Blunsdon is a

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 authorit ...

in the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a local government authority in South West England, centred on the urban area and town of Swindon and forming part of the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. History In 1974 the Thamesdown district of Wiltshire was creat ...

, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, about north of the centre of

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

, with the A419 forming its southern boundary. Its main settlement is the village of Broad Blunsdon, with Lower Blunsdon nearby; the hamlet of Broadbush is now contiguous with Broad Blunsdon. Blunsdon is the eastern half of the former Blunsdon St Andrew civil parish. In April 2017, that parish was divided and the western half became a new

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

parish.

History

Blunsdon dates from

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times: it was discovered that a Roman travellers’ resting place existed on the site of the present-day Cold Harbour

public house 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 main A419 road follow the course of a

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 ...

known as

Ermin Street Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva (Silchester). At Glevum, it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Corini ...

that linked the historic Roman towns of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of ...

(

Glevum Glevum (or, more formally, Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or occasionally ''Glouvia'') was originally a Roman fort in Roman Britain that became a " colonia" of retired legionaries in AD 97. Today, it is known as Gloucester, in the English county ...

) and

Silchester Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...

(

Calleva Atrebatum Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain. The modern vi ...

), via

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It ...

(

Corinium Corinium Dobunnorum was the Romano-British settlement at Cirencester in the present-day English county of Gloucestershire. Its 2nd-century walls enclosed the second-largest area of a city in Roman Britain. It was the tribal capital of the Dobun ...

). 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 manus ...

of 1086 recorded three estates at ''Bluntesdone'', with altogether ten households.

Widhill

Widhill, land lying north of Blunsdon St Andrew as far as the Roman road and bounded to the west by the River Ray, appears in Domesday Book as two estates at ''Wildehill'' with altogether 14 households. The area became a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

of the parish of St Sampson, Cricklade, and for a time a small chapel served the two small settlements at Lower Widhill and Upper Widhill (sometimes North Widhill and West Widhill respectively). Robert Jenner, who prospered as a silver merchant in London, bought Widhill manor in 1624; the Jenner family remained at Widhill until the manor was sold in 1826. In the late 19th century Widhill became part of

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

civil parish, then was transferred to Blunsdon in 1934; its population at the 1931 census had been 21. Today, Lower Widhill Farm, Chapel Farm and Upper Widhill Farm survive in the strip of farmland between the north edge of Blunsdon St Andrew and the A419.

Sport

Blunsdon's

Abbey Stadium Abbey Stadium is a football stadium in Cambridge, England. It has been the home ground of Cambridge United F.C. since 1932, and currently has a maximum capacity of 8,127 spectators. Cambridge Regional College F.C., Cambridge United's feeder c ...

(also known as Swindon Stadium) is the home of Swindon Greyhounds, broadcast world-wide three times per week and a stalwart of off course betting shops in the UK all the year round. The stadium has also been the home of a speedway team, the

Swindon Robins The Swindon Speedway team, also known as the Swindon Robins, are an English motorcycle speedway team established in 1949 that have competed primarily in the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom. They are five times ...

, since it opened in 1949. The Robins competed in national leagues, including the Elite League in the 21st century, but did not race in 2021 or 2022 due to long-running uncertainty over redevelopment of the site. The village has a football team, Blunsdon FC, which has youth development squads as well as a senior men's side playing in the Wiltshire League.

Government

Blunsdon parish covers Broad Blunsdon and the area west of the A419. In the southeast, the boundary with St Andrews leaves the A419 and follows the A4311 Cricklade Road, so that the Groundwell industrial estate is in Blunsdon parish. Until April 2017, the whole area was the civil parish of Blunsdon St Andrew. The parish lies within the

Shop

After the last privately owned shop in the village closed in 2002, a village public meeting convened and agreed to open a new community shop, which was opened in 2003. Located in the car park of the village hall, the shop was originally based inside a secondhand site office cabin, but in 2009 this was replaced by a brand new structure. Run mainly by volunteers, in 2010 the shop won third place for 'Best Village Shop' at the Wiltshire Life Magazine Awards.

Transport

The Swindon and Cricklade Railway has rebuilt Blunsdon railway station, just outside the parish boundary. A bypass was built between the autumn of 2006 and spring 2009. This reunited Broad Blunsdon village with the portion that was southwest of the former A419.

References

{{Commons category Civil parishes in Wiltshire Borough of Swindon