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100 Years Ago Today: Auction of Land and Property in the Village

100 years ago today, during the afternoon of Tuesday 31st August 1920, an auction of Broadway land and property was held by E.G. Righton & Son in the Swan Hotel.

Lot 1 comprised a freehold stone cottage on the High Street along with a leasehold stone cottage, stabling, store rooms and walled garden, let to Miss Parker, Mrs Stanley and Mrs Diston at the rate of £19 per annum.

Lot 2 was Buckland Wood Farm with its stone house and various outbuilding comprising a slate roofed barn, 15.2 acres of pasture and a top field of 10 acres. The land was advertised as being “Capital Dairy Land” with good shooting. At the time it was let to Mr C.T. Scott, Master of Fox Hounds at the rate of £65 per annum.

Lot 3 comprised two fields of productive pasture (referenced as Nos 274 and 236 on the Ordnance Survey Map) known as Lower Battenhanger1 and Wheat Furlough totalling between 29 and 30 acres on the slope of the Cotswold hills above Broadway about half a mile from the centre of the village.

Lot 4 was advertised as a “Superior Pasture Field” of 22 acres called Battenhanger (ref. 275 on the OS Map and adjacent to Lot 3). The land had a water supply was leased to Mr Smith with a rent of £85 per annum.

Debbie Williamson
Broadway History Society

Notes:

1. Lower Battenhanger, Wheat Furlough and Battenhanger are fields south of the High Street and east of the Snowshill Road. The 1923 Ordnance Survey Map of the village does not have field 236 recorded but field 235, adjacent to Lower Battenhanger is noted as being Wheat Furlough.

Broadway Landowners in 1873

In 1873, the population of Worcestershire was 338,837 living in 69,988 houses across 242 parishes in the county. A census of landowners held that year records 5,796 people owning more than one acre of land, a total of 436,327 between them.

In Broadway the following landowners owning more than one acre of land, are recorded as:

Isaac Averill – 309 acres
Michael Bedford – 184 acres
Reverend Charles Smart Caffin – 33 acres
Robert Careless1 – 49 acres
Charles Drury – 42 acres
The Executors of W. Fisher – 32 acres
David Hawkes – 20 acres
Joseph W. Morris – 25 acres
Owen John Morris – 25 acres
Edward Phillipps – 42 acres
The Trustees of Broadway School – 76 acres
Edward Stanley – 43 acres
John Wilson Wilson – 550 acres

The above figures are taken from the Return of Owners of Land 1873.

Debbie Williamson
Broadway History Society

1. Robert Careless (1841-1916)

Next Meeting: Monday 10th December 2018: Farmsteads and Buildings: Recording the past for the future

Next Meeting: Monday 10th December 2018: Farmsteads and Buildings: Recording the past for the future

Dr Alan Wadsworth
Dr Alan Wadsworth

Our next meeting and talk will take place on Monday 10th December in the Lifford Hall, Lower Green, Broadway, starting at 7pm. During the meeting Dr Alan Wadsworth will be giving an illustrated talk on  “Farmsteads and Buildings: Recording the past for the future”.

Farmsteads are very much part of the English landscape and this is particularly true in Worcestershire. However, there are enormous pressures on farming and historic farm buildings are being lost. In many cases they no longer meet the needs of modern agriculture and they are expensive to maintain so many are being converted to other sustainable uses or are simply falling down. Alan grew up on his family’s farm in Yorkshire and moved to Badsey 15 months ago from Wiltshire.  Having taken early retirement from a job in industry, he returned to his farming roots whilst in Wiltshire and was Project Leader of the Wiltshire Farmsteads Project from 2012-2016 recording details of farmsteads across the county.  On moving to Badsey he started a similar project in south-east Worcestershire and the Worcestershire Farmsteads Project officially got under way in April 2017 when funding was received from the British Agricultural History Society.
Refreshments and mince pies will be served at the end of the meeting. All welcome, non-members (£3 on the door).

1961 Toc H World Chain of Light at Dor Knap, Broadway

The World Chain of Light is conducted annually by Toc H members worldwide. It takes place on the 11th – 12th December to commemorate the first opening of Talbot House in Poperinghe, Belgium, and the birthday of Toc H Founder Padre Tubby Clayton.

The first Chain of Light was started in 1929 in Perth, Western Australia. In 1961 the Chain was started at Dor Knap (which had been acquired by the movement in 1959) on the edge of the Cotswold Hills above Broadway.

At 9pm local time on the 11th December the host Lamp at Dor Knap was lit and a vigil held for 24 hours. The chain then moved westwards around the world with branches all lighting their lamps at 9pm local time until the chain of light was completed at 9pm on the 12th December. A short service was prepared by the members of the host Broadway Toc H Branch which included a message that was circulated worldwide for use during the observance.

The Cotswolds in the Drama of Shakespeare

martin-wiggins
Dr Martin Wiggins

On Monday 21st March our meeting will be held in the Torrington Room at the Lygon Arms Hotel starting at 7pm. Dr Martin Wiggins, Senior Lecture and Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, will be giving an illustrated talk ‘The Cotswolds in the Drama of Shakespeare’.

All welcome. Non-members £7.50. Tickets available from www.broadwayartsfestival.com.

 

December Meeting: Monday 14th December 2015

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Our meeting on Monday 14th December will be kindly hosted by Michael de Navarro at Court Farm, High Street, Broadway, starting at 7pm. During the meeting Michael will give a talk on his grandmother, the American stage actress Mary Anderson, Mme de Navarro. Drinks and mince pies will be served. Non-members £3.