Parishes: Broad Hinton

BROAD HINTON

Broad Hinton lies at the head of the Kennet valley 7 km. south-west of Swindon. (fn. 1) The parish included Broad Hinton, Bincknoll, Uffcott, and part of Broad Town, of which only Broad Hinton was in Selkley hundred. In the 11th century the tithings of Uffcott and Broad Town were probably parts of Kingsbridge hundred. Bincknoll tithing may have been part of either Kingsbridge or Blackgrove hundred. In the 13th century it was in Blackgrove, as Uffcott was in the 14th century. All three tithings were parts of the combined hundred of Kingsbridge and Blackgrove from the 16th century. (fn. 2) In the early 19th century the area of the parish was c. 4,400 a. (1,781 ha.). (fn. 3) In 1884 all of Broad Town and that part of Bincknoll tithing north-west of the ridge between Broadtown Hill and the earthwork called Bincknoll Castle became the civil parish of Broad Town; it was already an ecclesiastical parish. Of the total area of the new parish, 825 ha. (2, 040 a.), 536 ha. (1, 326 a.) were taken from Broad Hinton. (fn. 4) The modern parish of Broad Hinton, 1,260 ha. (3,114 a.), (fn. 5) lies south-east of the ridge. The history of Broad Town tithing and of Broad Town parish since 1884 has been recounted with that of Clyffe Pypard (fn. 6) but that of Bincknoll tithing is described below.

The watershed between the Kennet and the Bristol Avon divided the ancient parish into two contrasting parts. The division runs from southwest to north-east, approximately following a line from Cockroost Farm to Quidhampton Wood in Wroughton. South-east of the line is the Kennet valley, 4 km. wide between the watershed and Hackpen Hill, which reaches 269 m., the highest point in the parish, and marks the boundary. Most of the arable land of the parish was in the valley and streams there were used to float water meadows. (fn. 7) One stream rises outside the parish north of Uffcott, another near the farmstead called the Weir; they meet 900 m. south of that farmstead. Chalk outcrops both in the valley and on the downland of Hackpen Hill, which was used for pasture. Settlement in the south-east part of the parish was concentrated in the nucleated villages of Broad Hinton and Uffcott. North-west of the watershed the parish extended halfway across the Avon valley, sharing a straight boundary with Wootton Bassett. A little west of the watershed Broadtown Hill and the ridge which extends north-east of it reach heights above 198 m. and mark the northwestern limit of the chalk; a white horse was cut above Little Town in 1864. (fn. 8) On the western slopes of the hills are bands of Upper Greensand and Gault. Beyond them the Kimmeridge Clay forms level ground below 107 m. (fn. 9) A stream west of Broad Town Lane is fed by tributaries and flows north into Brinkworth Brook. The plain and the hills west of the watershed were used mainly for pasture (fn. 10) and settlement there was in scattered farmsteads. In the 11th century there were 4 a. of woodland at Bincknoll, probably on the ridge, and in the 14th century Bincknoll Wood was of 25 a. (fn. 11) The wood stretched east beyond the parish boundary and west to Little Town in 1766 (fn. 12) but it has since contracted and in 1981 extended 1.5 km. south-west from Bincknoll Castle.

Broad Hinton township, which included Hinton Columbers and Hinton Wase tithings, (fn. 13) and Uffcott tithing lay south-east of the watershed and Bincknoll and Broad Town tithings northwest of it. Uffcott, Bincknoll, and Broad Town were townships in the 11th century (fn. 14) and had probably been absorbed into Broad Hinton parish by the 13th. Tithes from Uffcott were then paid to the vicar of Broad Hinton and a chapel at Bincknoll may have been dependent on the church. Grants made during the century of lands in Broad Town to the impropriator of Broad Hinton and of tithes there to the priory of Wallingford (Berks., later Oxon.), owner of other tithes in Clyffe Pypard, probably contributed to the division of the tithing between the parishes. (fn. 15) The boundary created by that division crossed and recrossed Broad Town Lane, leaving detached parts of Broad Hinton west of the lane. More than half of Broad Town tithing, c. 450 a. of c. 750 a. in the 19th century, was included in Broad Hinton parish. The boundary between Broad Town and Bincknoll tithings ran parallel with and 200 m. east of the road from Broad Hinton to Broadtown Hill. North-east of the hill it followed the ridge to Little Town and then wound crookedly to the northern parish boundary. (fn. 16) The north-eastern boundary of Bincknoll was also irregular, perhaps because land there had been exchanged between Lydiard Tregoze and Bincknoll manors in the 16th century or later, when they were jointly owned. (fn. 17) In 1845 the tithing measured 1,150 a. Broad Hinton was the largest township, c. 1,850 a. in 1845; Uffcott tithing measured only c. 450 a. in 1797. Between them was a straight boundary leading 3.5 km. north-west from a point on Hackpen Hill 2 km. north-east of the road from Broad Hinton to Rockley in Ogbourne St. Andrew. (fn. 18)

The area of the parish richest in archaeological evidence is Hackpen Hill. There are several barrows and a rectangular earthwork on the downs and some supposed eoliths were found there. East of the Weir is the site of burials and perhaps also of a house of the Romano-British period. (fn. 19) Bincknoll Castle, a fortified enclosure of 3½ a. in a commanding position on the northfacing ridge near the eastern parish boundary, may be of Romano-British origin but was re-used in the early Middle Ages. (fn. 20)

In the 18th century and probably earlier roads crossed the Kennet and Avon valleys but few crossed the watershed and the most important routes in the parish led from south-west to northeast. (fn. 21) The oldest such route is the Ridge Way, along the crest of Hackpen Hill. Another ancient road may have crossed the Ridge Way west of Barbury Castle in Wroughton and followed a course now marked by the eastern parish boundary and the modern road from Uffcott to Salthrop in Wroughton and to Lydiard Tregoze. (fn. 22) South of Uffcott it was a track in 1981. A path which linked the churches of Broad Hinton, Winterbourne Bassett, and parishes further south, may also have been in use in early times but was of little importance in the late 18th century. (fn. 23) A parallel track along the foot of Hackpen Hill has disappeared since then. In the 18th century a major road through the parish ran east from Highway in Hilmarton through Broad Hinton village and past the Weir, and turned north at Uffcott to Wroughton via Red Barn. At the north-west corner of Broad Hinton village it was joined by a road which led north-east from Yatesbury. After the mid 18th century the Highway-Wroughton road became less important; west of the village it became part of the road from Clyffe Pypard to Broad Hinton and east of Uffcott it was a footpath in the 20th century. Its decline was a result of the turnpiking in 1767 of the Swindon-Devizes road which ran south-west from Red Barn to the Weir and passed east of Broad Hinton village through Elm Cross. That was still the principal route through the parish in 1981. In the late 18th century two roads south of the Weir led westwards across the turnpike road to Broad Hinton village, one via Elm Cross, the other 250 m. further north. The northern road was only a farm track east of the SwindonDevizes road in 1981 but the southern was part of the main road across Hackpen and Broadtown Hills which was turnpiked as a section of the road from Rockley to Wootton Bassett in 1809. North of Broadtown Hill it was known as Broad Town Lane and it was the only road of importance in the northern part of the parish. Access to Bincknoll has always been restricted. In 1773 it could be approached by road only from Salthrop. Later tracks led north from the Weir and from Manor Farm. In 1981 access for vehicles was possible only by a road running south from the road from Wootton Bassett to Swindon. (fn. 24)

Broad Hinton was both a wealthy and a populous parish by comparison with its neighbours in the Middle Ages. Taxation assessments show it to have been of moderate wealth, about the average for Selkley hundred, in the 16th century. (fn. 25) The population rose from 550 in 1801 to a peak of 714 in 1851 but fell again to 550 in 1881. In 1891, after the creation of Broad Town parish, there were 372 residents of Broad Hinton. Numbers fell in the early 20th century but rose after the Second World War as Broad Hinton village expanded as a dormitory for Swindon. In 1971 there were 368 inhabitants of the parish. (fn. 26)

Broad Hinton village stands on rising ground in the north part of the Kennet valley where the principal roads through the parish converge. The village grew from two hamlets, Hinton Columbers and Hinton Wase. The oldest sites in the village, those of the church and of Manor Farm, 750 m. further north, may have been the centres of the two hamlets. The manor house of Hinton Columbers stood near the church in the 13th century. (fn. 27) That of Hinton Wase manor stood at the site of Manor Farm until the 17th century and was approached by a hollow way running east from the road from Wootton Bassett to Rockley. (fn. 28) No architectural or archaeological evidence suggests that there was ever more than a farmstead on that site and the main settlement may always have been that near the church. In 14th-century assessments for taxation Broad Hinton was treated as a single settlement, one of the wealthiest in Selkley hundred, with 106 poll-tax payers in 1377. It was similarly prosperous in the early 16th century, although an assessment of 1576 was well below the average for the hundred. (fn. 29)

The modern pattern of settlement in the village had been established by the late 18th century. (fn. 30) Most buildings stood inside or around a triangle formed by the road from Clyffe Pypard to Uffcott, the Swindon-Devizes road, and the road from Wootton Bassett to Rockley. North of Elm Cross a lane from the downs crossed the triangle from the Swindon-Devizes road to that from Wootton Bassett. The main street is formed by the road from Wootton Bassett to Rockley which turns east and south-east at the north end of the village. The church, the vicarage house, and Broad Hinton House stand west of the street and are reached by a lane. Beside the street and north of the church are most of the older domestic buildings of the village, none of which is obviously earlier than the 18th century. Buildings of that date include thatched cottages and Comptons Farm at the junction of the street and the lane leading to the church; Marlborough House, a substantial brick house altered in the 19th century, a little further north; and cottages near the junction at which the road from Uffcott joins the street. The post office, south of those cottages, bears the date 1746, and east of them stands Church House, once used as a reading room, (fn. 31) which is probably also of the 18th century and is one of the few timber-framed buildings in the village.

In 1773 buildings were scattered along the northern road of the triangle, at the Weir at its north-east corner, and further south along the Swindon-Devizes road. (fn. 32) Of those buildings the house called the Manor, built in the late 17th century north of the junction of the northern and south-western roads of the triangle, a thatched stone cottage 1 km. further east, and a cottage east of the Weir survive. The Bell, east of the Swindon-Devizes road opposite the lane which crosses the triangle, may have been built by then but the first documentary reference to it is of 1793. (fn. 33) Some 18th- and 19th-century cottages of brick and chalk stand beside the lane. New houses and cottages were built along the village street and east of the Manor in the 19th century. The largest buildings of that date were the school and a chapel at the west corner of the triangle, and the Crown, west of the street, which was mentioned as an inn in 1903. (fn. 34) Brick estate cottages north of the Manor and a small reading room opposite the chapel were built in the late 19th century. The reading room was replaced by a village hall after the Second World War. In the 1930s the Swindon-Devizes road was straightened south of the Bell and garages were later built nearby on either side of the road. (fn. 35) Among other 20th-century buildings are council houses of the 1930s north of the lane crossing the triangle and an estate of private houses of the 1970s within the triangle south of the road to Uffcott.

Bincknoll. Taxation assessments for Bincknoll from the 14th century show it to have been of moderate wealth for a township of Blackgrove hundred. It was, however, the least populous in Broad Hinton parish, having only 38 poll-tax payers in 1377 and fewer than ten households in 1428. (fn. 36) In 1576 its assessment was one of the lowest in the combined hundred of Kingsbridge, Blackgrove, and Thornhill. (fn. 37) From the 18th century or earlier settlement in the tithing has been in scattered farmsteads. At Bincknoll, on the lower slopes of the hill north of Bincknoll Castle, are Bincknoll House, several cottages, and farm buildings. Other farmsteads are linked by road with Broad Town or Broad Hinton rather than with Bincknoll. They include those at Cotmarsh, on the western boundary, which were reached from Broad Town Lane in the 18th century, and those at Little Town, at the foot of Broadtown Hill, which were in Bincknoll tithing but were outlying parts of Broad Town village. A track from the Highway-Wroughton road led to Sandfurlong Farm 1 km. north-east of Manor Farm in Broad Hinton tithing. (fn. 38) Additional farmsteads were built at Cotmarsh and at Cockroost, west of Sandfurlong Farm, in the early 19th century. (fn. 39)

Uffcott village stands at the head of a gently sloping valley watered by a head stream of the Kennet. The township, like Bincknoll, was of moderate prosperity in the 14th century and in 1377 had 46 poll-tax payers. (fn. 40) In the 16th century, however, assessments for tax were low compared with those of neighbouring townships. (fn. 41) The pattern of settlement at Uffcott has changed little since the 17th century. (fn. 42) The buildings of the village are gathered east of the stream and the pond which it feeds. South of the pond the old Highway-Wroughton road crosses the stream and then winds uphill through the village. A brick house east of the pond and a row of thatched cottages north of the house are probably of the 18th century or earlier. There was an inn called the Harrow at the east end of the village in the late 18th century but it was closed after 1836. (fn. 43) Most of Uffcott House, on higher ground south of the road, and most cottages are of the 19th century. A few 20th-century houses have been built at the east end of the village. Hangars belonging to Wroughton airfield were built in the parish east of Uffcott village after 1937. (fn. 44)

Manors and Other Estates.

An estate at Broad Hinton was held in 1066 by Ulgar and in 1086 by Humphrey Lisle. (fn. 45) Overlordship of the estate, the manor of BROAD HINTON, passed to Reynold de Dunstanville, husband of Humphrey's daughter Adelize, and thereafter descended with Reynold's barony of Castle Combe. (fn. 46) The overlordship was held as part of the barony by Giles de Badlesmere, Lord Badlesmere, at his death in 1338 and when his estates were divided it was allotted with Castle Combe to his sister Margaret and her husband John Tiptoft, Lord Tiptoft. (fn. 47) The manor was held of Castle Combe in 1404 (fn. 48) but no later reference to the overlordship has been found.

In 1086 Ranulph held the estate. (fn. 49) It passed to members of the Wase family and was called HINTON WASE manor until the 14th century. John Wase (fl. after 1189) was succeeded in or before 1194 by Reynold son of Wase (d. before 1242–3). (fn. 50) Roger Wase held the manor in 1316 and 1319, as did Faith Wase, probably his relict, in 1339. (fn. 51) In 1365 Nicholas Wase sold it to William Wroughton. (fn. 52) After the death of Wroughton in 1392 and of his wife Isabel (fl. 1404) (fn. 53) the manor passed to their son William (d. 1408), grandson John Wroughton (d. c. 1429), and great-grandson John Wroughton (d. 1496). (fn. 54) The younger John was succeeded in turn by his son Sir Christopher (d. 1515) and greatgrandson Sir William Wroughton (d. 1559). (fn. 55) Sir William's son Sir Thomas held the manor at his death in 1597. (fn. 56) His son Sir Giles sold it in 1628 to Sir John Glanville, a prominent M.P. and later a king's serjeant. (fn. 57) Glanville (d. 1661) was succeeded by his son William (d. 1680) and then by William's nephew John Glanville who in 1709 sold the manor to Thomas Bennet (will proved 1754). (fn. 58) It passed to Bennet's daughter Martha, wife of Peter Legh (d. 1792), (fn. 59) and to the Leghs' daughter Elizabeth. She married first Anthony James Keck and secondly, before 1793, William Bathurst Pye who took the additional name Bennet. Elizabeth was succeeded c. 1827 by her daughter Elizabeth Keck, then wife of Thomas Calley (d. 1836). (fn. 60) The Calleys' son John James sold the manor in 1839 to Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington (d. 1852). It was sold by Wellesley's son Arthur, duke of Wellington, to M. H. N. Story-Maskelyne in 1867 (fn. 61) and by him to Sir Henry Meux, Bt., in 1869. (fn. 62) Meux (d. 1883) was succeeded by his son Sir Henry Bruce Meux (d. 1900), whose relict Valerie, Lady Meux, sold the estate in several lots in 1906. (fn. 63) Manor farm was bought by H. J. Horton (d. 1924) and passed to his son R. W. Horton (d. 1959) and grandson Maj. R. D. Horton, the owner in 1981. Norborne farm belonged to F. Bailey in 1917 and in 1953 was sold to Mr. and Mrs. D. Jones who owned it in 1981. (fn. 64) Weir and Hackpen farms were bought in 1908 by J. H. W. Hussey, who was succeeded in turn by his son R. J. Hussey and grandson Mr. J. P. L. Hussey, the owner in 1981. (fn. 65)

Sir William Wroughton (d. 1559) had a house built at Broad Hinton, reputedly from the stones of Bradenstoke priory. (fn. 66) John Evelyn described it as a 'very fair dwelling house' and reported that it had been destroyed by Sir John Glanville to prevent the establishment of a parliamentary garrison there. According to other contemporary sources it was burned down by royalist forces in 1645. (fn. 67) The site of the house may have been close to the farmstead which stood north-east of the Manor in 1981. The older farm buildings are largely of re-used ashlar, some of it reddened by fire. North of the farmstead is a large grass platform bounded on one side by a bank. The field west of it has been much disturbed and is crossed by a hollow way. The Manor may have been the gatehouse in which Glanville was living in 1654. (fn. 68) The plan of the main range of the house is of the early or mid 17th century. Its walls of chalk block were cased in red and black brick with stone dressings probably c. 1700 when a short back wing of brick was added at the east end. A similar wing of ashlar was added at the west end in the mid 18th century. The main, south, front was of seven bays but was altered and given a Tuscan porch in the early 19th century. A 17th-century timber-framed stable east of the house has been largely rebuilt in brick.

Another estate held in 1066 by Ulgar became HINTON COLUMBERS manor. Gilbert of Breteuil held it in 1086 (fn. 69) and in 1242–3 Baldwin de Reviers, earl of Devon and lord of the Isle of Wight (d. 1245), was overlord. The overlordship passed in turn to his son Baldwin, earl of Devon (d. 1262), and daughter Isabel de Forz, countess of Aumale and Devon. Isabel was overlord in 1275 but no later reference to the Devon interest has been found. Walter Marshal, earl of Pembroke (d. 1245), was intermediate lord of Hinton Columbers in 1242, and in 1275 the lordship was held by his five sisters and coheirs. (fn. 70) It probably passed, with the manor of Hampstead Marshall (Berks.) and like the lordship of Bincknoll, to Queen Joan, relict of Henry IV, who was overlord of Hinton Columbers in 1428. (fn. 71)

Richard of Hinton inherited Hinton Columbers from his father Sir Hugh of Hinton (fl. c. 1226) and in 1242–3 held it of Matthew Columbers. (fn. 72) In 1258 he exchanged it for a life interest in Matthew's manor of Bincknoll. (fn. 73) Columbers was succeeded c. 1272 by his brother Michael who granted the manor to John Cobham c. 1279. (fn. 74) In 1285 Matthew's relict Maud, then wife of John's son Henry, surrendered her dower rights in the manor to John. (fn. 75) After John's death in 1300 the manor passed in turn to his son Henry, Lord Cobham (d. 1339), grandson John Cobham, Lord Cobham (d. 1355), and greatgrandson John Cobham, Lord Cobham. (fn. 76) In 1372 Cobham granted the manor to William Wroughton (fn. 77) and thereafter it passed with Hinton Wase manor.

In return for a grant of lands and rights to the rector of Broad Hinton Sir Hugh of Hinton was licensed c. 1226 to build an oratory on his estate. (fn. 78) No more is known of it.

In 1253 Broad Hinton rectory was appropriated by St. Nicholas's hospital in Salisbury. The RECTORY estate included 6 a. in Broad Hinton given by Richard of Hinton to the hospital in 1253, 2 a. there given by William of Calne c. 1260, and a messuage and croft in Broad Town given by Henry of Woodhay in the late 13th century. (fn. 79) The hospital had a carucate of land and demesne meadow valued at 8s. in 1341 and in 1845 it had 55 a. in Broad Hinton. (fn. 80) Grain tithes from most of the parish were due to the hospital, although those from parts of Bincknoll, Uffcott, and Broad Town passed to other owners in the 13th century or later. (fn. 81) Hay tithes from Broad Hinton and Uffcott were also part of the estate. (fn. 82) Rectorial tithes from Uffcott were replaced by an allotment of 97 a. in 1797. Those from the rest of the parish, of which some 360 a., mainly in Bincknoll, were exempt, were commuted to a rent charge of £535 in 1845. (fn. 83) The lands in Uffcott and Broad Hinton were still owned by the hospital in 1981. (fn. 84)

John Wase gave 1 yardland in Broad Hinton to Stanley abbey probably after 1189. (fn. 85) Other lands there were granted to the abbey, probably in the 12th and 13th centuries. They included 8 a. given by Nicholas Wase, 12 a. by Richard (fl. 1194) son of William of Hinton, 22 a. by Richard's son Sir Hugh (d. in or before 1243), and 1 yardland by Robert son of Samuel. (fn. 86) The lands passed to the Crown at the Dissolution and by an exchange of 1539 to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. (fn. 87) The estate was probably later merged with Broad Hinton manor.

In 1702 Constables farm, a leasehold of Broad Hinton manor, was sold by John Glanville to Thomas Andrews. (fn. 88) In or before 1725 Andrews was succeeded by his son Townsend (will dated 1734) who devised the farm to his wife Sarah. (fn. 89) It was sold c. 1766 to Peter Legh and reunited with the manor. (fn. 90)

A yardland in 'Henton' was granted by Roger of Sutton to Bradenstoke priory before 1232. (fn. 91) The identity of 'Henton' is uncertain and no later reference to lands in Broad Hinton belonging to the priory has been found.

Estates at 'Bechenhalle', probably Bincknoll, were held by Hacun and Toli in 1066; another was held by Saul and Alwin. All of them were held by Gilbert of Breteuil in 1086. (fn. 92) The overlordship of BINCKNOLL manor descended with that of Hinton Columbers to Isabel, countess of Aumale and Devon (fn. 93) (d. 1293). As one of her heirs Warin de Lisle claimed rights in her estates, apparently including the overlordship, in 1294; it is not known whether he entered on the estates before his death in 1296. He was succeeded by his son Robert (created Lord Lisle of Rougemont in 1311), who received livery of the inheritance in 1310. When Robert entered the Franciscan order in 1342 his estates passed to his son John, Lord Lisle (d. 1355). John's son Robert, Lord Lisle, surrendered the overlordship of Bincknoll to the Crown in 1368. (fn. 94)

Walter Marshal, earl of Pembroke, was intermediate lord of Bincknoll in 1242–3. (fn. 95) After his death in 1245 the lordship probably passed with the manor of Hampstead Marshall and in 1333 may have been granted with a life interest in that manor to William Montagu (created earl of Salisbury in 1337). (fn. 96) The lordship passed with the title to William, earl of Salisbury (d. 1397), and at the death of his relict Elizabeth in 1415 to their grandnephew Thomas, earl of Salisbury. (fn. 97) In 1428 Bincknoll manor, like Hampstead Marshall, was held of Queen Joan, relict of Henry IV. (fn. 98)

Matthew Columbers held Bincknoll in 1242–3 and in 1251 was granted free warren in his demesne there. (fn. 99) His estate was increased in 1247 by a grant of c. 80 a. from William of Calne and his wife Sarah and in 1267 by a grant of a messuage and a carucate from Imbert de Funteynes and his wife Maud. (fn. 100) In 1258 Matthew granted the manor to Richard of Hinton for life, in exchange for Hinton Columbers manor. (fn. 101) After Richard's death it passed with Hinton Columbers manor to John, Lord Cobham, and was forfeited at his attainder in 1398. It was restored before his death in 1408 (fn. 102) and passed to his granddaughter Joan de la Pole, Baroness Cobham, whose husband John Oldcastle, Lord Oldcastle, was executed in 1417. The manor was then confiscated but was restored to Joan in 1418. (fn. 103) At her death in 1434 it passed to her daughter Joan, wife of Thomas Brooke, Lord Cobham. It descended with the Cobham title in the Brooke family to Edward (d. 1464), John (d. 1512), Thomas (d. 1529), George (d. 1558), and William, Lord Cobham, (fn. 104) who sold it in 1562 to John St. John. (fn. 105) Thereafter it passed with Lydiard Tregoze manor in the St. John family. John St. John (d. 1576) was succeeded by his son Nicholas (d. 1589), grandson John St. John (d. 1594), great-grandsons Walter St. John (d. 1597) and John St. John (created a baronet in 1611, d. 1648), and by Sir John's grandson Sir John St. John. The manor passed in 1656 to the younger Sir John's uncle Sir Walter St. John (d. 1708), and then to Sir Walter's son Sir Henry (created Viscount St. John in 1716, d. 1742), grandson John St. John, Viscount St. John (d. 1748), and great-grandson Frederick St. John, Viscount St. John, who inherited the viscountcy of Bolingbroke in 1751. Thereafter the manor passed with both titles from father to son to Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke (d. 1899), who devised his estates to his wife Mary Emily Elizabeth. (fn. 106) She sold the Bincknoll estate in 1920. (fn. 107) Upper Bincknoll farm was bought by Henry White and Sandfurlong farm by Emily and Charlotte Humphries. Both farms were sold in the 1920s to R. W. Horton and have since passed with Manor farm in Broad Hinton. Great Cotmarsh and Little Cotmarsh farms, sold in 1920, belonged to Mr. A. H. John and Mr. T. W. Marks respectively in 1981. (fn. 108)

Bincknoll House is presumably on the site of a long thatched 'hall-house' and outbuildings, all of which were said to need repair in the late 14th century. (fn. 109) The modern house is a long brick building, probably built in 1757. (fn. 110) In the early 20th century it was divided into cottages but in 1981 it was again one house. (fn. 111)

The priory of Goldcliff (Mon., later Gwent) had an estate at Bincknoll c. 1210 (fn. 112) but no later record of it has been found.

Walter, earl of Pembroke, was overlord of an estate at LITTLE TOWN in 1242–3. (fn. 113) The overlordship passed with the intermediate lordship of Bincknoll manor to Thomas, earl of Salisbury (d. 1428). (fn. 114)

In 1225 Grace de Parys, relict of Thomas de Parys, claimed ⅓ yardland in Little Town as dower from Richard de Parys, probably Thomas's son. (fn. 115) Richard held Little Town in 1242–3 and it passed to Matthew Columbers in or before 1247. (fn. 116) Columbers apparently sold the lordship and lands of Little Town separately. The lordship passed with Hinton Columbers manor to members of the Cobham family. In 1496 it belonged to John Brooke, Lord Cobham, (fn. 117) but its descent has not been traced further. In 1247 Columbers granted part, if not all, of the lands of Little Town to William of Calne and his wife Sarah. (fn. 118) Nicholas Borden held Little Town, probably to be identified with William's estate, at his death in 1301. (fn. 119) It was held as dower by his relict Agnes, wife of Sir Peter Doygnel, and passed to her son Nicholas Borden in 1349. (fn. 120) Isabel, relict of William Wroughton, was granted seisin of the estate in 1393 and thereafter it passed with Broad Hinton manor. (fn. 121)

William of Calne gave lands to St. Nicholas's hospital c. 1260 to secure the master's intercession with the bishop of Salisbury for a licence to build an oratory. There is no certain evidence that a chapel was built although John the chaplain of Little Town, where William held land, died in or before 1262. (fn. 122)

Before 1291 tithes from the demesne of Bincknoll manor, reputedly the endowment of a chapel there, were granted to St. Denis's priory in Southampton. (fn. 123) The tithes passed to the Crown at the Dissolution and were sold in 1543 to Christopher Willoughby. (fn. 124) William Stumpe acquired them from Isabel Baynton in 1550 and in 1558 his son Sir James sold them to John Richmond. (fn. 125) John's son Henry sold them in 1578 to Richard Franklin (fl. 1583). (fn. 126) Before 1610 they were bought by Sir John St. John and they were afterwards merged in Bincknoll manor. (fn. 127)

An estate 'in the marsh', later known as COTMARSH, was held of Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk, as earl marshal in 1306 and of Queen Joan, relict of Henry IV, in 1428. In 1306 and 1319 the land was held by Thomas Parys and in 1428 by William Parys. (fn. 128) Thomas Parys (d. c. 1515) held land at Cotmarsh and was succeeded by his son Christopher (fl. c. 1535). (fn. 129) Before 1610 the land or the reversion of it was sold to a St. John: Thomas Parys died in 1610, holding either a life interest in or a lease of Cotmarsh of Sir John St. John. Thereafter Cotmarsh passed with St. John's Bincknoll estate. (fn. 130)

Lands at Little Town were devised by Thomas Franklin to his son Thomas in 1744. (fn. 131) In 1780 Thomas Ody held an estate there. It passed c. 1784 to a Mr. Collins and c. 1791 to Benjamin Tarrant, whose relict held it in 1813. The estate passed c. 1820 to Robert Smith (fn. 132) and before 1838 was acquired by Susanna (fl. 1845), wife of Algernon Brown. (fn. 133) In 1917 it was sold by the executors of George and Adam Twine. (fn. 134) It was bought in 1928 by R. C. Hicks who sold it c. 1945 to a Mr. and Mrs. Iles. The estate was later divided. Lands south of Broadtown Hill were bought by R. W. Horton and passed with Manor farm in Broad Hinton. The remainder was owned by Bourton & Sons in 1981. (fn. 135)

In 1838 and 1845 William Brown owned a small farm called COCKROOST. (fn. 136) In 1872 it passed to W. E. N. Brown who sold it in 1901 to Emily and Charlotte Humphries. (fn. 137) They sold it in 1936 to R. W. Horton and it has since passed with Manor farm in Broad Hinton. (fn. 138)

An estate at Uffcott held by Almar in 1066 had passed to Durand of Gloucester by 1086. Another estate there was then held by Ulvric, a king's serjeant, who had inherited it from his father after 1066. (fn. 139) The relation of those estates to the later manor of UFFCOTT is not clear. In 1361 Uffcott was part of the honor of Winchester, then in the king's hand. (fn. 140)

Uffcott was probably held with Elcombe in Wroughton by members of the Lovel family from the 13th century or earlier. (fn. 141) John Lovel, Lord Lovel, died seised of the manor in 1361 (fn. 142) and it passed with the title to Francis, Viscount Lovel, on whose attainder in 1485 it was forfeited to the Crown. In 1512 it was granted to William Compton and his wife Werburgh. With Elcombe manor it passed from father to son to William, Lord Compton, who sold it in 1605 to Thomas Sutton. (fn. 143) Uffcott was among the endowments of the Charterhouse hospital founded by Sutton in 1611. The governors of the Charterhouse sold the manor in 1919 to Wiltshire county council. (fn. 144) It was bought c. 1922 by H. J. Horton and in 1981 Mr. S. J. Horton was the owner. (fn. 145)

The east portion of Uffcott House dates in part from the 17th century. A west range and a new south front were added in the early 19th century.

Arnold the falconer, apparently a servant of William I, held Uffcott church. In or before 1115 it was granted to Salisbury cathedral. (fn. 146) A confirmation made in 1146 of the grant mentions tithes among the endowments of Uffcott and other churches given to the cathedral but there is no direct evidence that the canons received tithes from Uffcott. An estate of tithes there which passed to Kington St. Michael priory, however, may previously have belonged to the cathedral. (fn. 147) Lands at Uffcott, held by the cathedral c. 1210, were attached to Shipton and Brixworth prebend and like the prebend were divided in two c. 1220. (fn. 148) One moiety became part of Shipton prebend, the other of Brixworth prebend which from 1240 was held by the chancellor of the cathedral. (fn. 149) Lands in Uffcott were also said to belong to Blewbury prebend in 1223. (fn. 150) The estates attached to Shipton and Blewbury prebends were not recorded separately after the 13th century. Lands belonging to the dean and chapter of Salisbury, presumably derived from those of both prebends, were sequestrated by parliamentary trustees and sold in 1650 to John Were or Brown. They were recovered by the dean and chapter after the Restoration (fn. 151) and in 1860 passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. In 1898 the lands were sold to E. Gantlett. (fn. 152) The chancellor's estate was sold in 1859 to J. W. Brown. Both estates were later absorbed into Uffcott manor. (fn. 153)

Simon Lovel bought lands in Uffcott from Robert Toby and Walter son of Gunuld c. 1200 and gave them to the abbey of Godstow (Oxon.). (fn. 154) By the 16th century the abbey's estate had been reduced to a small close of land, which was sold by the Crown in 1553. (fn. 155)

Henry de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, gave rents totalling 20s. 4d. from lands in Uffcott to Lacock abbey c. 1274. In 1280 St. John's hospital in Calne held a tenement in Uffcott of the abbey. (fn. 156) That land and the abbey's rents passed to the Crown at the Dissolution. In 1548 the land was sold to Richard Randall. (fn. 157)

Tithes from Uffcott were among the endowments of Kington St. Michael priory in 1535. (fn. 158) A member of the Brimpton family, founders of the priory, may have acquired the tithes from Salisbury cathedral and given them to the priory. Adam of Brimpton claimed rights in Shipton and Brixworth prebends, the endowments of which included Uffcott church. (fn. 159) In 1538 rever- sion of the priory's estates was granted by the Crown to Sir Richard Long who in 1545 conveyed it to Robert Long, then lessee of the estates. (fn. 160) Robert (d. 1564) was succeeded by his brother William who sold the tithes to John Ewe in 1570. (fn. 161) They were sold in 1607 by William Woodley to Richard Constable and were held by Edmund Maskelyne at his death in 1630. (fn. 162) Before 1797 the tithes were merged into the rectory or vicarage estates. (fn. 163)

A tenement in Uffcott belonged to Tewkesbury abbey at the Dissolution. (fn. 164) In 1540 the Crown granted it to William Richmond or Webb and in 1555 Christopher Baynton granted it to Thomas, John, and William Sadler. (fn. 165) In 1590 it was held with Uffcott manor. (fn. 166)

The descent of BROAD TOWN manor, in Broad Hinton and Clyffe Pypard parishes, from Miles Crispin (fl. 1086) to the Despenser family and then with the earldom of Warwick has been traced elsewhere. In 1487 Anne Neville, countess of Warwick, conveyed the manor to Henry VII and in 1536 it was granted to Edward Seymour, later duke of Somerset. Thereafter it descended with the Somerset and Hertford titles until the death in 1692 of Sarah Hare, duchess of Somerset, under whose will it became the principal endowment of the Broad Town Trust. (fn. 167) Of the lands of the manor, parts of Ham and Broad Town Manor farms were in the ancient parish of Broad Hinton in the 19th century. (fn. 168) The trustees of the charity sold the estate in 1920. J. E. Price bought Broad Town Manor farm and in 1981 Bourton & Sons were the owners. (fn. 169)

Tithes from two hides of the demesne of Broad Town manor, then said to be in Broad Hinton parish, were held by Wallingford priory in the mid 13th century and descended with others in Clyffe Pypard held by the priory. (fn. 170) The lands from which they came probably became part of that parish; in 1845 there was no land in Broad Hinton parish from which tithe had formerly been paid to the priory. (fn. 171)

In 1653 Roger Spackman held lands in Broad Town tithing, which were later known as BROAD TOWN farm and most of which lay in Broad Hinton parish. (fn. 172) The farm was divided in or before 1698 when a third of it was conveyed to Edward Richards. Another third was conveyed by Thomas Strickland to Richards in 1700 and the residue by Sir William Strickland to John Clarke in 1704. Richards (will dated 1725) was succeeded by his daughter Ann. The Revd. William Wright sold the whole farm to Solomon Hughes and William Essington before 1787. Essington and Hughes's relict Elizabeth sold it in 1791 to John Ralph, who gave it by will proved 1807 to Robert Codrington (d. before 1845). (fn. 173) Much of the land was sold before 1917 when a house and some 30 a. were bought from the executors of George and Adam Twine by H. White. (fn. 174) Those lands were sold after 1945 to Brasenose College, Oxford. (fn. 175)

Economic History.

Broad Hinton, Bincknoll, Uffcott, and Broad Town were separate agricultural units. The economic history of Broad Town has been described elsewhere. (fn. 176)

Broad Hinton. Sheep-and-corn husbandry was probably practised in Broad Hinton township as elsewhere in the upper Kennet valley. Evidence of medieval agriculture is scanty but from the 16th century until the mid 19th arable farming was more important than pastoral. An imbalance between arable land and pasture was commented upon in the early 17th century. The small area of downland, c. 50 a. in the south-east corner of the township, was several, and common grazing was restricted to the open fields after harvest. (fn. 177) The open fields were south and east of the village. East and West fields, so called, were separated by the Swindon-Devizes road. In the 18th century there was a South field, probably created from the East field. (fn. 178) There were meadows at Highden, in the west corner of the township, and near the village. In the mid 17th century the streams east of Broad Hinton were probably used to float water meadows and in the 18th century arable land near the village was converted to meadow. (fn. 179)

In 1086 there were estates in Broad Hinton of 11 hides and 10 hides with land for 5 and 4 ploughteams respectively. Of Gilbert of Breteuil's 11-hide estate 9 hides and 1 yardland were in demesne with 2 ploughteams. There were also 4 villeins and 5 bordars with 2 teams. On Humphrey Lisle's 10-hide estate the proportion of land in demesne was smaller, 6 hides with 1 team and 1 serf: another 2 teams were held by 4 villeins and 6 bordars. Gilbert's estate included 16 a. of meadow and 30 a. of pasture and had increased in value from £5 in 1066 to £7. Humphrey's was valued at £5 in 1066 and 1086 and included 12 a. of meadow and 14 a. of pasture. (fn. 180)

Although the estates derived from Gilbert's and Humphrey's were held together from the late 14th century, the lands may still have been worked separately in the late 15th century. Hinton Columbers, the larger estate, was said to include 5 carucates in 1258 and was valued at £10 in 1496. (fn. 181) Hinton Wase, 3 carucates in 1319, was valued at £6 13s. 4d. in 1496. (fn. 182) Of the other estates, the rectory estate had the highest value, £17 in 1341; 48s. was derived from lands, rents, and services. (fn. 183) In the 13th century Stanley abbey held 3 yardlands, of 24 a. each, and another 45 a., including 4 a. of pasture. Bradenstoke priory may have held 1 yardland. (fn. 184) Hinton Columbers manor included two freeholds in the early 14th century: one was probably of 64 a. of arable and 4 a. of meadow land, with common pasture valued at 4s. 6d. yearly. (fn. 185)

Demesne arable land east of Broad Hinton village was inclosed in the 1590s (fn. 186) and the lord of Broad Hinton or his lessee had several pasture for sheep on Hackpen Hill in the early 17th century. The demesne was then worked as one farm but leaseholds and copyholds from the constituent manors of Hinton Columbers and Hinton Wase were still distinguished. In 1636 a total of twelve copyholders held 15 yardlands. There were seventeen leaseholders, nine of whom held ½ yardland or more each and one 7 yardlands. (fn. 187) Some copyholds may have been converted to leaseholds in the late 17th century; in 1708 there were two copyholders who held a total of 95 a. and seven leaseholders who held 702¼ a. between them. (fn. 188) Constables, the farm of 7 yardlands in 1636, was a freehold of c. 200 a. in 1702. Some of its lands lay in Broad Town but most were scattered in Broad Hinton township. In the late 18th century the farm was leased with and may have been worked as part of the demesne farm. (fn. 189) By 1751 many smaller holdings had been absorbed into the demesne; a few acres were then held by copy and c. 200 a., excluding the demesne farm, by lease. (fn. 190) Common husbandry continued until the 1770s or later (fn. 191) but no inclosure award was necessary. Only the lands of the rectory estate, leased in the late 18th century and the 19th by the members of the Brown family, lay outside the manor estate. (fn. 192) In the early 19th century most of the lands of the tithing were in two farms. (fn. 193) In 1802 the larger, worked from Manor Farm and Weir Farm, consisted of 1,180 a., mostly in the east part of the tithing and including land on Hackpen Hill. The smaller included 596 a., mostly arable land west of the village, and was worked from Norborne Farm. (fn. 194) Both were leased in the late 18th century and the 19th. (fn. 195) From 1851 until 1866 Richard Stratton and his son Richard, members of a distinguished Wiltshire farming family, held Manor farm and worked it with lands at Salthrop. They kept a summer flock of 1,000 sheep but were chiefly noted for their shorthorn cattle and for technical innovations, which were reputed to include the first steam plough in the county. (fn. 196) In the early 20th century Broad Hinton manor was divided into four large and several small farms. The largest, Manor farm, 568 a. in 1906, (fn. 197) was kept in hand from the 1920s and has since been enlarged. In 1981 it was a farm of 1,350 a., including some 200 a. in Bincknoll. Corn was grown on c. 350 a. and there was a large dairy herd. (fn. 198) After 1925 Hackpen and Weir farms, a total of 680 a., were worked together as Weir farm. In 1981 the farm measured c. 800 a., with 450 a. of arable land and a herd of 140 cows. Much of Norborne farm, 214 a. in 1906, was later divided between Manor and Weir farms. (fn. 199) The rectorial glebe was leased by local farmers in the 20th century. (fn. 200)

Bincknoll. Estates of 5 hides, of 3 hides and 1 yardland, and of 1¾ hide at Bincknoll were valued at 50s., 27s., and 18s. respectively in 1086. The highest value had risen from 40s. and the second from 20s. since 1066. Only the largest estate included demesne, 4 hides with 1 ploughteam and 4 serfs. On that estate there were 1 villein and 3 bordars with 1 team, on the second 2 villeins and land for 10 oxen, and on the smallest 1 villein and land for 6 oxen. There were 14 a. of meadow, 18 a. of pasture, and 4 a. of woodland. (fn. 201)

The ridge which extends north-east from Broadtown Hill divided pasture in the northwest part of the tithing from the arable lands in the south-east. In the Middle Ages there were open fields south of Bincknoll Castle. Honey Hill, halfway between the castle and Broadtown Hill, and 'Lynton' and 'le Hale', neither of which can be located, provided several pasture. (fn. 202) An area of common pasture, said in the 14th century to be badly drained, may have been that at Westmarsh in the north-east corner of the tithing referred to in the 17th century. Tenants of the lord of Bincknoll who held land at Chaddington in Lydiard Tregoze then had rights of pasture for sheep and cattle at Westmarsh. (fn. 203)

In the late 14th century the demesne of Bincknoll manor included 219 a. of arable and 25 a. of meadow land, the pasture at Honey Hill, 'Lynton', and 'le Hale', another 20 a. of several winter pasture, and common pasture for 200 sheep. A flock of 300 or more sheep was usually kept. Rents totalling £8 6s. 8d. were paid by customary tenants, and two free tenants held estates of 2 yardlands and of a few acres. (fn. 204) Other estates were small. In the early 13th century that of Goldcliff priory was valued at £1 a year and was entirely let to a tenant. (fn. 205) That of Bincknoll chapel was said to include 1 yardland in 1341 but later ½ yardland. (fn. 206) In 1301 a farm at Little Town included 40 a. and 6 a. of meadow; one there in 1496 was of 4 yardlands. (fn. 207) A farm at Cotmarsh in 1319 included 1 carucate of arable land and as much meadow, 25 a., as the demesne farm. (fn. 208)

In the late 16th century 140 a. of Westmarsh were inclosed by an agreement between the lord and tenants of Bincknoll manor. (fn. 209) No other inclosure award is recorded but by 1766 the whole tithing was held in severalty. (fn. 210) In the 1690s there were two farms derived from the demesne farm of Bincknoll manor and some eleven smaller holdings. Some of the smaller holdings had apparently been merged by the late 18th century when there were two large farms, two or three of moderate size, and six or seven small estates. (fn. 211) In 1845 the lands of Bincknoll manor were in four farms. The largest, 489 a., half arable, half pasture, occupied the south and east part of the tithing and was worked from Bincknoll House and Sandfurlong Farm. The other three, of 214 a., 139 a., and 107 a., were almost entirely of pasture, including both the lowland north of Broadtown Hill and the hill's north-western slopes. They were worked from farmsteads at Cotmarsh. There were then two other farms in the tithing, Little Town, 112 a., which was worked with Bincknoll farm, and Cockroost, 62 a. (fn. 212) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries much of the arable land in the tithing was converted to pasture and in 1920 the largest farm, Bincknoll, was principally a dairy farm. (fn. 213) Before the Second World War the lands south of Broadtown Hill became part of Broad Hinton Manor farm. (fn. 214) Great Cotmarsh and Little Cotmarsh farms, which measured 170 a. and 100 a. respectively in 1981, were used for dairying and stock rearing. (fn. 215)

In 1439–40 there was a mill at Bincknoll. (fn. 216) There were possible sites for water mills at Cotmarsh and east of Bincknoll Castle and for a windmill at Broadtown Hill or between it and the castle; at which, if any, the mill stood is not known.

Uffcott. There were estates of 3½ hides and 1½ hide at Uffcott in the 11th century. The larger had land for 1½ ploughteam and was valued at 30s. in 1086. The smaller had land in demesne for 1 team and was valued at 15s. in 1066 and 1086. (fn. 217)

In the early 17th century and probably earlier the open fields of Uffcott occupied most of the low flat land north and south of the village. There was common pasture on Uffcott Down in the south-east part of the tithing and on Uffcott common, an area of lowland pasture in the northwest corner. (fn. 218)

The demesne farm of Uffcott manor was small. In 1361 it consisted of 70 a. of arable land and pasture for 100 sheep. Tenants paid rents totalling 6s. 8d. (fn. 219) Godstow abbey had an estate of 4½ yardlands c. 1200 and three tenants of Lacock abbey held 2 yardlands and ½ hide between them in the 14th century. (fn. 220) The estate of Salisbury cathedral was valued at £3 a year c. 1210 and was held by two tenants. (fn. 221) Their holdings may have been of 5 yardlands each as were those of the dean and chapter and the chancellor after the division of the estate. (fn. 222) In the early 17th century both were leased in moieties and the chancellor's estate was sometimes further subdivided. (fn. 223)

A map of Uffcott in 1616 shows small closes around the village. The largest several holding, 25 a. north of the Swindon-Devizes road, was part of the demesne farm and the tenant of Elcombe manor farm held a close of 20 a. in the north-east corner of Uffcott. There were two substantial farms in the tithing, the demesne farm and a copyhold farm of 6 yardlands, and three freeholds of 1 yardland each. The demesne included 108 a. of arable, 30 a. of inclosed pasture and meadow, and common pasture for 360 sheep. (fn. 224) By the mid 18th century part of the copyhold had probably been absorbed into the demesne farm, Uffcott farm, which then included 152 a. of arable land and some 50 a. of inclosed pasture and meadow. (fn. 225) Some 20 a. of Uffcott common were inclosed between 1616 and 1633 (fn. 226) and by the 1790s the whole common had become part of Uffcott farm. There was then a total of some 90 a. of inclosed land but the down was still common and East, West, Middle, and Uffcott fields were open. Common husbandry was ended in 1797 under an Act of 1796. Allotments were then made of all lands in the tithing, whether newly or previously inclosed. Some 295 a., including Hackpen Hill and most of the eastern part of the tithing, were allotted to the Charterhouse. The chancellor of Salisbury's land, 58 a., lay south-west and the dean and chapter's land, 61 a., north-east of the village. An allotment of 97 a. in the west of the tithing was made in place of tithes to St. Nicholas's hospital in Salisbury. (fn. 227)

From the mid 16th century to the early 18th members of the Cleeter family were lessees of Uffcott farm. (fn. 228) In the 19th century the farm was held by members of the Brown family as tenants. (fn. 229) It was then principally arable with some sheep. (fn. 230) Wiltshire county council bought the farm in 1919 for division into smallholdings for former soldiers (fn. 231) but c. 1922 Uffcott was taken in hand as a single farm. In 1981 it was of c. 900 a. and was chiefly arable, although a dairy herd and some beef cattle were kept. (fn. 232) The lands of the dean and chapter and the chancellor of Salisbury cathedral were leased to local farmers for much of the 19th century and eventually became part of Uffcott farm. (fn. 233) Lands belonging to St. Nicholas's hospital were leased to the owners of Uffcott farm. (fn. 234)

Local Government.

From the 15th century two tithingmen, representing Hinton Wase and Hinton Columbers, were sent from Broad Hinton to courts of Selkley hundred. (fn. 235) Courts baron with views of frankpledge were held for Broad Hinton manor in the 18th century. The homage presented tenurial matters and necessary repairs to walls and bounds. Other business before the courts included the regulation of common pastures and watercourses. (fn. 236)

Although the tenant of Uffcott farm was said to owe suit at Elcombe manor court in the early 18th century, there is no record of the transaction of business from Uffcott in the rolls of that court. (fn. 237) Records of Broad Town manor courts are described elsewhere. (fn. 238) None is known for Bincknoll manor.

Overseers and some other officers were usually appointed by tithing in the 17th century. Although two overseers were appointed for the whole parish in 1637–8, there was an overseer and a wayman for Broad Hinton township and each of the tithings of Bincknoll, Uffcott, and Broad Town in 1639. In the 1670s overseers were appointed for Broad Hinton, Uffcott, and the lands 'below the hill', presumably the northern part of Bincknoll tithing and that part of Broad Town within the parish. Their receipts are recorded separately but it is not clear whether each was responsible for the relief of the poor in his own tithing or area. (fn. 239) In 1771 there were again two overseers for the whole parish. (fn. 240) In 1632 an appeal was made to the justices that Winterbourne Bassett should contribute to the relief of Broad Hinton's numerous poor; (fn. 241) on what grounds and with what success is not known. Expenditure on the poor rose from £8 a year in the late 17th century to the same sum monthly in the 1770s. (fn. 242) In the 1830s it was £713 a year. (fn. 243) Two cottages opposite the school, used as a poorhouse in the early 19th century, were later let at very low rents. They were sold in 1881. (fn. 244) Broad Hinton became part of Marlborough poor-law union in 1835. (fn. 245)

Church.

There was a church at Uffcott in the late 11th century but nothing is known of it after 1146. (fn. 246) There was probably a church at Broad Hinton in the 12th century. It was appropriated by the hospital of St. Nicholas in Salisbury in 1253 and presumably served by a chaplain until 1259 when a vicarage was ordained. (fn. 247) In 1846 the northern part of the parish became part of the ecclesiastical parish of Broad Town. (fn. 248) The remainder, as Broad Hinton parish, was served in plurality with Winterbourne Bassett from 1951 until 1975. Thereafter the living was part of the Upper Kennet team ministry. (fn. 249)

Sir Hugh of Hinton was patron of the church c. 1226 and in 1253 his son Richard granted the advowson to St. Nicholas's hospital. (fn. 250) The advowson was not mentioned when the vicarage was ordained and the living apparently remained in the gift of the bishop of Salisbury, patron of the hospital, until the 15th century. Probably to protect the bishop's rights a vicar admitted in 1321 was said to have been collated, although he held papal bulls of provision. (fn. 251) In 1438 the king presented sede vacante. (fn. 252) The bishop apparently surrendered the advowson in 1478, when the hospital was granted a new constitution. The master of St. Nicholas's first presented to Broad Hinton in that year but his candidate was judged inadequate and the patronage reverted to the bishop for that turn. Although the hospital was thereafter acknowledged as patron, others frequently presented by grant or lapse in the 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1551 a presentation made by Roland Swinburne, a canon of Salisbury, was found invalid, perhaps because of Swinburne's or his candidate's Catholicism, and the advowson was returned to the hospital. In 1576 the candidate presented by another grantee, Sir Thomas Wroughton, the lessee of the rectory estate, was rejected as inadequately educated but later collated to the vicarage on promise of improvement. (fn. 253) In 1611 the Crown presented by lapse and in 1614 Richard Pugh was patron, the advowson having been granted for a turn to Sir Giles Wroughton, the lessee of the rectory estate, by Wroughton to Richard Constable, and by Constable to Pugh. Edward Northey was patron in 1629 (fn. 254) and in 1635 the next presentation was granted to Edward Nicholas, the brother of the hospital's master. (fn. 255) That right was apparently not used and after the Restoration St. Nicholas's presented. (fn. 256) Between 1951 and 1975 Magdalen College, Oxford, the patron of Winterbourne Bassett, and the hospital held the advowson alternately. (fn. 257) In 1975 provision was made for the appointment of a vicar of Broad Hinton by the team rector and the bishop of Salisbury. (fn. 258)

Before 1253 the rector probably received all tithes from the parish except those paid from the demesne of Broad Town manor to Wallingford priory, and perhaps except those from Bincknoll and Uffcott which were granted to the priories of St. Denis in Southampton and of Kington St. Michael. (fn. 259) There was a glebe house c. 1226. Sir Hugh of Hinton then granted to the church the road between that house and his own, and pasture for four beasts and a palfrey. (fn. 260)

In 1291 Broad Hinton vicarage was valued at £5 6s. 8d., close to the average for vicarages in Avebury deanery. (fn. 261) The endowment was increased in 1295. (fn. 262) Broad Hinton was one of the wealthier livings in the deanery in 1535, when the vicar's clear yearly income was £14 18s. 10d., and in the early 1830s, when he received on average £322 a year. (fn. 263) From 1846 the vicar paid £10 a year towards the stipend of the curate of Broad Town. (fn. 264)

At its ordination the vicarage was explicitly endowed with all tithes from the rectorial glebe and by implication with tithes other than corn from the rest of the parish. In 1295 the vicar was entitled to hay tithes from 'below the hill', that is from lands north-west of the ridge between Broadtown Hill and Bincknoll Castle, and to 1 a. in place of certain tithes from Uffcott. (fn. 265) In 1341 the vicar's 'small' tithes were valued at 40s. a year and the hay tithes at 27s. a year. (fn. 266) By the late 17th century compositions had been made for some hay and other tithes from Broad Town and Bincknoll but the sources of the vicar's income had otherwise changed little. Although wool, lamb, and other tithes were then said to be due from the whole parish, the land of Uffcott manor remained exempt from vicarial tithes. (fn. 267) In 1797 no vicarial tithe was paid from Uffcott manor except for two small moduses. Other vicarial tithes from Uffcott were then replaced by an allotment of 22 a. and in 1845 those from the rest of the parish were valued at £382 and commuted. (fn. 268)

To the glebe of a house and 2 a. granted to the vicar in 1259 were added 16 a. and grazing for two cows on pasture belonging to the rectory estate in 1295. (fn. 269) In 1341 the glebe was 1 carucate valued at 30s. a year, demesne meadow valued at 8s., and rents and services at 10s. (fn. 270) In the late 17th century, however, the vicar held only 5 a. of arable and 2 a. of meadow land. (fn. 271) The glebe land, including that at Uffcott, was sold, apparently in the 20th century. (fn. 272) In 1783 the stone vicarage house of two storeys and nine rooms had a roof of tile and thatch. (fn. 273) It was partly rebuilt to designs by W. E. Baverstock in 1867 and was sold in 1978. A new vicarage house was built south of the church. (fn. 274)

Tithes granted to the priory of St. Denis in Southampton were said in 1291 and later to be the endowments of a chapel at Bincknoll. (fn. 275) There is no evidence that a chapel was built.

In 1459 John Parys, the vicar, was licensed to hold two additional benefices. He had earlier been outlawed for debt and in spite of his pluralism the debt remained outstanding at his death c. 1468. (fn. 276) In the 16th century the parish suffered religious upheaval and the church neglect. In 1553 parishioners refused to receive communion for fear of falling masonry. The broken stonework allowed so many birds into the chancel that the minister could not stand by the communion table and there was no seat for him during the reading of the psalms. Several parishioners were reported to the commissioners for ecclesiastical causes in 1556 for failing to return church property removed under Edward VI. (fn. 277) Marriage, protestantism, or both presumably caused the deprivation of the vicar in 1554 and the flight abroad of his successor in 1556. (fn. 278) John Buckwell, whose learning was judged insufficient at his appointment in 1576, was presented by the churchwardens in the 1580s for inability to preach, neglect of catechizing, and failure to wear the prescribed dress. (fn. 279) After the Restoration no major complaint was made about the buildings or the clergy, although some furnishings were still lacking. (fn. 280) Between 1781 and 1866 most incumbents were non-resident pluralists. (fn. 281) An exception was W. L. Rham, vicar 1804–7, who was later a leading agriculturalist. (fn. 282) In 1783, when both vicar and curate were non-resident, a service was held each Sunday, alternately in the morning and the evening, and communion was celebrated four times a year. (fn. 283) On Census Sunday in 1851 the morning and afternoon services were attended by congregations of 100 and 72 respectively; the numbers were said to be smaller than usual. In 1864 there were additional services at festivals and in Lent, and communion was celebrated eight times a year. (fn. 284) Occasional services were held at a house in Uffcott in the late 19th century. (fn. 285) In 1919 Alfred Turner gave part of the income from a house, shop, and garden to buy 1 ton of coal for the church every year. In 1960 £7 was spent on fuel. (fn. 286)

The church was called St. Mary's in the 13th century but in the 19th century ST. PETER'S. (fn. 287) It has a chancel with a south organ chamber, a nave with a south porch, all of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, and a west tower faced with ashlar. Some 12th-century masonry fragments in the nave and a late 12th-century priest's doorway, which has been moved to the organ chamber, survive in it. The chancel was altered and the nave rebuilt in the 13th century. In the 15th century or early 16th the tower was built, and also in the early 16th century a rood stair was inserted in the north wall of the nave. The nave roof was renewed in the 17th century and the east end of the chancel was altered or rebuilt in the 18th. In 1879 the church was restored by C. E. Ponting and many medieval features of the nave were renewed. (fn. 288) The chancel was restored in a uniform 13th-century style, the chancel arch was enlarged, and the original small arch reset between the chancel and the new organ chamber.

The parish had a chalice weighing 11 oz. in 1553. (fn. 289) A chalice, a paten, and two flagons, given in 1677, were stolen from the church in 1756 but were recovered soon afterwards. (fn. 290) That plate and a chalice, paten, and ciborium of the 20th century were held by the parish in 1981. (fn. 291) There were two bells in 1553. (fn. 292) Three new bells were hung in 1664 and two more in the 18th century. In 1927 there were six bells, of which (v) and (vi) were of 1664 and the rest were cast or recast in the 19th century. (fn. 293) Those bells hung in the church in 1981. (fn. 294) There are registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials from 1612. Missing are those of marriages for the years 1620–5 and 1745–57, and those of burials for the years 1678–1708 and 1743–57. (fn. 295)

Nonconformity.

There were three nonconformists in the parish in 1676 but none in 1783. (fn. 296) In 1846 a house, probably in Broad Hinton village, was licensed for dissenters' meetings. (fn. 297) That may have been the house at which a 'Bible Christian or Baptist' held meetings in 1864. There were then c. 50 nonconformists, including 'Baptists or Brethren', Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, and Mormons. (fn. 298) Some may have attended chapels in Broad Town, where nonconformity flourished in the 19th century. (fn. 299) A Methodist chapel in Broad Hinton was apparently built in the late 19th century and in use in 1925. (fn. 300) It was disused in 1981. The 'Brethren' of 1864 may have been Plymouth Brethren, a group of whom met in houses in the parish in the 1920s and 1930s. (fn. 301)

Education.

In the early 18th century the children of the poor were taught to read by the vicar. (fn. 302) In 1743 Thomas Bennet gave a rent charge of £20 a year from Quidhampton manor in Wroughton to pay a schoolmaster to teach poor children between the ages of six and fifteen. In 1751 he gave a house in Broad Hinton village for the school and teacher and another £2 a year from Quidhampton for its maintenance. (fn. 303) There were c. 50 pupils in the early 19th century but the school was short of books and in 1818 the provision for the education of the poor was said to be insufficient. (fn. 304) Another classroom was added in 1845 but in 1847 the older, thatched, part of the building was burned down. A new stone school, with two schoolrooms and a teacher's house, was immediately built. (fn. 305) Attendance rose to between 60 and 80 in the 1850s, and between 1865 and 1875 a private school with c. 60 pupils also flourished in the parish. (fn. 306) The buildings of the endowed school were extended in 1882 but attendance fell to between 55 and 65 in the late 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th, and to c. 40 in the 1930s. (fn. 307) In the mid 19th century the schoolmaster sometimes had an assistant, but there was usually only one teacher until 1919 when three were appointed. (fn. 308) In 1981 there were 58 pupils from Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett parishes. (fn. 309)

In 1848 £36, the surplus of money raised for rebuilding the school, was invested and the income used to pay for fire insurance. In that year £50 given by Mary Brown to provide coals for the school was also invested. The income from both investments and the rent charge from Quidhampton were used as general school funds in the 20th century. (fn. 310)

Charities for the Poor.

In 1614 John Sherston gave 5s. a year to buy bread for the poor. Before 1834 the income was added to parish funds and 5s. was paid each year from the rates to buy loaves for children attending Sunday school. In 1850 £7 17s. 11d. was contributed by parishioners to restore the benefaction. The income of 5s. was then used to buy buns for schoolchildren at Easter. (fn. 311) By a Scheme of 1977 the charity was joined with the Broad Hinton portion of that of Henry Smith. The income of the combined charity, the Broad Hinton Relief in Need fund, was c. £170 in 1981 and was distributed among elderly residents at Christmas. (fn. 312)

By will dated 1627 Henry Smith established a charity for the poor of various places including Broad Hinton. An estate at Stoughton (Leics.) provided £220 a year, £7 of which was Broad Hinton's share. (fn. 313) In the 1770s the income was £5 but it rose to £15 in the early 19th century and was said to be £21 in 1880. It was spent on clothing and bedding for all deserving poor of the parish in turn. (fn. 314) In 1884 the income was divided between the new parishes of Broad Town, which was allotted three elevenths of the total, and Broad Hinton, which received the remainder. Between 1904 and 1961 the total income was c. £10 a year. It had risen to £56 by 1974 when Broad Hinton's share was used to buy fuel for fourteen elderly residents. (fn. 315)

Boys from the part of Broad Town manor which lay in Broad Hinton were beneficiaries of the apprenticing charity established by Sarah, duchess of Somerset (d. 1692), and known as the Broad Town Trust. An account of the charity is given elsewhere. (fn. 316)

In 1741 Elizabeth Bennet gave rents totalling £13 8s. 2d. a year from lands in Lydiard Tregoze and Cherhill to apprentice children from Broad Hinton parish. (fn. 317) One or two boys were apprenticed every year until the 1790s and one every two years thereafter. (fn. 318) By 1834 the premium had been reduced from £20 to £15, the sum paid by the Broad Town Trust, but it was difficult to find masters willing to accept so small a payment. After 1866 £2 rent from Lydiard Tregoze was not paid: the owner of the lands later successfully claimed exemption under the Real Property Limitation Act of 1874. In the late 19th century and the early 20th the annual income of £10 was used to apprentice children from the modern parish of Broad Hinton. The needs of Broad Town parish were thought to be met by the Broad Town Trust. (fn. 319) By a Scheme of 1931 the purposes of the charity were extended to include assistance in the education or training of any poor parishioner. The income, c. £45 a year in 1981, was used to buy tools for apprentices. (fn. 320)

By will proved 1919 Alfred Turner gave part of the income from a house, shop, and garden to provide coal for farmworkers. In 1960 £1 was spent on coal. (fn. 321)