Broughton Gifford is a village and civil parish about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Melksham

Melksham

Melksham is a medium-sized English town, lying on the River Avon. It lies in the county of Wiltshire.It is situated southeast of the city of Bath, south of Chippenham, west of Devizes and north of Warminster on the A350 national route. The 2001 UK census cited Melksham as having 20,000...

 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, 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...

. The 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

 recorded a parish population of 822.

The village has two parts:

• The lower part, the main part of the village where the 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 Saint Mary
  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...
  
   and the school are, as well as the village hall
  Village hall
  In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
  
   and the Fox 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...
  
  . There are also two housing estates and some detached houses in this part.
• The higher part, The Common, is a large area of open land with houses around it. As at 2008 there were three ponds on the common, inhabited by a paddling of ducks in their breeding season. At one end of the common there is The Bell public house, and the football pitch and bowling green.

History

Formerly much of Broughton Gifford and the surrounding area was covered with woodlands. Much of these were felled during the First and Second World Wars. Villagers long used the common to graze their livestock and grow their crops. Although the Common was not included when the rest of the parish's lands were inclosed

Enclosure

Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...

 in 1783, eventually its agricultural uses died out. There were numerous ponds on the common, but the council decided to fill many of them in. There is currently a movement to re-establish the ponds.

Local government

Gifford civil parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council

Wiltshire Council

Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were...

 unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

, which is responsible for all significant local government

Local government

Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...

 functions.

Unusually the parish shares some land in common with the parish of Melksham Without

Melksham Without

Melksham Without is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. It surrounds, but does not include, the town of Melksham and is the largest rural parish in Wiltshire, with a population of 6226 and an area of ....

.

A number of Roman coins

Roman currency

The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...

 have been found in the parish.

Listed buildings

There are more than 70 listed buildings and structures of special architectural, historical or cultural significance in Broughton Gifford, including Talboys built late in the 14th century and Monkton House

Monkton House

Monkton House in Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire, is a Grade II* listed English 16th century house close to the boundaries of Somerset and Gloucestershire.-History:...

 built in 1647.

Amenities

Broughton has two 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...

s. The Bell on the Common is on the common

Common land

Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...

. The Fox, formerly The Fox and Hounds, is at the other end of the village. There are also a village hall

Village hall

In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...

, a butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

's shop and a small park.