Bromham, Wiltshire

Bromham
Bromham village lockup, with St. Nicholas' parish church in the background
Bromham  Bromham shown within Wiltshire
Population	1,809 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	ST963652
Unitary authority	Wiltshire
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Chippenham
Postcode district	SN15
Dialling code	01380
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Wiltshire
Ambulance	Great Western
EU Parliament	South West England
Website	Bromham Village
List of places UK England Wiltshire

Bromham is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Besides the main village of Bromham, the parish includes five other settlements: St Edith’s Marsh, Westbrook, Hawkstreet, Netherstreet and Chittoe. These are essentially sub-villages and hamlets all within 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of the main village centre, thus 'greater Bromham' is geographically very extensive. The village is 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Devizes and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Melksham. Its stands one and a half miles north of the Kennet and Avon Canal and one and three-quarters of a mile south of the Roman road leading to Bath, Somerset.^[2]

In Anglo-Saxon times the manor was held, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, by Earl Harold Godwinson. Under the Normans there were two manors covering Bromham. Bromham Hall, later called Bromham House, the manor house of Bromham Roches, stood to the east of the Devises Road; it was burnt by Royalist troops in May 1645, during the Civil War.^[3] Battle House, named for the manor of Bromham Battle, held by Battle Abbey, is a grade II* listed building,^[4] partly 15th century, largely rebuilt c. 1760; it was the home of the historian Sir William Napier between 1826 and 1831. Spye Arch at the top of Bowden Hill, once served as gatehouse to Spye Park, a seat of the Bayntun family.^[5] it had originally been constructed as the gatehouse of the Cistercian Stanley Abbey, which stood near the eastern edge of the parish, towards Chippenham; the Abbot's Wood that appears as a block of woodland in Andrews’ and Dury’s Map of Wiltshire, 1773, survives as a narrow wooded strip south of the village.

Amenities

Bromham has a village shop, a family butcher’s shop and a post office.^[6]

Education

St. Nicholas Church of England Primary School is in the village.^[7] For secondary education Bromham is in the catchment area of The John Bentley School in Calne.

Events

Carnival

The Bromham Carnival is held each June for two weeks. It comprises village-wide events, opening with the choosing of the carnival Queen, Butterfly Princess, Princess and Prince. The events then continue including quizzes, bingo, treasure hunts and much more. On the final Saturday of the two weeks the carnival procession is held, commencing usually at 2pm from The Pound playing field and winding its way through the village to the Social Centre playing field where activities and shows take place throughout the afternoon. For the past few years, the carnival has been followed by the locally organised show: "Bromfest". Bands from the local area play from 5 through until 12 and mark the end of the carnival period.^[6]

In July 2007 HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall made an official visit to the village.

Local government

Bromham is a civil parish with an elected parish council and is in the area of Wiltshire Council. Both councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

Location

Preserved milestone in St. Edith's Marsh

Position: grid reference ST963652

Recreational Facilities

Bromham has two playing fields: The Pound playing field and the Social Centre's Jubilee and Millennium Fields.

The Pound Playing field has the village tennis court, a grassed football pitch, a play park and a hardcourt basketball and five-a-side football area.

The Social Centre playing fields include Bromham FC's football pitch along and a smaller pitch that is used by the youth team. There is also a pavilion that is used as a changing facility for both home and away teams as well as the officials. Just by the car park of the Social Centre is another children’s play park which is overlooked by the Millennium Cross: a tall stone cross erected in 2000 and recording the village's Christian heritage.^[6]

Places of worship

St. Nicholas parish church

Bromham has two main places of Christian worship: the Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas in the centre of the village, where Rev. John Rees is the Priest-in-Charge and the Chapel near the top of Church Hill.^[6] In the churchyard of St Nicholas is buried the Irish poet Thomas Moore, who had long resided at Sloperton Cottage, towards the north.

The Church of St Mary, Chittoe, was erected in 1845. Previously the hamlet had been a detached part of the parish of Bishops Cannings and villagers had to travel there for marriages and burials, using a trackway called "The Burying Road". For burials this requirement was relaxed at the end of the eighteenth century, but weddings were still conducted at Cannings until the new church was brought into use.^[8] As of 2011, the church and vicarage at Chittoe have been converted to private residences.^[9]

Sport

Football

Bromham Football Club was founded in 1897 by Harry Amor and Arthur Powney.^[10]

Bowls

There is a bowls club that meet every week at the Social Centre to play indoor bowls on special mats that turn the dancefloor into a bowls green.^[6]

Tennis

At the Pound Playing field there is a Tennis Court available to hire.^[6]

Twinnings

Bromham is Twinned with:

• - Avoca, Ireland (the location for the 1990s BBC series Ballykissangel)
• - Ingrandes-sur-Loire, France

Sources

• Wiltshire County Council Website page on Bromham, retrieved 19:30 Oct 8, 2004 (UTC)

References

External links

Media related to Bromham, Wiltshire at Wikimedia Commons