Broughton, Oxfordshire

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Broughton
Oxfordshire
Broughton church - geograph.org.uk - 801324.jpg
St Mary the Virgin parish church
Location
Grid reference: SP420383
Location: 52°2’31"N, 1°23’17"W
Data
Population: 286  (2011)
Post town: Banbury
Postcode: OX15
Dialling code: 01295
Local Government
Council: Cherwell
Parliamentary
constituency:
Banbury

Broughton is a small village in northern Oxfordshire, about two and half miles south-west of Banbury.

The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 286.

History

The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Broughton parish had two watermills. By 1444 there were at least three, one of which was a fulling mill. By 1685 there was a second fulling mill, and both mills supplied the local woollen industry. Fulling and cloth-dyeing remained local industries until early in the 20th century.[1]

In the 17th century Broughton's agriculture was predominantly pasture for cattle and sheep, which has given to the parish such field names as Dairy Ground, Grazing Ground and New Close Pasture. Improved crop rotation in the agricultural revolution increased arable farming in the parish, with crops being diversified in the 18th century to include clover, flax, hops, |sainfoin and woad. Some of these crops have given place names to the parish such as Sandfine Wood, Sandfine Road and Woadmill Farm. Woad was still grown in 1827, when it was used locally for dyeing wool.[1]

Broughton has a pair of Gothic Revival almshouses that were built in 1859.[2]

Parish church

Broughton's parish church is St Mary the Virgin. It was built in about 1300 in a style that is transitional from Early English to Decorated Gothic.[3] The church is in the grounds of Broughton Castle.

Broughton Rectory was rebuilt in 1694.[2] It was altered three times in the 19th century: firstly by Richard Pace of Lechlade in 1808, and then with extensions by Samuel Pepys Cockerell in 1820 and Henry Jones Underwood in 1842.[2]

Broughton Castle

Main article: Broughton Castle

Formal gardens at the castle

Broughton Castle is the manor house of the village. It was built in the 14th to 16th centuries and today is a well-appointed country house. It remains the seat of the ancestral line of the Lords Saye and Sele; the Fiennes family. The house was restored in the 19th century with the consultancy of architect George Gilbert Scott.

Amenities

Broughton has one public house, the Saye and Sele Arms.[4]

Outside links

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References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lobel & Crossley 1969, pp. 85–102
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2page 498
  3. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, pp. 490–492.
  4. Saye and Sele Arms