Broughton is a district in Flintshire, Wales, close to the Wales–England border, located to the west of the city of Chester, England, in the community of Broughton and Bretton. Along with the nearby village of Bretton, the total population was 5,791 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 5,974 at the 2011 Census. Broughton is home to a large aircraft factory at Hawarden Airport. This was completed in 1939 for use by Vickers-Armstrongs, who built 5,786 Wellington bombers. De Havilland Aircraft took over the factory in 1948 and built 2,816 planes of several designs. Today, the plant is the Airbus wing factory, manufacturing wings for the A320, A330/A340, A350, and A380 aircraft. Airbus wings produced in Broughton are flown out in Airbus Beluga planes with the exception of the large A380 wings which are transported by barge along the River Dee to the nearby Mostyn docks. The Beluga XL was launched in 2019. The Broughton factory was featured in the 2011 BBC Television programmeHow to Build a Super Jumbo Wing. The town is home to Welsh Premier League football team Airbus UK Broughton, who joined the highest division of the Welsh football pyramid in 2004 and remained there for 13 years, before relegation at the end of the 2016/17 season. They subsequently won promotion back to the Welsh Premier League for the 2019/20 season. The club was formed in 1946 as Vickers-Armstrongs, and several name changes took place until it adopted the current name. Broughton has a primary school with over 500 pupils and pre-school nursery, which was created when the infant and junior schools amalgamated. The schools most recent ESTYN report rated the school Excellent in all areas. The school incorporates the local library. The students wear a distinctive purple uniform. There is a playgroup and toddler group based at the school. The town shopping park is known as Broughton Shopping Park, where branches of major stores such as Tesco can be found as well as Cineworld IMAX and various restaurants. In the village centre there is a small collection of shops. The Offas Dyke Hotel is sited on Broughton Hall Road. The ITV1 drama series, Midsomer Murders has used Broughton as a filming location. Broughton Hall was a large manor house that was situated on the housing estate where Forest Drive is now. Broughton War Memorial Institute is situated on Main Road opposite the junction with Broughton Hall Road. This building was built in lieu of a memorial stone to commemorate the sacrifice by residents of the village in military conflicts between 1914 and 1919, and hosts groups and events for the benefit of local people all year round. Broughton is twinned with Auzeville-Tolosane, a Commune in the suburbs of Toulouse, France.
