Purton, Wiltshire

Description
Purton, a village and a parish in Wiltshire. The village stands on an eminence, 1 mile W of the North Wiltshire Canal, and 4 1/2 miles NW of Swindon. It has a station on the G.W.R., 81 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Swindon. The parish contains also Braydon hamlet and Cricklade Workhouse, Acreage, 6465 ; population of the civil parish, 2432; of the ecclesiastical, 2495. There is a parish council consisting of fifteen members. Fairs are held on the Tuesday before 6 May and the Friday after 19 Sept, The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; gross value, £540 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Shaftesbury. The church is a handsome edifice with two towers and a spire, and contains monuments of the Maskelynes and others; it has been well restored. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, and Methodist chapels, a cottage hospital, and a workmen's institute.