Wroughton

"WROUGHTON, a parish in a detached portion of the hundred of Elstob, county Wilts, 3 miles S.W. of Swindon, and 9 N. of Marlborough. It is comprised within the parliamentary borough of Cricklade, and includes the tythings of Elcombe, Overtown, Salthrop, and Westlecott. The upper portion of the parish is principally arable, with some sheep-walks, but the lower lands are chiefly in dairy farms, on which considerable quantities of cheese are made. The soil is in parts loamy and in others clay. The principal seats are Wroughton House and Salthrop Lodge. The Wilts and Berks canal and the Great Western railway pass in the vicinity.

The living consists of a sinecure rectory in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester, and of a vicarage,* value £160, in the patronage of the rector. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. Helen, is of the 11th century. The Wesleyans have a chapel. There is a National school with a small endowment, now held in an old chapel near the church. In this parish are remains of a British encampment called Barbary Castle. The Dean and Chapter of Winchester and W. Wyndham Codrington, Esq., are lords of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

Wroughton is 3 miles SW of Swindon. Grid Ref SU147805. Population 1,545 in 1831, 4,085 in 1951.