Parishes: Broadwell

BROADWELL

Broad well adjoins Stow-on-the-Wold on the north-west. The ancient parish covered 1,817 a., (fn. 1) compact in shape and bounded on the east by the River Evenlode, which at this point formed the county boundary also until 1935. (fn. 2) The western boundary of the parish lay on the ridge running north from Stow, following the ancient saltway from Stow to Evesham for 350 yards and the Foss Way in two places, and extended into Stow along High Street to within a few yards of Stow market square before turning east along the lane towards Well Lane at Parson's Corner; the southern boundary follows for part of its course the Caudwell (formerly Queenmoor) brook. (fn. 3) These were the limits of Broadwell in Saxon times, (fn. 4) and they survived until 1935 when 71 a. forming the south-west corner and including Fosseway House were transferred from Broadwell to Stow, (fn. 5) though remaining in Broadwell for ecclesiastical purposes. (fn. 6)

The eastern half of the parish is flat, at about 400 ft., but on the west the land rises sharply to over 750 ft. on the Foss Way. The soil on the higher ground is stone-brash overlying the Upper and Middle Lias Clays and outcrops of Inferior Oolite and Chipping Norton Limestone, which were once quarried to provide road-metal. On the lower ground heavy clay overlies the Lower Lias and Boulder Clays, with alluvial deposits along the River Evenlode and the lower reaches of its tributaries. (fn. 7) A number of springs rises from the shallow stratum of the Middle Lias, and three main streams, the Caudwell brook, the Mill brook, and the Allis brook, (fn. 8) run across the parish to drain into the Evenlode, which follows a meandering course and floods regularly in winter. (fn. 9)

The wooded appearance of the landscape is given by the large elms in the hedgerows. In 1545 there were 200 elms and ashes growing on the manor, (fn. 10) and the lops of the willows in the village were a source of profit; (fn. 11) elms and ashes were planted on the green in the early 18th century. (fn. 12) In 1884 the only considerable plantation was Crab Orchard on the northern boundary, which in the 20th century grew oak and hazel. At Broadwell Hill a covert and the trees in the park were planted in the late 19th century. (fn. 13) Over half of the farm-land of the parish is under the plough; most of the arable is on the higher ground, and there is little below the 450 ft. level. (fn. 14)

The village of Broadwell lies half a mile from the Foss Way, roughly at the centre of the parish just below the 500 ft. level, where the land flattens out at the bottom of the hill leading up to Stow. It is just below the Middle Lias stratum, and thus is well supplied with spring water. Near the largest spring, from which Broadwell is thought to derive its name, (fn. 15) at the upper and north-west end of the village, are the church, manor-house, and home farm, and a little north of them is the site of a Roman villa. (fn. 16) Below the church is the former village green, with the stream from the spring running through it, and beyond again is a village street composed of farmhouses, cottages, and barns, of the 17th century and later.

It is uncertain whether the village once centred on the green. Most of the larger houses lie near it, and the smithy, (fn. 17) the pound, (fn. 18) and both inns (fn. 19) were on the edge of its lower end. There is no evidence, however, that there were ever cottages round the upper end near the church, and the cottages round the lower end, though possibly replacing earlier ones, were built in the 19th century. Fox's Row is said to have been built by a Mr. Fox; (fn. 20) Pimlico Row, partly demolished in 1959, was 'newly built' in 1858. (fn. 21) By 1793 the green had been divided, by tracks and by farm buildings across it, into upper, middle, and lower greens, and the common land was then allotted to various landowners. (fn. 22) A piece of the former green was added to the churchyard c. 1921, (fn. 23) and in 1952 the lower end was presented to the parish council and laid out as a recreation ground. (fn. 24)

Between the First and Second World Wars scattered houses were built on the outskirts of the village, (fn. 25) and between 1950 and 1960 the rural district council built an estate of nearly 30 houses north of the village, by Kennel Lane. In the same period about ten old cottages in the village were pulled down to make room for new building. (fn. 26) Electricity was supplied to the village under an Act of 1928: (fn. 27) at the end of the Second World War only a few houses used electricity, but by 1953 only two houses had no supply. Water was provided by a pipe from the spring by the church until 1953, when a main water supply was brought to the village. (fn. 28)

The road skirting the south-east side of the green leads south-west up the hill towards Stow, joining the Foss Way (turnpiked in 1755) (fn. 29) half a mile from the town, and north-east towards Evenlode. The causeway leading to Evenlode was mentioned in 1587, (fn. 30) and the road crossed the river in 1621 by New Bridge (fn. 31) (called Stock Bridge by 1793). (fn. 32) From the east corner of the green a road ran up the northeast side, fording the Mill brook and passing Rectory Farm, to the church, where it turned sharply uphill towards the Foss Way. After inclosure in 1793 a road was set out round the west side of the green, and another opened from the church north-west to Donnington across the Foss Way. A third road ran from the Evenlode road 200 yards east of the green towards Oddington, and field tracks (mentioned in 1597) (fn. 33) ran off from the church and Rectory Farm in a north-easterly direction. (fn. 34) The first of these tracks was marked for its first half mile only by hedgerows in 1960; the second, Kennel Lane, has become the main access to the council-house estate.

The population of Broadwell may have fallen slightly between the 11th century and the 16th. Domesday enumerated 48 persons, including 13 servi; (fn. 35) in 1327 20 people were assessed for the subsidy; (fn. 36) in 1381 71 people paid poll tax; (fn. 37) and in 1563 there were about 20 households. (fn. 38) The evidence for population in the 17th century is contradictory; for example, there were said to be about 24 families in 1650, (fn. 39) while 42 householders were listed in the hearth tax assessment of 1672. (fn. 40) During the 18th century the population seems to have remained roughly constant, (fn. 41) though there is evidence of some new building. (fn. 42) In 1801 it was 239, and thereafter rose steadily to a peak of 404 in 1871. After falling to 294 in 1921 it rose slowly until 1951, (fn. 43) and thereafter more rapidly to over 400 in 1960. (fn. 44)

Except for the houses on the council estate, which are of brown brick or prefabricated concrete, most of the houses are of stone, with Cotswold stone roofs. Millbrook and the Bank are substantial 17th-century houses of rubble masonry in the traditional Cotswold style. Millbrook appears to have been enlarged and restored in 1720, (fn. 45) and additions to it were made by Sir Guy Dawber in 1890. (fn. 46) Temple Farm and Quinmoor House are rather smaller, but each has an arched doorway. Broadwell Hill Farm, of c. 1700, has mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights. Two 18th-century farm-houses, and the 18th- and 19th-century cottages, show little departure from the traditional style. (fn. 47) Broadwell Manor, however, which was rebuilt in 1757 (fn. 48) on the site of a T-shaped 17th-century house, (fn. 49) is of ashlar, with a slate roof. The entrance front is of five bays; the central portion breaks forward and is surmounted by a pediment, the windows have moulded architraves and keystones, and there is a modillion cornice below a parapet with ball finials. Part of the 17th-century house survives at the back. The 17thand 18th-century cottages, which may have been built to replace earlier timber buildings, (fn. 50) stand singly and in pairs, whereas some of the 19thcentury cottages are in rows of five and six. A feature of the village is the number of large stone barns, and several of the privately built modern houses are of stone and in the traditional style. (fn. 51)

Two large Victorian mansions built away from the village have many of the features but little of the appearance of Cotswold houses. Broadwell Hill, standing in a park above the village, was built by Piers Thursby, evidently to his own design, in 1879. (fn. 52) Fosseway House, built in the mid-19th century as a hunting-lodge, was enlarged before 1884 and its name subsequently changed from Fosse Cottage. (fn. 53) It stands in the part of the parish that was transferred to Stow in 1935, and its grounds include an earlier walled garden with a castellated summerhouse of c. 1800. In this part of the parish, which in the 17th century contained a sheep-fold belonging to Broadwell manor and used in connexion with Stow market, (fn. 54) there are two 19th-century cottages near Fosseway House and a 19th-century house with farm buildings in the extreme south-east corner of the ancient parish. Elsewhere there are few buildings at a distance from the village. A group of three cottages was built ¼ mile along Kennel Lane c. 1800, (fn. 55) and there are two outlying farms, Cownham Farm (formerly Plum's Barn) (fn. 56) and Sydenham Farm, which were built in the earlier 19th century, (fn. 57) Sydenham Farm on the site of a 17th-century farmhouse. (fn. 58)

A new village hall, beside the green, was opened in 1957, to replace a wooden hut, on the road towards Stow, that had been built by the inhabitants after the First World War. (fn. 59) The new hall includes a miniature rifle range, used by the Broadwell Rifle Club. (fn. 60)

The only violent disturbance known to have impinged on Broadwell occurred in 1646, when the parliamentary army came up on the rear of royalist forces between Donnington and Stow. (fn. 61) In the early 19th century Broadwell was described as an apt retirement for the hurried great, (fn. 62) though in the following fifty years the peacefulness of the village was disturbed at intervals by the eccentricities of Admiral Jodrell Leigh (d. 1863), who lived at the manor-house. He accused the rector and churchwardens of misappropriating the rates, (fn. 63) had a long and unsuccessful struggle with the vestry and the villagers for diversions of the roads, (fn. 64) and quarrelled with the rector over changes in the church. (fn. 65) One of his antagonists was the equally eccentric Captain Polhill (d. 1868), a veteran of Waterloo, who celebrated the victory annually in his garden at Millbrook. (fn. 66) Broadwell notables of greater national but less local renown are the admiral's great-nephew, Egerton Leigh (d. 1876), writer on dialect, who owned the manor-house but lived there little if at all, John Edmund Reade (d. 1870), poetaster and novelist, who was born in Broadwell but seems to have had no other connexion with the place, and one of the 17th-century rectors, John Allibond (d. 1658). (fn. 67)

Manors and Other Estates.

Evesham Abbey claimed that King Coenred gave it Broadwell in 708. If the claim was just, the abbey later lost Broadwell for a time, because c. 1034 the estate was 'redeemed' from Canute for the abbey by Ælfweard, Bishop of London. (fn. 68) The abbey held BROADWELL manor, to which four burgages in Gloucester and one in Winchcombe belonged, in 1086, (fn. 69) and continued to hold it until the Dissolution. (fn. 70) The manor included the neighbouring hamlet of Donnington, in Stow-on-the-Wold, until 1552. (fn. 71) In the early 13th century the abbey kitchen received 900 eggs, 12 cooking-pots, and 3d. rent a year from the manor. (fn. 72) Abbot Roger Norreys built a 'noble house' at Broadwell c. 1200, to which he retired in 1202, but when the house was burnt down about 20 years later it was replaced by a grange, which was rebuilt or enlarged c. 1300. (fn. 73) The abbey was granted free warren in Broadwell in 1251, (fn. 74) and in 1276 claimed the assize of bread and ale. (fn. 75) Broadwell was held with the abbey's estate at Bourton-on-theWater by service of one knight's fee. (fn. 76) Almost the whole of Broadwell parish, including one or more freehold estates, was throughout the Middle Ages within the abbey's manor, (fn. 77) which extended into Stow, Donnington, and Maugersbury. (fn. 78)

The manor, the demesne of which was leased in 1528 to Richard Wanford, (fn. 79) was sold by the Crown in 1545 to Richard Andrews, (fn. 80) who two years earlier had been granted the abbey's tithes (apparently regarded as part of the manor) in the adjoining hamlet of Donnington. (fn. 81) In 1552 Andrews sold the manor to Sir Thomas Baskerville (fn. 82) (d. 1572), whose daughter and heir Eleanor (fn. 83) married John Talbot c. 1591, (fn. 84) and in 1595 the lease of the demesne was acquired for the Talbots. (fn. 85) The Talbots do not appear to have lived in Broadwell: in 1608 and shortly before 1619 the manor was occupied by Mary, wife of the late Sir Robert Lane. (fn. 86)

Part of the abbey's estate in Broadwell was not sold with the manor in 1545: Bradenham meadow, though it was again part of the manorial estate by 1596, (fn. 87) was granted separately in 1545, (fn. 88) and several meadows, including Sydenham, were leased by the Crown in 1587. (fn. 89) The Talbots dismembered the manor still further by selling at least four (and probably all) of the copyhold estates as freeholds to be held in chief, (fn. 90) and in 1619 the manor itself, apparently comprising only the demesne, was bought by Anthony Hodges and William Chadwell, (fn. 91) who divided it between themselves in 1621. (fn. 92) The result of these transactions was that the manor in effect ceased to exist, although some manorial rights persisted until 1793 (fn. 93) and various estates were described as manors even later. (fn. 94) About 1700 it was said both that it was uncertain who was lord of the manor and that there was 'no lord of the manor, but all freeholders'. (fn. 95)

The moiety of the manor or demesne bought by William Chadwell (d. c. 1649), together, perhaps, with copyhold estates of which his father, another William (d. 1613), had bought the freehold in 1597 and 1602, (fn. 96) amounted to seven yardlands in 1669, (fn. 97) and in 1671 the younger William's grandson William (d. 1680) (fn. 98) lived in a house with 9 hearths. (fn. 99) The Chadwells' moiety (or part of it), together with other lands in the parish, passed later to Anthony Compere, a surgeon of Stow, who with his son Anthony was dealing with a capital messuage in Broadwell in 1739. (fn. 100) The younger Anthony died childless in 1764, and his coheirs (fn. 101) were in 1793 allotted just over a quarter of an acre for their joint estate in a quarter of the manorial rights. The other part of the Chadwells' moiety was then held by Thomas Guy and John Fletcher. (fn. 102)

The moiety of Anthony Hodges, which included the manor-house of which Hodges was in possession in 1619, (fn. 103) descended in his family to Danvers Hodges (d. 1721), who devised his estate to his three nieces, Anne, Mary, and Martha. (fn. 104) Mary occupied the Broadwell estate with her husband, Dr. Thomas Chamberlayne, who rebuilt the manor-house. (fn. 105) All three nieces were dead by 1759 and the property passed to the son of Anne, wife of Henry Doughty, and the son assumed the name of Henry Danvers Doughty Hodges. (fn. 106) He died in 1777, (fn. 107) and was succeeded by his three sisters, of whom Mary Leigh, widow (d. 1811), assumed the management of and title to the Broadwell estate. It was leased in 1777 to Mary's son and heir Egerton Leigh (d. 1833) and in 1802 to the Revd. Samuel Wilson Warneford. (fn. 108) Egerton Leigh devised it to his brother Capt. (later Admiral) Jodrell Leigh, on whose death unmarried in 1863 it passed to Egerton's eldest son, who was also called Egerton Leigh (d. 1876). (fn. 109) It then passed to successive sons, Edward Egerton Leigh (d. 1913) (fn. 110) and Henry Egerton Leigh, who in 1960 lived at the manor-house and owned a large part of the land in the parish.

A sub-manor called GIFFARDES or NETHERCOURT (fn. 111) was held as of Broadwell manor by Thomas Lygon at his death in 1507. (fn. 112) Its origin is untraced, but it may derive from one of the estates held in fee of Evesham Abbey in the early Middle Ages. (fn. 113) Thomas was succeeded by his son Richard (d. 1512), and Richard by his son Sir Richard (d. 1556), (fn. 114) who held it as ¼ knight's fee and owed suit to Broadwell manor court. (fn. 115) Sir Richard's son and heir William (d. 1567) was succeeded by his son Richard (d. 1585), (fn. 116) whose son Sir William is said to have sold the manor. (fn. 117) The manor was held of Eleanor Talbot by William Kite of Broadwell in 1608, when he settled it on his daughter Elizabeth and her husband William Loggins, (fn. 118) and it may have been the land granted to Kite by Eleanor Talbot in 1607. (fn. 119) In 1610 Kite's estate amounted to seven yardlands. (fn. 120) Loggins in 1619 either sold or mortgaged the land granted by Eleanor Talbot, (fn. 121) and by 1627 had sold c. 75 a. to Richard and William Barker. (fn. 122) A moiety of Kite's farm, amounting to three and a half yardlands and thus perhaps half of the manor, was held by William Marshall along with other land at his death in 1629; it was said to be held of William Leigh (who owned the manors of Longborough and Adlestrop) as of his 'manor of Broadwell'. (fn. 123) Thereafter Nethercourt manor became merged with other estates and is not separately distinguishable. The capital messuage of this manor may have been Millbrook, the deeds of which refer to reputed manorial rights. (fn. 124)

In 1086 Evesham Abbey's tenants in Broadwell included a free man in addition to a priest, the villani, and the bordars. (fn. 125) In the 12th century about five hides were held by knight service, by four different tenants, of whom Walter the knight, son of Drew, held two hides and more. (fn. 126) An estate there c. 1187 belonged to Walter son of Richard of Broadwell. Another Walter, apparently his younger son, (fn. 127) in 1221 sued Geoffrey of Broadwell for ½ mark of rent in Broadwell; the suit also concerned a messuage in Winchcombe, which may have been the same as the Domesday burgage in Winchcombe that belonged to the Broadwell estate of Evesham Abbey, and it involved Matthew the cook, who is perhaps to be associated with the abbey's kitchen. In 1235 Geoffrey of Broadwell was sued, for ½ mark of rent from ½ hide in Broadwell, by Walter de la Bruere, presumably a connexion of the Roger de la Bruere who was overlord of the Winchcombe property at issue in 1221. (fn. 128) In 1284 Walter of Broadwell and his son Walter made a settlement of a messuage and a carucate in Broadwell, (fn. 129) and this is possibly the estate which later became the sub-manor called Nethercourt.

Small quantities of land in Broadwell were attached to estates centred outside the parish. In 1221 meadow in Broadwell was alleged to belong to an estate in Oddington. (fn. 130) At about the same time Richard of Broadwell, with the consent of his heir Walter, granted some demesne land apparently in Broadwell to a representative of the Templars of Guiting, (fn. 131) who were also leasing meadow there from the Abbot of Evesham. (fn. 132) Temple Guiting manor still included land in Broadwell (fn. 133) in 1354, when it was held by William de Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon, at his death. (fn. 134) Some of this land may have been included in grants to Evesham Abbey in 1363: (fn. 135) a close called Templars (perhaps the same as the field, east of the village, called Templis in 1960) and a yardland called Templars (which may have given its name to the 17th-century house called Temple Farm) were held by copyhold tenants of the abbey in the early 16th century. (fn. 136) In 1535, however, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which held the Templars' manor of Guiting, owned rents in Broadwell amounting to 3s. 1d. (fn. 137)

The dismembering of the manor at the beginning of the 17th century resulted in the creation of a number of comparatively small freehold estates, most of which were several times subdivided and merged with others, (fn. 138) and it has not been possible to trace their several ownerships. The Barker family, (fn. 139) which was settled in Broadwell by 1653 (fn. 140) and in 1671 had a substantial house there, (fn. 141) had an estate of over 150 a., (fn. 142) part of which was bought in 1802 by Lee Compere (fn. 143) and was broken up on William Compere's death in 1824. (fn. 144) Part of it was bought by Robert Beman, (fn. 145) whose estate of nearly 160 a. was put up for sale in 1858, and part of that estate in turn formed the nucleus of Capt. Piers Thursby's Broadwell Hill estate. (fn. 146) The Broadwell Hill estate was bought in 1929 by Lord Ashton of Hyde, who in 1960 owned over 300 a. in the parish. (fn. 147)

Economic History.

The increase by a half in the value of Evesham Abbey's estate in Broadwell and Donnington between 1066 and 1086, coupled with the fact that land assessed as 10 hides was divided into 18 plough-lands, suggests that there was an increase in the arable land at that period. (fn. 148) The area of each plough-land was small, (fn. 149) perhaps because of the heavy nature of the soil. (fn. 150) Allowing four yardlands to each plough-land, the number of yardlands rose from 76 in 1086 to 87 in the 12th century, (fn. 151) and then fell to 74 in 1539, (fn. 152) when 16 were in Donnington. (fn. 153) In 1791, when a little over onethird of the cultivated land had been inclosed piecemeal, the number of yardlands in Broadwell alone was reckoned to be 45½. (fn. 154) Throughout the period the yardland seems to have been about 20 a.; in 1791 it varied between 16 and 25 a. (fn. 155) In the 12th century there were a few cotlands not included in the division of the land into yardlands, (fn. 156) but these are not known to have been described as cotlands at a later date and are presumably accounted for by small parcels reckoned in acres in the 16th century. (fn. 157)

In addition to a freeman and a priest, the abbey's tenants in 1086 were 25 villani and 8 bordars, (fn. 158) presumably holding estates of about one yardland each; in the 12th century the two customary tenants whose land is separately recorded held one yardland and half a yardland respectively. (fn. 159) The number of customary tenants appears thereafter to have decreased slightly, and the size of their holdings to have grown: 20 people were assessed for tax in 1327, all except one at between 6d. and 3s., (fn. 160) and in 1540 there were 25 customary tenants of the manor in Broadwell, with holdings of between half a yardland and three yardlands. (fn. 161)

In the 12th century the customary tenants all owed harvest work, and nearly all owed aid, toll, pannage, ploughing and carting, and churchscot. The bovarii, to whom six yardlands belonged, owed rents in kind; the miller, who in other respects ranked with the free tenants, owed three harvestworks, aid, toll, and pannage. All except the free tenants and the bovarii owed money-rents, and each yardland owed seasonal dues. (fn. 162) By 1291 the abbey was receiving 10s. a year for release of works. (fn. 163) By the early 16th century some heriots were paid in cash. (fn. 164)

By the time that the manorial demesne in Broadwell was divided in 1621 (fn. 165) all the copyhold estates had apparently been converted into freeholds. Apart from the former manorial estates, three freeholds are recorded, one of 3 yardlands and two of 2 yardlands, that were formerly copyholds, (fn. 166) and Broadwell seems to have been occupied by a number of yeoman farmers owning not markedly dissimilar amounts of land, and all reasonably prosperous. Fourteen of the 42 houses in the village in 1671 had three or more hearths, (fn. 167) and c. 1700 all the farmers were said to be freeholders. (fn. 168) In the early 18th century there were 15 or more freeholders, (fn. 169) and at that period each seems to have farmed his own land. Later in the century the owners of the larger estates, with few exceptions, ceased to farm in Broadwell: (fn. 170) in 1791 the owners and the occupiers were mostly different groups of people. (fn. 171)

Little is recorded of the methods of farming before the 19th century. A division of the arable into two fields, the East field and the West, in the 13th century (fn. 172) is not mentioned later, and ridges or selions, usually of ½ or ⅓ a., were identified in the 17th century and later by the furlongs in which they lay or which they adjoined. (fn. 173) The comparatively large amount of pasture and the scarcity of references to sheep in the 17th and 18th centuries may indicate that much of the land was used for dairying. (fn. 174) Most of the meadow lay in the eastern part of the parish beside the Evenlode, (fn. 175) but some of this land was left waste; it was badly drained and sour, (fn. 176) and used only for cutting peat and furze. Round the village there have long been several orchards, (fn. 177) and in 1627 there were tobacco plantations in Broadwell. (fn. 178)

In 1597 an agreement was made for the exchange of lands to enable the inclosure of part of the demesne. (fn. 179) A further inclosure of a small part of the rectory estate evidently followed an agreement of 1649 (fn. 180) and in the next 150 years there were other piecemeal inclosures (particularly after 1777), perhaps facilitated by land transactions between the freeholders: in 1777 the inclosures amounted to 274 a. and in 1791 there were 472 a. of old inclosures compared with 858 a. of commonable land. (fn. 181) Some of the old inclosures were reallotted by the inclosure award of 1793, which affected 1,203 a. The largest allotment was that made to the rector for tithes, and apart from those for the surveyors, the poor, the church, and the constable 12 other allotments were made, four of over 100 a. and three of between 50 a. and 100 a. (fn. 182)

The immediate result of inclosure was to increase the amount of land under crops; the fattening of sheep and beef-cattle increased greatly, while the production of butter and cheese fell by half. (fn. 183) In 1801 762 a. were sown, with barley, wheat, beans, peas, and oats accounting for 710 a. (fn. 184) The number and size of farms does not seem to have been greatly affected, (fn. 185) although in the early 19th century Robert Beman built up a large farm and replaced Joseph Rose as the most prominent farmer in the parish. (fn. 186) In 1849 Beman occupied 620 a., and there were five farms of 100–200 a. and three of 60–100 a. There were then 1,030 a. arable and 604 a. pasture. (fn. 187) While the freeholds tended to become concentrated in fewer hands the number of substantial farms did not diminish: there were 10 in 1870, 8 in 1919, 11 in 1939, (fn. 188) and 9 in 1960. The farming is mixed, and the main changes during the 20th century have been in the conversion of pasture to arable during the two World Wars. (fn. 189) Broad well is at the centre of the Heythrop country, and although one of the mid19th-century estates was primarily a hunting establishment, (fn. 190) in the 20th century sporting considerations alone have not brought wealthy residents into the village, as into some villages nearby. (fn. 191)

There is not much evidence of trades or crafts in the village. A mason was living there in 1591; (fn. 192) in 1608 the only craftsmen recorded were two tailors. (fn. 193) In 1811 and 1831 there were seven families supported by trade or handicraft, living in Broadwell (fn. 194) but not necessarily working there. A brick and tile kiln was working on Broadwell hill in 1858, but had disappeared by 1874. (fn. 195) Blacksmiths are recorded in Broadwell from 1650 (fn. 196) to 1935, wheelwrights from c. 1705 to c. 1950, a mason (who also kept a shop and the post-office), a slater and plasterer, and a corn-dealer in 1870, and a haulier in 1906. For more domestic needs, there was a baker in 1774 (as in 1960) a shoemaker in 1889, and a shop in 1849. There were two small shops in 1870, as in 1960. There were two inns in 1849, the Rock tavern (which existed in 1793 and may have been the same as the 'Wheatsheaf' of 1900) and the 'Fox'. The 'Wheatsheaf' closed between 1906 and 1919, and in 1960 the only inn was the 'Fox'. Less expected callings followed in the village were those of musicteacher (1906), dog-breeder (1939), and alpine nursery gardener (1960). (fn. 197) Since the end of the 19th century agriculture has employed a decreasing proportion of the inhabitants. By 1953 two-fifths of the employed population worked outside Broadwell, (fn. 198) and in 1960 buses collected people from the village for work as far afield as Witney (Oxon.), Stratfordon-Avon, and Oxford. (fn. 199)

Mill and Fishery.

A mill at Broadwell was mentioned as part of Evesham Abbey's estate in a 12th-century survey which suggests that the miller, who held land in addition to the mill, occupied a position intermediate between the free and customary tenants of the manor. (fn. 200) In the early 13th century a fishpond was made at Broadwell, and a new mill built over it. (fn. 201) In 1539 the water-mill was held with suit of the tenants' multure as copyhold, together with one yardland. (fn. 202) The freehold passed with the manor (fn. 203) until 1602, when it was sold to William Chadwell (fn. 204) (d. 1613), who settled it on his younger son, Thomas, in 1609. (fn. 205) There is no certain reference to a working mill at a later date, (fn. 206) and how long it continued to function is not known. In 1704 a house was described as formerly a water corn-mill. (fn. 207) By 1868 there were no buildings on the site of the mill, (fn. 208) on the Mill brook 300 yards downstream from the ford, where earthworks survived in 1960 (fn. 209) and pieces of masonry have been dug out of the ground, (fn. 210) and beside which lay Mill ham. (fn. 211)

The 16th- and 17th-century references to the mill do not mention any fishery or fishpond. A fishery formed part of Nethercourt manor (fn. 212) and was apparently in the pool above the mill; in 1796 a fishpond was in the grounds of the house belonging to William Lenthall, (fn. 213) which may have been the house 200 yards south-west of Broadwell Manor known in 1960 as Lenthall's Cottage.

Local Government.

Evesham Abbey's reeve or bailiff for Broadwell, mentioned in 1318, (fn. 214) was apparently holding a court for the manor every three weeks in 1351. (fn. 215) In 1535 he received an annual salary of 20s. (fn. 216) Evesham Abbey held the assize of bread and ale in Broadwell. (fn. 217) Most of the tenants came within the abbey's leet jurisdiction that centred on Stow, (fn. 218) but the preceptory of Temple Guiting claimed view of frankpledge and waif of its tenants in Broadwell. (fn. 219) There are records of the manor court for 1428, (fn. 220) 1528–39, (fn. 221) 1552, 1556, and 1559. (fn. 222) It is unlikely that any manor courts were held after the end of the 16th century, (fn. 223) and the vestry may have assumed functions previously performed by the manor court (fn. 224) at a comparatively early date.

No vestry records have survived from before the 19th century. The churchwardens' accounts from 1812 onwards do not record the activities of the other officers. The vestry minutes from 1836 onwards may indicate the practice of an earlier period. In the middle years of the century one of the two churchwardens (there had been two in 1498) (fn. 225) was chosen by the rector, and there were two surveyors of the highways (as in 1773), (fn. 226) two overseers of the poor (with an assistant at £4 a year from 1850), and two constables (a constable and a tithingman in 1836). Not until 1852 did the rector or his curate normally take the chair at vestry meetings, which were held at irregular intervals three or four times a year and attended by about ten ratepayers.

In relieving the poor in the late 18th and early 19th centuries Broadwell was either less hard pressed or less generous than its neighbours. A new assessment for the poor's rate was made in 1777, (fn. 227) but in 1802–3 Broadwell had a far lower rate than any other parish (save Donnington) in the upper division of the hundred, (fn. 228) and the total expenditure on the poor remained proportionate in the twenties and early thirties. (fn. 229) The parish owned six cottages which were used to house poor parishioners; in 1837, after the inclusion of Broadwell in the Stow-onthe-Wold Poor Law Union, the cottages, then occupied by seven tenants, (fn. 230) were sold to one of the farmers of the parish. (fn. 231) The constable had a small amount of land, for which he was allotted half an acre at inclosure in 1793, when the parish surveyors were also allotted 4½ a. to provide them with stone for repairing the roads. (fn. 232)

The roads in the parish seem to have been burdensome to maintain, perhaps because they included a stretch of the Foss Way. In the late 18th century repairs were made largely by team-labour. (fn. 233) In 1843 a separate rate was made for the roads, and from 1850 a contract was made for repairs; (fn. 234) in 1863 Broadwell was included in the Stow-on-the-Wold highway district. (fn. 235) Under the Local Government Act of 1872 it became part of the Stow-on-the-Wold Rural Sanitary District, and was transferred to the newly formed North Cotswold Rural District in 1935. (fn. 236) A parish council had been formed by 1895. (fn. 237)

Church.

There was a priest in Broadwell in 1086, (fn. 238) and it was from Broadwell that Adlestrop church, which was a chapel of ease until 1937, was presumably founded. (fn. 239) Although the advowson of Broadwell belonged to Evesham Abbey (fn. 240) the church was never appropriated and remained a rectory until 1937. In that year the benefices (but not the parishes) of Broadwell and Stow-on-the-Wold were united; (fn. 241) in 1960 Broadwell rectory was severed from Stow-on-the-Wold and united with Evenlode, and Donnington, formerly part of Stow-on-theWold, became part of Broadwell parish. (fn. 242)

On the first vacancy of the living after the Dissolution, in 1571, Walter Baskerville presented by virtue of the assignment of a grant by Evesham Abbey. (fn. 243) In 1598 Eleanor, widow of Sir Thomas Baskerville, presented, (fn. 244) and in 1627 her son-in-law and daughter, John and Eleanor Talbot, (fn. 245) sold the advowson of Broadwell with Adlestrop chapel to William Leigh, (fn. 246) lord of Adlestrop. The advowson then descended with Adlestrop manor (fn. 247) until 1937, when the former patron of Stow-on-the-Wold became patron of the united benefice of Stow and Broadwell. (fn. 248) In 1960 the patron of the united benefice of Broadwell and Evenlode was the Church Society Trust. (fn. 249)

The rectory was comparatively rich, its clear annual value being £6 in 1291 (fn. 250) and over £18 in 1535. (fn. 251) In 1650 it was worth gross about £200 a year, (fn. 252) and this figure rose to about £700 in 1814 (fn. 253) before falling in the late 19th century. (fn. 254) In the Middle Ages the rectory was endowed with less than half the tithes, and the larger share belonged to Evesham Abbey. In 1291 the value of the abbey's tithes from Broadwell and Adlestrop was the same as the rector's net income. (fn. 255) In 1450 it was agreed that the rector should receive all the tithes and pay the abbey in place of its share a pension of £5 a year, in addition to a pension of £1 a year that was being paid out of the rectory in 1206. (fn. 256) In the 17th and 18th centuries tithes were frequently the cause of disputes, which were complicated by the fragmentation of the allegedly tithe-free demesne lands, and for most of the period they were either farmed or commuted for a fixed payment on each yardland. (fn. 257) The glebe in the 16th century amounted to 4 yardlands in Broadwell, containing nearly 100 a., and 2 yardlands (containing nearly 30 a. c. 1774) in Adlestrop, with a house and common of pasture in each. In the late 17th century and later, when the rectors lived at Adlestrop, the glebe house and land in Broadwell appear normally to have been let. (fn. 258) On the inclosure of Adlestrop in 1775 the rector received about 125 a. for both glebe and tithe, (fn. 259) and, on the inclosure of Broadwell in 1793, 68 a. for glebe and 272 a. and money-rents totalling £28 for tithe. (fn. 260) The glebe in Broadwell continued to be let after inclosure, (fn. 261) but in Adlestrop the rector was still farming his glebe in the early 20th century. (fn. 262) In 1937 the whole rectorial estate in both parishes was sold and a new house for a curate (which in 1960 became the rectory house) was built in Broadwell, on the south-east edge of the village. (fn. 263)

Apart from the normal dues, the rector had to pay out of his estate the combined pension of £6 and the salary for the chaplain at Adlestrop. After the Dissolution the pension evidently passed with the advowson, being sold with it in 1627, (fn. 264) and it was still paid to the lord of Adlestrop manor in 1775. (fn. 265) The chaplain's salary in 1535 was £5 6s. 8d. (fn. 266) The salary of the curate for Adlestrop in the 17th century is not known. In the 18th century and early 19th Broadwell and Adlestrop each had a curate, the curate at Broadwell receiving £32 a year in 1738 (fn. 267) and £105 with residence in 1864. (fn. 268)

There are indications that the medieval rectors regarded the living rather as a source of income than as a pastoral cure and were often non-resident: most rectors held the living only a short time, (fn. 269) and in 1300 the bishop considered ordaining a vicarage for Broadwell. (fn. 270) Thomas Banbrook, rector from before 1532 (fn. 271) to 1571, employed curates in the parish, and c. 1563 the bishop 'granted a preacher to declare and teach the word of God' at Broadwell. (fn. 272) Banbrook's successor, described variously as a good Latinist and divine, (fn. 273) and as neither a graduate nor a preacher though a conformist with only one benefice, (fn. 274) had two curates in 1572, (fn. 275) presumably one each for Broadwell and Adlestrop, and he was succeeded in 1598 by a former curate, John Tidmarsh, (fn. 276) who was apparently connected with the yeoman family of that name in Broadwell. (fn. 277) John Allibond, a scholar of some note, was rector from 1636 until his death at Broadwell in 1658. (fn. 278) His successor built or rebuilt the glebe house at Adlestrop, (fn. 279) and from then Broadwell was served by a succession of curates, who lived in the parish from 1841 but not always before, (fn. 280) until the last of them became rector in 1960. (fn. 281)

In 1750 there were said to be 'full services' at Broadwell church, (fn. 282) and in 1790 there were two services each Sunday and Holy Communion four times a year, with 10–20 communicants. (fn. 283) In 1851 the combined attendance of morning and evening service, excluding the 50 Sunday school children, was c. 150, (fn. 284) the whole population being nearly 400. (fn. 285) In the next few years a wider use of music and ritual in the form of service roused the opposition of at least two prominent (and eccentric) inhabitants. (fn. 286)

The church of ST. PAUL is built of stone with a Cotswold stone roof. Although considerably restored in the 19th century its ground-plan, except for the vestry on the south side of the chancel, is the same as that of the medieval building, and comprises chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch, and west tower.

Apart from one of three pieces of stone standing in the porch, carved with what appears to be Saxon decoration, (fn. 287) the oldest part of the fabric is Norman. In the chancel the 12th-century fabric survives up to the level of the stringcourse, and there is a restored round-headed narrow window in the north wall. When the church was restored in the 1860's Romanesque pilasters (fn. 288) were removed and roundheaded windows of two lights in the south, north, and east walls (fn. 289) were replaced by windows in the Decorated style. In the south wall is a reset trefoilheaded 13th-century piscina. On the north and east walls there are shallow buttresses. The nave was also 12th-century in origin. Until the 1860's the north wall had three round-headed windows of two lights and a doorway with a small tympanum (fn. 290) that has been reset over the doorway to the stair-vice of the tower. The rebuilt north wall has four windows in the Decorated style, and the roof of the nave may have been made higher. (fn. 291) Before rebuilding there was a small dormer window, close to the tower, facing north. (fn. 292) The chancel arch and south arcade of four bays were built in the early 13th century, plain in style and with mouldings of two orders, presumably at the time the south aisle was added. The nave arcade rests on cylindrical piers with moulded capitals and bases. Immediately south of the chancel arch is a large opening or squint, either restored or modern. The 13th-century south doorway to the aisle has a hoodmould and a small scratch-dial beside it, (fn. 293) and to the west is a narrow lancet. The 14th-century east window of the aisle is of two trefoil-headed lights with tracery, and at the east end of the south wall is a similar but larger and square-headed low side window. Windows of two and four round-headed lights were made in the west wall and the south wall (east of the doorway) in the 17th century, perhaps at the same time as the porch was added, with its round-headed archway with hoodmould. The east end of the aisle was formerly a proprietary chapel belonging to the manor, and in the reveal of the low side window is set a restored piscina. The ownership of the chapel descended with the Hodges moiety of the manor, (fn. 294) and the aisle east of the door remained cut off from the rest of the church by a low wall until 1866. (fn. 295) The embattled 15th-century tower, centred on the axis of the nave, is of three stages, with buttresses at the western angles. The lowest stage has a restored 15thcentury west window of two lights with tracery and hoodmould, the middle stage has a lancet on the south face, and the top stage has a two-light louvred window with hoodmould on each face. The stairvice at the north-east corner is rectangular on plan, and is lit by small rectangular openings.

The church was pewed shortly before 1725, (fn. 296) and repewed in the 1860's. (fn. 297) An organ was installed in 1884. The font is of the early 15th century. The monuments include an alabaster group of effigies of Herbert Weston (d. 1635) and his wife and child, removed from the north wall of the chancel to the aisle; (fn. 298) a mural slab to Robert Hunks (d. 1588) (fn. 299) on which the inscription has been recut; floor and mural slabs to members of the Barker and Hodges familes; (fn. 300) and a mural slab to H. P. Cholmondeley, rector 1852–1905, who was responsible for the restoration of the churches at both Broadwell and Adlestrop. (fn. 301) In the churchyard below the east end of the chancel is a group often 'woolpack' altar-tombs of the early 17th century, nearly all bearing the arms (a fess dancetty) of the Chadwell family. Apart from the sanctus bell of 1672, probably all five bells were first cast in the mid-18th century; three, including two blank bells, were recast in 1884 and 1908, and one remains blank. (fn. 302) In 1680 the church possessed a flagon, plate, and ring of pewter, and a silver communion chalice. (fn. 303) None of this remains: there is a chalice and paten-cover of 1717, and the rest of the plate is of the later 19th century. (fn. 304) The parish registers run from 1539, with gaps for 1642–59, 1673–96, and (for marriages) 1753–4. (fn. 305)

The church was formerly endowed for repairs with three cottages and land, all let in 1683 for 11s. 6d. (fn. 306) The cottages may have been some of the six later used for the poor. (fn. 307) The land was exchanged at inclosure in 1793 for a little over half an acre, (fn. 308) from which in 1952 15s. a year was added to the church funds. (fn. 309)

Nonconformity.

In 1676 there were said to be seven Protestant dissenters and one papist in Broadwell, (fn. 310) and in 1735 two Presbyterians and a Quaker. (fn. 311) A Baptist meeting was licensed in 1742, (fn. 312) and it is possible that the house registered as a Protestant meeting in 1840 (fn. 313) was for Baptists, but no Baptist meeting was recorded in 1851. (fn. 314) Methodists had a licensed meeting by 1826, (fn. 315) and registered a house as a meeting in 1831. (fn. 316) In 1851 this meeting, served by the minister of Chipping Norton, had an attendance of c. 40. (fn. 317) In 1901 a Baptist chapel was built, (fn. 318) a small stone building at the east end of the village. The congregation, which numbered about ten in 1960, was then served from Stow-on-theWold once a month. (fn. 319)

Schools.

A Sunday school in Broadwell was recorded in 1790. (fn. 320) By 1818 there was a girls' day school and a boys' Sunday school, each with about 30 pupils. (fn. 321) The day school, taught in a cottage known as the College opposite the eastern end of the green, (fn. 322) was supported by voluntary contributions, and in 1833 had 13 boys and 20 girls. At the same date there were Sunday schools for 22 boys and 25 girls (fn. 323) which were endowed with £4 a year under the will of Thomas Leigh, rector 1763–1813. (fn. 324) A new schoolroom was built in 1851 in Kennel Lane. By 1869 it was a National school with a certificated mistress teaching 23 boys and 31 girls, of whom 16 were less than 6 years old, in a single school-room. Fees of 1d. 6d. were charged depending on the father's occupation, and there was a teacher's house adjoining the school. (fn. 325) The school was rebuilt in 1870, and enlarged to take 113 children in 1894. Attendance rose from 75 in 1889 to 90 in 1906. (fn. 326) In the 1950's the school assumed 'controlled' status, and the children over 11 began to go to school elsewhere. The staff was reduced from three to two, and the number of children attending the school in 1960 (including children from Donnington) was under 50. (fn. 327)

Charities.

At inclosure in 1793 just over 8 a. by Crab Orchard to the north of the village were allotted to the poor of the parish to replace their right to cut furze for fuel. (fn. 328) From 1793 to 1820 the land was let in one piece for £24 10s. a year, a rent that was sometimes paid by the tenant in coal. In 1832 the churchwardens made regulations for the cultivation of the land as 41 allotments, to be let at a total of £23 10s. (fn. 329) The allotments have been run by the parish council since 1895; in 1922 they produced £14 15s., (fn. 330) and in 1960, when they were almost all let as one piece, £30, distributed in coal to old people of the village. (fn. 331) Frederick Payne, by will proved 1874, gave £200 for coal for the poor; the income from stock provided £4 17s. for this purpose in 1934. (fn. 332)