BROUGHTON, a parish in the eastern division of
the wapentake of MANLEY, parts of LINDSEY, county of
LINCOLN, 3 miles (W.N.W.) from Glandford-Bridge,
containing, with Manby and Castlethorp, 827 inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Stow, and
diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £21,
and in the patronage of Richard Burton, Esq. The
church is dedicated to St. Mary. The interest of £200,
left by Catherine Thompson, is applied to the instruction
of children. Here was a Roman station, at which,
about the year 400, an auxiliary troop, of Dalmatian
cavalry was quartered: coins, bricks, and other relics
of the Romans have been found at various times. A
Cistercian nunnery was founded by William de Alta
Ripa, before the year 1185, the establishment of which,
at the time of the dissolution, consisted of a prioress
and six nuns, whose revenue was estimated at about
£20; the site is now occupied by a farm-house, a doorway
in which is the only relic of the conventual buildings.
There is a large decoy for wild fowl on the low
grounds, near the river Ancholme.