Broughton, Aylesbury

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Broughton
latitude= 51.816896
longitude= -0.775106
civil_parish= Bierton with Broughton
shire_district= Aylesbury Vale
shire_county= Buckinghamshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Buckingham
post_town= AYLESBURY
postcode_district= HP21, HP22
postcode_area= HP
dial_code= 01296
os_grid_reference= SP8413

Broughton is a hamlet to the east of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England and together with Bierton and other neighbouring hamlets forms part of the civil parish of Bierton with Broughton. Broughton is also the name of a nearby housing estate in Aylesbury itself.

Broughton was first recorded as being part of the manor of Bierton in the late 13th century. The hamlet name is Anglo-Saxon and means "farm by a brook". The brook in this case is the Bearbrook that rises near Bedgrove, flows through Broughton then back into Aylesbury before joining the River Thame near Quarrendon.

In the 1840s a new branch railway was constructed linking Aylesbury to the Midlands that crossed the road that linked Broughton with Bierton. A public house and signalmen's cottages were constructed at the level crossing and the area became known as Broughton Crossing. Today this is considered a separate hamlet from Broughton itself.

In the 1960s British housing boom land that belonged to the parish of Bierton was sold to developers and the housing estate of Broughton was constructed. The estate is what many local people immediately think of when they hear the word 'Broughton' as it is a very popular estate on which to live. All that separates Broughton hamlet from Broughton estate today is the brook from which the hamlet first took its name.

In the 2001 census the population of Broughton housing estate was 5,802 people.

Broughton is served by Broughton Infant School, for children aged from three to seven, and Broughton Junior School, for children aged from seven to eleven. Both are community schools, which each take approximately 200 pupils.

External links

* [http://www.broughton.bucks.sch.uk/ Broughton Junior School website]