
Wroughton is a large 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in northeast
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, England. It is part of the
Borough of Swindon
The Borough of Swindon is a unitary authority area with borough status in Wiltshire, England. Centred on Swindon, it is the most north-easterly district of South West England.
History
The first borough of Swindon was a municipal borough, ...
and lies along the
A4361 between
Swindon
Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
and
Avebury
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in ...
; the road into Swindon crosses the
M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...
between junctions 15 and 16. The village is about south of Swindon town centre on the edge of the
Marlborough Downs, an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
. The town of
Marlborough
Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to:
Places Australia
* Marlborough, Queensland
* Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993
* Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
is about to the south, and the
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
at Avebury is about to the south.
The parish includes North Wroughton, formerly a small settlement on the road towards Swindon but now part of the built-up area; and the hamlets of Elcombe and Overtown.
History
The earliest evidence of human presence in the area is from the
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
period, although this is fairly limited. More significant evidence of settlement and occupation in the area is available for the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period, most notably due to the extensive ritual complex at Avebury and scattered finds in the locality. The earliest archaeological evidence from within Wroughton dates from the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
(AD 43–410), showing a period of intensive settlement and farming in the area. Occupation of the area continued into the
early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
(AD 410–1066) when two battles are understood to have taken place in the area: Breahburh (AD 567), thought to have been fought by
Ceawlin of Wessex
Ceawlin ( ; also spelled Ceaulin, Caelin, Celin, died ''ca.'' 593) was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' represents as the leader of the ...
on the slopes of
Barbury Hill, and
Ellandun (AD 825) at Elcombe Hall by
Egbert of Wessex
Ecgberht (died 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlemagne's court i ...
. However, there is no agreement that the latter was here (it is known to have been south of Swindon). Burial sites in the vicinity are believed to be associated with these battles.
The manor of Wroughton is recorded as ''Ellundune'' in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, and was later associated with the
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 660 AD, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered the Kingdom of Wessex, many times its present size. Today it is most of th ...
.
Until the 19th century it was just a country village. Wroughton is close to
The Ridgeway, a national path which is connected to the ancient
Uffington White Horse
The Uffington White Horse is a Prehistoric Britain, prehistoric hill figure, long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure is situated on the upper slopes of Whitehorse Hill in the English civil parishes in En ...
. In the 20th century the village grew but largely avoided the effects of suburbanisation while its larger neighbour Swindon expanded rapidly to the immediate north. The construction of the M4 motorway prevented Swindon from enveloping Wroughton, which has retained a village identity, albeit with the population of a small market town (approximately 8,000 residents) in the early 21st century.
In 1874, the village celebrated for two days after the horse ''
George Frederick'' which was stabled in the High Street, won
The Derby. The horse and its trainer, Tom Leader, who was born in Wroughton, were escorted from
Swindon railway station by a brass band and received in the village which had declared all of its pubs to be open houses and provided free beer for the occasion.
Wroughton Feast
Between 1855 and 1930, there was an "annual feast"—a week-long summer
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
attended by local farmers and residents from north
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
in the
school holidays
An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...
. Events included "A Programme of Horse, Pony, Donkey and Foot racing; climbing the
greasy pole ..." the prize being a leg of
mutton
Lamb and mutton, collectively sheep meat (or sheepmeat) is one of the most common meats around the world, taken from the domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries'', and generally divided into lamb, from sheep in their first year, hogget, from sheep in thei ...
at the end. The event was held at the rear of the Three Tuns
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
with other local fairs and a
grandstand
A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...
was built in the field. The main event was the "Champion Gip Fight", a bare-knuckle boxing competition between a
Gypsy
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, po ...
champion and a challenger.
[
Frederick Large, in his book ''A Swindon Retrospect 1855–1930'' comments:
''"At Wroughton Feast, an annual festival lasting a week, it was the custom for many years for "the champion gip" to fight the best man who could be produced, for a purse of gold. The venue was the paddock at the back of the Three Tuns tavern, where the usual paraphernalia of fairs used to congregate in full force. The Feast always took place in the summer at a time which included a week of our school holidays. I was not more than seven or eight years of age when, without my parents' consent, I wandered over to Wroughton ... This annual event always commenced on a Sunday evening by friends and neighbours from Swindon, Wroughton and neighbouring villages congregating at the Three Tuns, where, crowded inside and out, large quantities of beer and spirits were consumed. A miniature grand stand was erected for Feast Week in an orchard adjoining the paddock, upon which many of the elite of the neighbourhood, both ladies and gentlemen, occupied seats, and indulged freely in choice fruits and refreshments."''
]
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 ...
of St John the Baptist and St Helen stands on a ridge above the southwest of the present village, near the road to Avebury. The present church is the result of remodelling in the 14th and 15th centuries but the Norman north and south doorways indicate an earlier building, of which the north arcade survived until T.H. Wyatt replaced it during restoration work in 1846. The church was designated as Grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
in 1955.
The shallow bowl of the font, simply decorated, is from the 13th century. The oldest of the six bells is dated 1596, and three others are from the next century. Stained glass in the 1852 east window is by Powell and Sons.
The ecclesiastical parish extends a little further north than the civil parish, to take in the large housing areas at Wichelstowe which began to be built in 2006. At some point the name of the parish was changed to Wroughton and Wichelstowe.
Amenities
Schools
The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College opened in 1967 as Wiltshire's first purpose-built comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
. It teaches about 1,500 children aged 11–18. The catchment area includes Bishopstone, Hinton Parva, Wanborough, Liddington, Coate, Badbury, Chiseldon, Hodson, Uffcott, Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett.
RAF Wroughton
RAF Wroughton, just south of the village, closed in the 1990s. The site is now the Science Museum at Wroughton, a part of the Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Na ...
and used as a storage site occasionally open to the public. Since 2016, television series ''The Grand Tour'' has used part of the northern perimeter road as a car test track.
Ellendune Centre
The Ellendune Centre is a sports and entertainment venue that boasts one of the larger amateur facilities in the local area. It plays host to amateur dramatic groups who use it to meet and perform, including the Ellendune Entertainers and WADAMS (Wroughton Amateur Dramatic and Musical Society).
Wroughton reservoir
Wroughton reservoir on Overtown Hill Road is a live fishing site. The main types of fish are Tench, Bream, Crucian Carp, Rudd and Carp. The reservoir is 1.01 hectares in size and the water is fed from the large area of fields above.
Sport
Wroughton ASC Swimming Club trains young swimmers and competes in team galas both locally and across Wiltshire, as well as the annual Wiltshire County Championships.
There is also a local football club, this is for youths and men.
A greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
track was opened in the fields opposite the Black Horse Hotel and Inn in North Wroughton on 26 July 1930. The race distance was 500 yards. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom
Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course be ...
) and it was known as a flapping track which was the nickname given to independent tracks. It is not known when the racing ended.
For many years, the twinning committee organised a fun Bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...
/Pétanque
Pétanque (, ; ; ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports (along with Raffa (boules), raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, Bowls, lawn bowls, and Crown green bowls, crown green bowling). In these sports, players or teams play thei ...
tournament. Some Saint-Germinois would come from the twin-town to play on Wroughton's boulodrome (pétanque terrain) and some Wroughtonians would return the compliment on St Germain's bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
.
Governance
The local authority is Swindon Borough Council
Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1974 as Thamesdown Borough Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1997. In 1997 it was re ...
, a unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
. Wroughton forms part of the council's Wroughton and Wichelstowe ward.
Notable people
* Fiona Benson, poet, born in Wroughton in 1978
* Sir Henry Langton, later Calley (1914–1997), RAF pilot, county councillor and Chairman of Wiltshire County Council, lived at Wroughton
* Geoffrey Cox, Attorney General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser to the sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales as well as the highest ranking amongst the law officers of the Crown. The attorney gener ...
and MP for the Torridge and West Devon constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
, born in Wroughton
* Jahméne Aaron Douglas, singer, runner-up to James Arthur on the ninth series of The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
in 2012, brought up in Wroughton
*William Gosling (VC)
Major William Gosling VC (15 August 1892 – 12 February 1945) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ...
(1892–1945), recipient of the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
in 1917, farmer at Wroughton
Twin Town
Wroughton is twinned with
* Saint-Germain-lès-Corbeil, France
References
External links
*
Wroughton Parish Council
Wroughton Parish Church
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Wiltshire
Villages in Wiltshire
Borough of Swindon