Brokenborough is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

about northwest of

Malmesbury, Wiltshire Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

in England. The course of the

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

forms the northwest boundary of the parish, and also the county boundary with neighbouring

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The

Tetbury Avon The Tetbury Avon, also known as the Little Avon or the Ingleburn (Anglo-Saxon - English river), is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. It is also referred to as the River Avon (Tetbury Branch). It rises at Tetbury in Gloucestershire in the West Co ...

, also called the Ingleburn, flows through the parish west of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 190. The village forms part of the ecclesiastical parish of Malmesbury and Brokenborough, in the Diocese of Bristol. The Rose and Crown, Brokenborough - geograph

The Rose and Crown, Brokenborough - geograph

History

The name of Brokenborough may derive from a geographic descriptor meaning "broken hill" (Old English ''brocen'' = broken, uneven + Anglian ''berg'' = hill, barrow). Alternatively it could mean "ruined fort", from Old English ''brocen'' = broken + ''burg'' = fort. The early history of Brokenborough is based on unreliable sources. The antiquarian John Leland (1503–1552) relates that

Máel Dub Máel Dub (the Gaelic name ''Máel'' meaning "disciple" and ''Dub'' being a byname, "dark"; Latinized as ''Maildubus'', anglicized as ''Maildulf'' and other variants) was a Saint and reputed Irish monk of the 7th century, said to have founded a ...

(d. 675) came as a hermit to the area and started his monastic school in the shelter of a castle built by Dunwallo Mulmutius at Bladon or Bladow, called in Old English Ingelborne Castle. King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...

(r. 924 – 939) is said to have resided in a royal palace in Brokenborough, close to this site. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

records that in 1086

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution ...

held a large estate of 50 hides at Brokenborough. In the 11th and 12th centuries the abbey claimed it had held it since AD 956. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

is 13th-century and has a four-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

. The building was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1883 and is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Economy

The Great Barn at Brokenborough Farm, just south of the village, has 10 bays, nine cruck trusses, two porches and is probably 14th-century. It too is a Grade II* listed building. There was a farm with an even larger barn on a moated site somewhat further south, but it was demolished in the 17th century. Brokenborough had a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, the ''Horse Guards'', but this has been closed down, with no date set for re-opening.

History

Economy

References

Sources

External links