristol-Southampton trunk routes and is close to the A4 road which bypassed the town in 1964. There are schools, religious, sporting, and cultural clubs and venues.