2010 : Old houses on High Street, Bromham

Image: © Maurice Pullin Taken: 21 Mar 2010

A lively village website at: http://www.bromham.org.uk/category/News.aspx a little short on village history perhaps, but here is a snippet from: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom.php?id=37 "There is little evidence of Saxon settlement here, although finds such as a stirrup mount and a strap end have been made. Saxon building and utensils were of wood and this has disappeared but we know that there was a later Saxon settlement as it is recorded in the Domesday Book. The fact that there was also a priest, and therefore a church, would indicate that this was a community of some standing. It is most likely that there was continuous occupation from Romano British times. In 1086 the Domesday Book gives us some idea of the size of the village. It was held by the king and had sufficient land for 10 plough teams. Modern interpretation of the numbers recorded would give a population of between 220 and 260. There were also 2 mills, meadowland, pasture and a small wood. Around 1087 Bromham was given to Battle Abbey, founded by William I to give thanks for his victory, and it retained it until the dissolution in 1538. There is much evidence of medieval settlement here, the church, house sites, earth-works, a deer park and more iron working. A medieval village also developed at Chittoe with its own mill and chapel of ease. By the early 14th century the chief animal husbandry was sheep and pigs, with much land (about 336 acres) used for growing cereals. Weaving was most likely to have been well established by this time. The late 15th century saw the building of Porch House, originally the Chantry, for the chantry priest of the Tocates chapel (1492)."

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