Broadfield is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cottered, in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. In 1951 the parish had a population of 20.

History

Broadfield appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 when it had thirteen households and was split between four owners. No priest was listed at Broadfield, suggesting it was not a parish at that time. By 1222 there was a church at Broadfield, which seems to have been a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

belonging to the neighbouring parish of Rushden. The church was abandoned in the sixteenth century and no trace above ground now remains. The site is now a wood called Chapel Wood. Arthur Pulter, a High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, inherited the manor of Broadfield in 1608, and with his wife, Lady Hester Pulter, began constructing Broadfield Hall as his manor house in the 1640s, but never completed the work. The house was demolished in about 1875: the stables are still standing and are a Grade II* listed building. Broadfield was included in the

Buntingford Buntingford is a market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It lies next to the River Rib and is located on the historic Roman road, Ermine Street. As a result of its location, it ...

Poor Law Union from 1835. It was described variously as a former rectory and an extra-parochial area, but was deemed to be a civil parish following the passing of the Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 and the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866. By this time the settlement at Broadfield had shrunk to be just a couple of farms and cottages; the population of the parish in 1881 was just nineteen. Broadfield was included in the

Buntingford Rural District Buntingford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1935, covering the town of Buntingford and a number of surrounding parishes in the north-east of the county. Formation Buntingford Poor Law Union had been ...

from 1894, which was abolished in 1935 to become part of Braughing Rural District. The parish of Broadfield was abolished in 1955, becoming part of the parish of Cottered on 1 April 1955.Ministry of Housing and Local Government Order No. 4856. The County of Hertford (Parish of Cottered) Confirmation Order, 1955

References

{{reflist Populated places in Hertfordshire Former civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District