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Broughton Gifford is a village and civil parish about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Melksham in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Norrington Common and The Common.

Broughton Gifford
Pond on Broughton Gifford common
Broughton Gifford Location within Wiltshire
Population	851 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	ST879635
Unitary authority	Wiltshire
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Melksham
Postcode district	SN12
Dialling code	01225
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Chippenham
Website	Parish Council
List of places UK England Wiltshire 51.371°N 2.175°W / 51.371; -2.175

History

Formerly much of Broughton Gifford and the surrounding area was covered with woodland. Much of this was felled during the First and Second World Wars. Villagers long used the common to graze their livestock and grow their crops. Although the common was not included when the rest of the parish's lands were inclosed in 1783,[2] eventually its agricultural uses died out.

Railway

The Wessex Main Line railway was opened across the southeast of the parish in 1848, following the Avon valley. In October 1905 a small station, Broughton Gifford Halt, was opened for the newly introduced steam railcar service between Chippenham and Trowbridge. The halt was southeast of the village at the Mill Lane bridge, near the road between Melksham and Bradford-on-Avon; it was closed on 7 February 1955 but the line remains open. [3]

Geography

The village has two parts. The lower village has the church, the school and the village hall. There are also two housing estates and some detached houses in this part.

The higher part, The Common, is a large area of open land with houses around it. As at 2008 there were three ponds on the common, inhabited by a paddling of ducks in their breeding season. At one end of the common is the Bell public house, and the football pitch and bowling green.

The River Avon forms a natural boundary to the south and east of the parish.

Local government

The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for most significant local government functions.

Unusually the parish shares some land in common with the parish of Melksham Without.

Religious sites

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin, at the south end of the village, is from the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.[4] Additions in the 14th century included the south chapel, and the tower was added in the 15th. The rectory was built in 1848 to designs of T.H. Wyatt, and the church was lightly restored by G.G. Scott in 1878.[5]

St Mary's is part of the united benefice of St Katherine's at Holt, together with All Saints at Great Chalfield.[6]

Chapels

A Particular Baptist chapel was built in 1806 on the east side of the common, and is still in use.[7]

A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1828 and replaced by a larger building in 1907. The chapel closed c. 2008 and is now a private home.[8]

Notable buildings

Three houses are Grade II* listed:

• Gifford Hall, c.1700, The Common[9]
• Manor House, early 17th century, on the road to The Common[10]
• Monkton House, 1647, south of the village, by the Avon[11]

In March 2015 Mr Daniel Gerber, of Gifford Hall, obtained a decision in the High Court quashing a planning permission granted by Wiltshire Council for a £10.5 million solar farm erected by Norrington Solar Farm Limited and Terraform Power.[12] This decision was then overturned, allowing the solar farm to remain, some distance to the north of Gifford Hall.

A packhorse bridge dating from 1725 spans the River Avon to the south of Broughton Gifford, providing a route (now a public footpath) to the hamlet of Whaddon.[13]

Amenities

The village has a primary school, St Mary's, a short distance north of the church. Its first building dates from 1856, when it became a National School following the rebuilding of an earlier charity school. The school became Voluntary controlled in 1952 and was remodelled and extended in 1975.[14]

Broughton has only one public house: The Bell on the Common, on the common. There is also a village hall, a small park and an industrial estate.

Sculptures

Broughton Gifford is home to a war memorial in the form of an obelisk.[15]

References

Sources

• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1975) [1963]. The Buildings of England: Wiltshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 150–151. ISBN 0-14-0710-26-4.
• Pugh, R.B.; Crittall, Elizabeth (eds.); Chettle, H.F.; Powell, W.R.; Spalding, P.A.; Tillott, P.M. (1956). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 7. pp. 51–59. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)

External links

• "Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 7 pp51-59 – Parishes: Broughton Gifford". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
• Broughton Gifford Parish Council

Media related to Broughton Gifford at Wikimedia Commons

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