Broughton Gifford

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Broughton Gifford is a medium sized village in the county of Wiltshire, in south west England situated about 20 minutes away from Bath.

There are two parts of the village:

The lower part, which is the main part of the village where St. Marys church and school are, as well as the village hall and the Fox and Hounds Pub. There are also two housing estates and some detached houses in this part as well.
The higher part, this is the common which is a large patch of open land with houses circling around it. At the moment there are three ponds on the common, which are home to a group of ducks in their breeding season. At the end of the common there is the Bell pub and the football and bowling pitches.

At one time much of Broughton Gifford and the surrounding area was covered in woodlands, however much of these were cut down during the first and second world wars. The common was also once used for the villagers to graze their cattle and grow their own food on, but eventually these old traditions died out as well as many of the ponds which were on the common, as the council decided to fill many of them in. There is currently a movement to re-establish the ponds.

[edit] Local government

Broughton Gifford is a civil parish in its own right, and forms part of the district of West Wiltshire within the county of Wiltshire. Different aspect of local government are dealt with at all three levels.

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

[edit] Public Houses

Broughton has two Pubs - "The Bell" on the Common, surprisingly enough, located on the Common and, at the other end of the village, "The Fox" . The Fox is presently more of a restaurant than traditional English Pub, prior to this it was known as "The Fox and Hounds".