Broughton is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, about 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

.

Broughton's Church of England Parish Church

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 the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 of St Mary the Virgin

Mary (mother of Jesus)

Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...

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

Broughton Castle

Broughton Castle is a medieval manor house located in the village of Broughton which is about two miles south-west of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England on the B4035 road ....

, the 14th- to 16th-century country house

English country house

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

 that is now the seat of Baron Saye and Sele

Baron Saye and Sele

Baron Saye and Sele is a title in the Peerage of England. It is thought to have been created by letters patent in 1447 for James Fiennes for his services in the Hundred Years' War. The patent creating the original barony was lost, so it was assumed that the barony was created by writ, meaning that...

 of the Fiennes

Fiennes

Fiennes may refer to:*Bessie Fiennes, Baroness Clinton, better known as Bessie Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England and mother of his son, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset*James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele...

 family.

Broughton Rectory

Rectory

A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...

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

Richard Pace (Lechlade)

Richard Pace was a Georgian builder and architect in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England. He served in the Life Guards 1784-88. Most of his known commissions were houses, in many cases for Church of England clergy. He also restored or refitted a small number of Church of England parish churches. He...

 of Lechlade

Lechlade

Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near here....

 in 1808, and then with extensions by S.P. Cockerell

Samuel Pepys Cockerell

Samuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...

 in 1820 and H.J. Underwood

Henry Jones Underwood

Henry Jones Underwood was an English architect who spent most of his career in Oxford. He was the brother of the architects Charles Underwood and George Allen Underwood ....

 in 1842.

The Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 records that in 1086 Broughton parish had two watermill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

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

Fulling

Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...

 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.

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

British Agricultural Revolution

British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...

 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.

Broughton has a pair of Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 almshouse

Almshouse

Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...

s built in 1859.

Broughton has one public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, the Saye and Sele Arms.