Broadwell is a village in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Leamington Hastings Leamington Hastings is a small village and larger civil parish in Warwickshire, England. The civil parish covers Leamington Hastings itself, plus the nearby hamlets of Broadwell, Hill and Kites Hardwick. Its population in the 2011 census was ...

roughly midway between

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...

and

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...

on the

A426 road A4 most often refers to: *A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm A4 and variants may also refer to: Science and mathematics * British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis morsus-ranae - Stratiotes aloide ...

History

Broadwell Warwickshire old village hall-by-David-Stowell

In 1086, the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

records that the chief estate of Leamington was held by Hasculf Musard. Broadwell (like the neighbouring villages of

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

and

Kites Hardwick Kites Hardwick is a hamlet in east Warwickshire, England, in the Leam Valley ward of Rugby Borough and in the civil parish of Leamington Hastings The village straddles the A426 Rugby to Southam road two miles (3 km) south of Dunchurch. I ...

) 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 Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

'', 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

. The other two are in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

– one between the towns of

Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...

and

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was founde ...

, the other a few miles west of

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

on the upper

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. The villages in

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

are

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

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

and

.'' 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 A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

of the

River Leam The River Leam (), anciently Leame, etc, is a river in England which rises at Hellidon Hill in Northamptonshire then flows through Warwickshire, including the town of Leamington Spa, named after it. It then flows into the River Avon near Warwic ...

. The valley is bounded to the north by the

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

ridge and Lawford Heath, to the south by a low range of upland which forms part of the

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

hills. The village sits on

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

-rich

Blue Lias The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, hence the proximity of several cement works, all now closed. Architecturally, Broadwell is somewhat unprepossessing. The

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

is surrounded by 18th and 19th century cottages, post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

council houses, 1970s bungalows and 1990s large detached houses. The mixture 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 infill. The village has an old forge, a 17th-century

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop, which is a Grade II listed building. The building, although derelict and structurally unsafe (with an

Acrow prop A jack post (telepost, adjustable steel column) is a steel post used in the construction trades for temporary support of ceilings, walls and trenches (shoring). They are designed to be able to mechanically telescope to about twice their shortest ...

supporting the roof), cannot be demolished, because of the protection order, and would be 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: the

is just outside the village and the M40, M1 and M6 all within a 15-mile radius. Until the 1960s, there was a railway station ( 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.

Amenities

There is no shop or

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in Broadwell. In part, the lack of a pub is due to the village's nonconformist tradition; Broadwell has a substantial

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. The village also has a small

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

chapel, the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is in the

. Services are held monthly in the Church of the Good Shepherd. Previously, however, the village did have a small

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

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 A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

. Until December 2007, this was a corrugated iron sheet building. 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

, 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 The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

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.

Business

There are several established businesses in Broadwell including Home Farm, Cedar Associates, Discovery CE and Raymont-Osman Product Design. The latter are both engineering consultants and are gathered in converted barns on Broadwell House Farm industrial estate on the edge of Broadwell.

References

Warwickshire County Council, Census 2001, Ward Profiles for Leam Valley Ward

''June Agricultural and Horticultural Census'', Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Vision of Warwick Through Time website * ''The Leam Vallay Messenger'' parish newsletter *''Warwickshire'', Arthur Mee, Hodder And Stoughton, 1950 *''Warwickshire Towns & Villages'', Geoff Allen, 2000 *''Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour'', Robert Smith Surtees, Wordsworth Editions (paperback), 1995, *''History of the County of Warwick: Volume 6'', LF Salzman, 1951, Victoria County History *''British Railway Pre-grouping Atlass and Gazetteer'', Ian Allan Ltd, *Ordnance Survey, 'Pathfinder' series 1:25000 map, sheet 977, *Ordnance Survey, 'Landranger' series 1:50000 map, sheet 151

Warwickshire Railways, Leamington-Weedon line page
UK Statistics Authority

The Land Registry

The Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, Leamington Hastings parish notes

Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868 on Genuki website

De Coursey Travel bus timetables

Warwickshire County Council, ''Bus Services in Warwickshire''

Rugby Advertiser newspaper's 'District Diary' item (and similar items ''passim'')

Cedar Associates Management Consulting and Training Services

Discovery CE Limited Specialist Geotechnical and Environmental Engineering Consultancy

Raymont-Osman Product Design Consultancy

External links

{{authority control Villages in Warwickshire