England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Broughton St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Broughton lies in western Hampshire not too far from its border with neighbouring Wiltshire.  Broughton is located roughly 3 miles southwest of the small market town of Stockbridge and sits about 1 1/2 miles south of the A30 road which links Stockbridge with Salisbury. Broughton is a large vill;age which sits on the western banks of the Wallop Brook, squeezed between that river and the B3084 road which, being remarkably straight, follows an ancient Roman road. The village has a single main street (High Street) which parallels the river, running from northwest to southeast for almost a mile, with a branch reaching to the B3084 and a significant presence on the eastern side of that road. The wider parish sits upon chalk downlands, a peculiarly village-free area of the county, which would have been, and still are, used extensively for farming. Both arable and pastoral methods were in use, in earlier times sheep dominated for both meat and wool, whilst today much is set to vast fields of cereals, oil seed and beets. The landscape west of the village has many signs of early occupation with tumuli dotting the nearby hills and Roman roads criss-crossing to the southwest. Broughton is drained southeastwards by the Wallop Brook which soon joins the River Test, the Test heads south through the western outskirts of Southampton to reach the Solent through Southampton Water, the Solent then feeds the English Channel. Broughton is sited at between 40 & 60 metres above the sea on the valley slopes, above the village to the west lies Broughton Down with a spot height of 138 metres marking the highest ground around. Broughton parish was extensive, covering 4,200 acres and it would have supported a population of close to 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Broughton was a more modest rural manor shared between King William & the Archbishop of York, it mustered 9 ploughs, meadows & woodland but also held 3 mills, presumably powered by the Wallop Brook.

The Church

St Mary's church stands on the eastern side of the High Street a few metres southeast of the main junction and the Greyhound Inn. The church has early origins with parts of the restored chancel retaining 12th century Norman fabric in its south wall. The nave arcades indicate a somewhat later nave being 13th century Early English Gothic, Pevsner dates the northern to c1200 and the southern to a decade or two later. From a similar period is the doorway which has been reset by later restorations. Further west sits a typical Perpendicular tower, probably from the early 15th century albeit capped by a Victorian bell-stage of 1845. Also Perpendicular but 16th century is the southern porch, again subject to later restoration. The church met with a fire in c1638 and much was restored to good order following that event. Four stages of Victorian and modern restoration are recorded, the first of 1845 added the top to the tower, the second of 1870 replaced the chancel arch whilst restoring much else, the chancel was further restored in 1888 and finally that porch was restored in 1924. Whilst a fairly busy thoroughfare the High Street has spaces allowing on-street parking, the churchyard is rather tight to adjoining buildings restricting views from the west whilst a clump of conifers sits inconveniently in the southeastern favoured spot thus views are limited but acceptable for the photographer.