Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir. It shares a grouped parish council with the neighbouring parish of Winterbourne Bassett. In 2011 the parish had a population of 650.

History

There are several barrows in the parish, notably on Hackpen Hill. East of The Weir is a Romano-British burial site and possibly the remains of a house of that period.

The Domesday Book of 1086 records that a man called Ranulph held the manor of Broad Hinton. which was later moved from the chancel to the organ chamber.

Monuments

The church contains several imposing monuments, notably to members of the Wroughton and Glanville families.

There are indents of two lost brasses in the chancel, both knights in armour. The earlier was probably to William Wroughton (died 1392) and the later was certainly to his grandson, John Wroughton (died 1429).

The monument to John's great-great-grandson, Sir William Wroughton (died 1559), is early Elizabethan, canopied, and shows influence of the previous Perpendicular Gothic style.

Amenities

Broad Hinton has an Italian restaurant, La Strada, and The Crown Inn, controlled by Arkell's Brewery of Swindon. The village has a village shop and post office and a village hall. Local clubs include the White Horse Cricket Club.

Broad Hinton Church of England Primary School serves the parish and nearby villages. Beginning in 1743, Thomas Benet, a local landowner, paid for a schoolmaster, and in 1751 he provided a house for the school and teacher to use. A classroom was added in 1845 but in 1847 the older, thatched, part of the school burned down; a new school was immediately built in stone.

Another Broad Hinton

This parish near Swindon should not be confused with Broad Hinton, a liberty in the civil parish of Hurst, Berkshire. That part of Hurst was a detached part of Wiltshire until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 transferred the liberty to Berkshire.

References

Sources

  • Wiltshire Community History page on Broad Hinton
  • Broad Hinton & Winterbourne Bassett Parish Council
  • Broad Hinton community website