Lying in the shadow of the North Cotswold hills, this is a popular tourist destination with a lot of independently owned shops and eateries. It is overlooked by Broadway Tower, a folly built in the late C18th by the Earl of Coventry.
The area has been settled since the C9th and is mentioned in Domesday Book. The original settlement was around St Eadburgha’s Church, about a mile south of the present village. The village gradually expanded northwards to its present location, growing and prospering from wool and cloth industry. It was an important stop on the stage coach route between London, Oxford and Worcester. Stage coaches stopped in village to harness extra horses to before climbing the steep Fish Hill out of Broadway. Over 34 inns catered for the stage coach traffic.
The railway arrived in the mid C19th but by passed Broadway, which became a bit of a rural backwater. The population declined and many of the buildings were deserted and fell into ruin. It was ‘saved’ when discovered by the Arts and Crafts movement and many artists and writers settled in the village, attracted by the peace and tranquility.
The arrival of the motor car and the rise in tourism put Broadway back on the map and visitors arrived in their droves. They still come and the area is noted as a centre for art and antiques.
Broadway is an attractive village of golden stone buildings lining the High Street, many dating from the C16th.
St Michael and All Angel’s Church is on the southern edge of the village and was built in 1840 on the site of an earlier Chapel of Ease. Only the pulpit survives from that church.
At the far end is the Green, a triangular area of grass. The Indian restaurant facing the green is in a converted coach house and barn.
The war memorial to the dead of the first World War overlooks the green.
The very wide High Street runs the length of the village and is lined with horse chestnut trees. There are a lot of small independently owned shops, including high quality clothing and a very good traditional children’s toy shop. There are galleries and plenty of eateries.
The Lygon Arms on the High Street dates from 1620 although there was a C14th coaching Inn on the site before then. It was one of the largest and most important of the coaching inns.
The Broadway Museum and Art Gallery is in a lovely C17th stone building at the bottom end of the High Street. This was once the Angel Inn. When the railway replaced stage coach travel, the Inn closed and became a farmstead, then a school and in the 1930s was the headquarters of H W Keil Ltd, a well-known and highly esteemed International dealer in antique furniture. It is now a Museum and Art gallery with support and backing of H W Keil and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Most of the buildings along High Street date from the C16 and C17th although the detached Croft Villa set in its own grounds at the end of High Street is early C18th
Narrow alleys lead off High Street.
The Gordon Russell Design Museum is on Back Lane and features the work of the renowned C20th furniture designer. The modern housing around it is designed to complement the C16th buildings in Broadway.
website
The area has been settled since the C9th and is mentioned in Domesday Book. The original settlement was around St Eadburgha’s Church, about a mile south of the present village. The village gradually expanded northwards to its present location, growing and prospering from wool and cloth industry. It was an important stop on the stage coach route between London, Oxford and Worcester. Stage coaches stopped in village to harness extra horses to before climbing the steep Fish Hill out of Broadway. Over 34 inns catered for the stage coach traffic.
The railway arrived in the mid C19th but by passed Broadway, which became a bit of a rural backwater. The population declined and many of the buildings were deserted and fell into ruin. It was ‘saved’ when discovered by the Arts and Crafts movement and many artists and writers settled in the village, attracted by the peace and tranquility.
The arrival of the motor car and the rise in tourism put Broadway back on the map and visitors arrived in their droves. They still come and the area is noted as a centre for art and antiques.
Broadway is an attractive village of golden stone buildings lining the High Street, many dating from the C16th.
St Michael and All Angel’s Church is on the southern edge of the village and was built in 1840 on the site of an earlier Chapel of Ease. Only the pulpit survives from that church.
At the far end is the Green, a triangular area of grass. The Indian restaurant facing the green is in a converted coach house and barn.
The war memorial to the dead of the first World War overlooks the green.
The very wide High Street runs the length of the village and is lined with horse chestnut trees. There are a lot of small independently owned shops, including high quality clothing and a very good traditional children’s toy shop. There are galleries and plenty of eateries.
The Lygon Arms on the High Street dates from 1620 although there was a C14th coaching Inn on the site before then. It was one of the largest and most important of the coaching inns.
The Broadway Museum and Art Gallery is in a lovely C17th stone building at the bottom end of the High Street. This was once the Angel Inn. When the railway replaced stage coach travel, the Inn closed and became a farmstead, then a school and in the 1930s was the headquarters of H W Keil Ltd, a well-known and highly esteemed International dealer in antique furniture. It is now a Museum and Art gallery with support and backing of H W Keil and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Most of the buildings along High Street date from the C16 and C17th although the detached Croft Villa set in its own grounds at the end of High Street is early C18th
Narrow alleys lead off High Street.
The Gordon Russell Design Museum is on Back Lane and features the work of the renowned C20th furniture designer. The modern housing around it is designed to complement the C16th buildings in Broadway.
website
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