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Medieval Archaeology & Buildings
in the Hundred of Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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The interior of the Great Barn, or Tithe Barn, in Bradford on Avon
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Bradford on Avon and the villages that formed the Bradford Hundred -Atworth, Broughton Gifford, Chalfield, Holt, Limpley Stoke, Monkton Farleigh, South Wraxall, Westwood, Wingfield and Winsley- are rich in buildings of the Medieval Period (taken as being from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the Tudors in 1485). Churches, bridges, manor houses, barns and the complete Barton Farm complex. Alas, no castle, unless the once-fortified manor house at Great Chalfield counts and Farleigh Hungerford Castle lies only two miles from the border.
Throughout the Medieval Period, and a bit beyond, the area was dominated by the great estate of the Abbey of Shaftesbury which had been granted by the Saxon king Æthelred II in 1001. The Abbey owned the large Manor of Bradford, although various parts were gradually granted away and sub-manors became established. An important Priory was established in Monkton Farleigh in the 12th century with lands there, in South Wraxall, Broughton Gifford and other places such as Chippenham.
Little medieval archaeology has so far been done in the town and villages. Notable were excavations at the West Barn and elsewhere around Barton Farm.
Great Chalfield is largely made up of a medieval group of the Manor House and the little church All Saints.
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A 13th century sculpture of a lady in a wimple head-dress in Holy Trinity Church, Bradford on Avon
Very few medieval objects have so far made it to the > Museum’s Collection
A notable exception is this carved lion, which may date from the 13th or 14th centuries
The parish church of Holy Trinity was built in the 12th century, after the Norman conquest, with some later medieval additions. It was the minster or mother church of the large ancient parish, with chapels in the villages of Atworth, Holt, South Wraxall and Winsley.
Barton Farm is an important group of medieval buildings- a huge 14th century barn, smaller and slightly later granary, farmhouse with medieval features and a 14th century bridge over the river Avon.
Other buildings in Bradford preserve some medieval features, like the 15th century Priory Barn (left) in Newtown, St Mary Tory Chapel, the Shambles and the two southern gothic arches of the Town Bridge. Other houses of the town centre may conceal medieval features behind later façades.
The churches of Atworth, Holt, South Wraxall and Winsley preserve their medieval towers, although most of the rest of the structure has been replaced by later building. Atworth additionally has a large barn and South Wraxall has another of the area’s late medieval manor houses.
St Peter’s church at Monkton Farleigh retains its Norman tower and a romanesque doorway. Of the medieval Cluniac Priory that was founded in 1125 very little remains or is visible, although sculpture from the Priory can be seen in Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes.
St Mary’s church at Westwood is mostly of the 15th century with a fine perpendicular style tower. Next to it is a late medieval manor house and large barn.
Of Wingfield church, only the tower remains from the medieval building.
Most of the parish church of Broughton Gifford dates to various times in the Medieval Period. Monkton House was a possession of Monkton Farleigh Priory in the middle ages.
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