North Bradley 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 ...

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, between

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

and Westbury. The village is about south of Trowbridge town centre. The parish includes most of the village of

Yarnbrook Yarnbrook is a large hamlet in Wiltshire, England, between the towns of Westbury and Trowbridge. Most of it lies in the civil parish of North Bradley, the rest in West Ashton. Most of the settlement's houses stand on the A350 road, which runs be ...

, and the hamlets of Brokerswood, Cutteridge and Drynham.

Geography

North Bradley village is close to Trowbridge but retains a distinct identity, being separated from the town by small fields (one of which is the home of Trowbridge Town football club). The north–south road through the village was formerly the A363 but this was diverted to the north in the late 1990s when White Horse Business Park was developed. The parish extends some southwest of North Bradley village, beyond Brokerswood to the boundary with the county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, near Rudge. The

River Biss The River Biss is a small river in Wiltshire, England and is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. The name is of uncertain origin; it is claimed that the word is from the Old Norse ''bisa'', meaning "to strive". Progress The river rises near Upton ...

flows through the parish. A biological Site of Special Scientific Interest is at Picket Wood and Clanger Wood near Yarnbrook at the extreme east of the parish. Nearby villages include Southwick (now its own parish, but until 1866 within the parish of North Bradley), Yarnbrook and

Rode Rode may refer to: People *Ajmer Rode, Canadian writer *Bernd Michael Rode (born 1946), Austrian chemistry professor *Bernhard Rode (1725–1797), German painter *Ebbe Rode (1910–1998), Danish stage and film actor *Franc Rode (born 1934), Slove ...

History

At the time of 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 ...

, North Bradley was part of the manor of

Steeple Ashton Steeple Ashton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, east of Trowbridge. In the north of the parish are the hamlets of Ashton Common and Bullenhill. Name and history Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Steeple Ashton w ...

, in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

of Whorwellsdown. It was within

Selwood Forest The ancient Selwood Forest ran approximately between Gillingham in Dorset and Chippenham in Wiltshire. It is described by the historian Barbara Yorke as a "formidable natural obstacle" in the Anglo-Saxon period, which was a significant boundar ...

until 1300. The manor of North Bradley was held by the Long family, jointly with

South Wraxall Manor South Wraxall Manor is a Grade I listed country house which dates from the early 15th century, at South Wraxall in the English county of Wiltshire, about north of Bradford on Avon. According to popular legend, the house was the first place t ...

until the death of Walter Long in 1610. After disputes over the inheritance, the manor was settled on his younger son, also

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

, and descended with the Long family of

Draycot Cerne Draycot Cerne (Draycott) is a small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about north of Chippenham. History The parish was referred to as ''Draicote'' (Medieval Latin) in the ancient Domesday hundred of Startley when Geoff ...

. The manor was used mainly as dower or to provide annuities for younger daughters of the

Tylney-Long Baronets The Long, later Tylney-Long Baronetcy, of Westminster in the County of London, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created in 1662 for Robert Long. History The baronetcy was created for Robert Long, Member of Parliament from 16 ...

of Draycot Cerne. Miss Rachel Long (d. 1781) created two charities for the poor of both parishes based on a charge of £5 each on the manor of North Bradley and this was still being paid well into the early 20th century. The manor descended through the Tylney-Longs and Long-Wellesleys until it was finally sold by

Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley Henry Richard Charles Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley, (17 June 1804 – 15 July 1884), known as The Lord Cowley between 1847 and 1857, was a British diplomat. He served as British Ambassador to France between 1852 and 1867. Background and educati ...

in 1864; then in 1879 it was bought by

Walter Hume Long Walter Hume Long, 1st Viscount Long, (13 July 1854 – 26 September 1924), was a British Unionist politician. In a political career spanning over 40 years, he held office as President of the Board of Agriculture, President of the Local Govern ...

of Rood Ashton. Southwick was 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 until it became a separate civil parish in 1866.

Amenities

The village has a primary school. Cricket v burbage 004x

North Bradley Cricket Club was formed in 1867. In 1951, Peace Memorial Field was established, providing the team with its first home. By the mid-1980s the club was on a downward turn, and was in need of revival. Dennis Jones helped re-establish the club, beginning with 'Father and Son' and 'Cricket Club vs Football Club' matches. In 1999, the club entered the Wessex Midweek League and won the championship with an unbeaten record. Between 2005 and 2011 the club played in the

Wiltshire County Cricket League The Wiltshire County Cricket League (WCCL) is the feeder cricket league for the Wiltshire section of the West of England Premier League (WEPL). , the league has nine divisions of ten teams, who play 45-over matches on Saturdays. The winner of Div ...

. Brokerswood Country Park offers holiday accommodation and outdoor activities.

Religion

The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church of St Nicholas 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 ...

. Dating from the 15th century, it was restored in 1862 by

T.H. Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

. Southwick extended as far as Rode Hill, adjacent to

Rode, Somerset Rode (formerly Road) is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset in England, northeast of Frome and southwest of Trowbridge. The small settlement of Rode Hill, northeast of Rode village, i ...

, where Christ Church was built in 1824; this was a chapelry of North Bradley until it was transferred to Rode parish in 1933. A

Particular Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith w ...

church was established in 1775 and a chapel opened at North Bradley in 1780. In 1961 a new building was opened on the same site and the old chapel demolished. As of 2015 the church thrives as a member of the

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) is a network of 639 independent, evangelical churches mainly in the United Kingdom that preach an evangelical faith. History The FIEC was formed in 1922 under the name ''A Fellowship of ...

. There is also a Baptist chapel at Yarnbrook. All Saints Church at Brokerswood is a "

tin tabernacle A tin tabernacle, also known as an iron church, is a type of prefabricated ecclesiastical building made from corrugated galvanised iron. They were developed in the mid-19th century initially in the United Kingdom. Corrugated iron was first us ...

" built with corrugated iron. First erected at Southwick, it was reassembled at Brokerswood in 1905. The area around the church, in the southwest of North Bradley ecclesiastical parish, was transferred to

Dilton Marsh Dilton Marsh is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the far west of the county of Wiltshire, in the southwest of England. The village is about southwest of the centre of the town of Westbury, Wiltshire, Westbury; Dilton Mar ...

in 1973.

Notable people

* Charles Daubney (1745–1827), vicar from 1776, restored the church and largely rebuilt the vicarage; later

archdeacon of Salisbury The Archdeacon of Sarum is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Salisbury, England. He or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the five Rural Dean, area deaneries of the Sarum archdeaconry, which ...

Emma Pierson Emma Jane Pierson (born 30 April 1981) is an English actress. Her appearances in television programmes include the role of Anna Thornton-Wilton in the BBC television drama '' Hotel Babylon'', and ''SunTrap'', '' Days Like These'', '' Beast'' ...

(born 1981), actress, lived in North Bradley for 15 years *

Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley Marmaduke James Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley (29 August 1923 – 27 December 2006), known as Duke Hussey, was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1986 to 1996, serving two terms in that role. Education and career The so ...

References

*''North Bradley: 100 years of cricket'' by Owen Hobbs

External links

Village website
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire