Broadwell, Warwickshire

Broadwell
Broadwell village green
Broadwell  Broadwell shown within Warwickshire
OS grid reference	SP 451 657
Civil parish	Leamington Hastings
District	Rugby
Shire county	Warwickshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	CV23
Police	Warwickshire
Fire	Warwickshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
List of places UK England Warwickshire

Broadwell is a village in Warwickshire, England in the civil parish of Leamington Hastings at grid reference SP 451 657 roughly midway between Dunchurch and Southam on the A426 road.

In 1086, the Domesday Book records that the chief estate of Leamington was held by Hasculf Musard.

Broadwell (like the neighbouring villages of Leamington Hastings, Hill and Kites Hardwick) was once a manor in its own right. Joan Hastang (of the family whose name is borne by Leamington Hastings) was allotted Broadwell in 1375. According to Prof. Louis Salzman's History of the County of Warwick, the ...last mention of Bradwell (sic) as a separate manor is in the inquisition post mortem on Humphrey Stafford in 1545.

Broadwell is one of three villages of that name in central England. The other two are in Gloucestershire - one between the towns of Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold, the other a few miles west of Lechlade on the upper River Thames.

The villages in Leamington Hasting parish are farming settlements. Today, there is a mix of sheep and arable. However, Salzman records that much of arable land had once been pasture. This is also borne out in Mr Sponges's Sporting Tour written in 1853 by R.S. Surtees which refers to: ... the wide-stretching grazing grounds of Southam and Dunchurch.

Today, Broadwell compromises roughly 70 households. There are four farms in the village itself (Home Farm, Croftlands Farm, Broadwell House Farm and Hospital Farm) and several smallholdings. Other farms border the village.

Broadwell is in the broad flat valley of the River Leam. The valley is bounded to the north by the Rugby ridge and Lawford Heath, to the south by a low range of upland which forms part of the Northamptonshire/Warwickshire ironstone hills. The village sits on fossil-rich Blue Lias clay, hence the proximity of several cement works, all now closed (see Stockton article for details).

Architecturally, Broadwell is somewhat unprepossessing. The Green is surrounded by a mix of 18th and 19th century cottages, post-war local authority houses, 1970s bungalows and 1990s large detached houses. The mix on Main Street and Hayway Lane (formerly known as Green Lane and Elm Road) is similar although there is no Local Authority housing. Since the late '80s/early 90s, two bungalows and nine detached houses have been built as infil. However, no new houses can be built outside existing village boundaries.

The Village also comprises an old Forge, a 17th century Listed blacksmith shop which still stands, and now sits as grade two listed. The building although derelict and structually unsafe (with an acro supporting the roof) cannot be demolished due to the protection order and would prove unviable to restore.

Historically, farming has always been the principal activity, although in the 20th century some residents worked in the Charles Nelson Company's cement works in neighbouring Stockton. Today, many residents are retired: the rest work away from the village with a considerable number commuting everyday with the A426 just outside the village and the M40, M1 and M6 all within a 15 mile radius.

Until the 1960s, there was a railway station (Stockton & Napton on the Leamington to Weedon line) a mile from the village. Today, there is a bus service to neighbouring towns. However, most families in Broadwell have at least one car.

There is no shop or public house in Broadwell. In part, the lack of a pub is due to the village's nonconformist tradition; Broadwell has a substantial Methodist chapel. The village also has a small Church of England chapel, the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is in the ecclesiastical parish of Leamington Hastings. Services are held monthly in the Church of the Good Shepherd. Previously, however, the village did have a small post office selling stamps and a small range of what might be classed as 'essential items.' It was based at the rear of a private bungalow. But when the Post Office insisted the elderly postmistress would have to install a computer for electronic transactions, she (politely) told them what to do with their computer - and retired! The nearest Post Office (and shop) is at Stockton, some 3 miles away.

Communal life centres on the village hall. Until December 2007, this was a corrugated iron sheet building. However, this structure was dismantled and a larger brick-built hall was erected during January and February 2008. Principal users of the hall are the Trustees of the village green, the Flower Show Committee and local art groups.

Demographically, Broadwell is home to a fairly typical rural Midlands population. There is little ethnic diversity or multiculturalism and the age range is weighted towards the late middle-aged. However, there are more than a dozen families with school-age children and in 2013 at least four 'Broadwell babies' were due to be born.

Gallery of images

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  The old forge on the village green at Broadwell

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  The Row, a terrace of cottages at Broadwell

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  The new village hall at Broadwell

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  The former village hall at Broadwell

References

External links

Media related to Broadwell, Warwickshire at Wikimedia Commons

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