The name is Old English and meant village by the brook. In the Domesday Book, it is listed as owned by a Walter Giffard and the tenant was a Hugh de Bolbec. In the 6th century, its name was spelt Brotone, which is still its customary pronunciation. The original Northampton to London turnpike came through the village. The current main route, the M1 motorway, is very near and Junction 14 is barely half a mile away from the original village centre. The Milton Keynes grid road, Portway, forms the district's northern boundary and Tongwell Street provides its western. The section of the old turnpike, once the A50, is now part of the A5130. The original route through centre of the old village, named 'London Road', was bypassed in the early 1970s, the newer route runs between it and another MK district, Brook Furlong, and provides the eastern boundary. Finally, Chaffron Way, provides the southern boundary: in mid-2009 this was extended to meet the A5130 and was opened to traffic in March 2010. The district can be split into at least three areas. The original Broughton village forms part of a conservation area at the northern end, bounded by the brook and the A5130. Broughton Atterbury is an area of new build housing, predominantly between the Western side of the brook and the V11 grid road: this area has recently been completed and is awaiting final road surfacing. Broughton Gate is a new area, part of the Milton Keynes Eastern Expansion area and covers the area to the East of the brook. The iconic cable-stayed bridge is one of two main road crossing across Broughton Brook, the third and newest is the newly completed H7 extension between Broughton and the neighbouring district of Kingston.
The facilities in the area include a "Hungry Horse" chain public house, and a range of small shops, hair dressers and convenience stores. Broughton is within easy walking distance of the Milton Keynes Coachway. The Kingston Shopping Centre which includes one of the UK's larger Tesco stores, a variety of retail outlets, a branch library and a community centre is in the adjacent grid-square. A site for a community playing fields has been also been identified between the old village and the primary school. is located on the edge of this field and hosts a variety of groups. The Broughton Brook linear park stretches the length of the brook as it travels through the area. This provides recreation space for residents. In the North end of Broughton, there is considerable open space and a conservation area. Although the population of this area has grown considerably, this open space is underused and provides a quiet retreat.
Civil parish
, Broughton CP operates as a joint parish council with Milton Keynes CP, known as Broughton and Milton Keynes Parish Council. This part of the combined parish includes Broughton itself, Broughton Manor and Brooklands. The latter two are modern development districts that are part of the 'Eastern Expansion Area'. Consequently they have "city streets" rather than grid roads: Countess Way is a continuation of Chaffron Way but is both a local service road and a city distributor road. The same is true of Fen Street.
Brooklands
Brooklands is primarily a housing area: a building of note is the Brooklands Campus of Walton High School, whose main campus is in Walnut Tree.
St Lawrence's Church in Broughton is 14th-century church with a 15th-century tower. A series of wall paintings covering large parts of the north and south walls, discovered during an 1849 restoration, are the chief interest of the church. The paintings include a 14th-century Pietà, a Doom, St Helena and St Eligius, and St George slaying the Dragon. The Rectors of St Lawrence are recorded from the end of 1261 to date, many may be interned within the grounds of St Lawrence.
Canal development
Its promoters hope that a proposed new waterway between Milton Keynes and Bedford will run along the line of Broughton Brook.
