Broughton 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 authorit ...

in northern

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

, England, about southwest of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 286.

Manor

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 ...

of 1086 records the

place-name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

as ''Brohtune'' and an episcopal register from 1224 records it as ''Broctona''. The name is derived from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

and in this case means ''tūn'' ("farm") on a ''brōc'' ("brook"). Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

of 1066 Thorgautr Lagr held the manor of Broughton. By 1086 the parish of Broughton was part of 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 des ...

of Bloxham, held by tenant-in-chief ''Berengarii de Todeni'' (Berengar de Tosny), eldest son of

Robert de Todeni Robert de Todeni was a Norman nobleman who held lands in England after the Norman Conquest. Background Robert held lands in Guerny and Vesly in Normandy.Keats-Rohan ''Domesday People'' pp. 380–381 The family was probably a branch of the Tosny ...

. Berengar's sister Albreda inherited Broughton, so her husband Robert de Insula was next to manage the profitable manor. The

records that in 1086 Broughton parish had two

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

s. By 1444 there were at least three, one of which was a

fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to eli ...

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. Broughton Castle is a 14th- to 16th-century

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

and the ancestral seat of the Lords Saye and Sele (the Fiennes family). It is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and ...

and

Grade I listed building 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 ...

. In the 17th century Broughton's agriculture was mostly 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 Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...

in the agricultural revolution increased arable farming in the parish, with crops being diversified in the 18th century to include clover, flax, hops,

sainfoin __NOTOC__ ''Onobrychis'', the sainfoins, are a genus of Eurasian perennial herbaceous plants of the legume family (Fabaceae). Including doubtfully distinct species and provisionally accepted taxa, about 150 species are presently known. The Flo ...

and

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

. 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. Broughton has a pair of

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s that were built in 1859.

Parish church

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 Mary the Virgin is in the grounds of Broughton Castle. The church was built about 1300 in a style that is transitional from Early English to

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

Clerestories In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

were added to the south aisle late in the 14th century and to the nave in the 15th century. The church was restored in 1877–80 under the direction of

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

. It is a Grade I listed building. Broughton

Rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

was rebuilt in 1694. It was altered three times in the 19th century: firstly by

Richard Pace Richard Pace (c. 148228 June 1536) was an English clergyman and diplomat of the Tudor period. Life He was born in Hampshire and educated at Winchester College under Thomas Langton. He attended the universities of Padua and Oxford. In 1509, he ...

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

in 1808, and then with extensions by SP Cockerell in 1820 and HJ Underwood in 1842.

Amenities

Broughton has a pub, the Saye and Sele Arms.Saye and Sele Arms
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References

Sources

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External links

{{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire