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Visit Broadway and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:
Broadway, Worcestershire, lies 6 miles South East of Evesham where the A46 crosses the A44. The view of its long and broad Main Street, grass-verged, climbing up towards Fish Hill, epitomizes the perfect Cotswold village. In spite of its popularity with tourists from all over the world (it is said to be the most publicized ‘show village’ in England) it has retained its character and nothing has been allowed to impair its beauty. On both sides are lovely old cottages and fine gabled houses, nearly all built of golden Cotswold stone. Notable is the Abbot's Grange, which once belonged to the Abbots of Evesham and dates from the 14th century. It has Elizabethan additions and two well-planned wings built in this century. It has its original chapel, hall, solar and abbot's study. The next house facing the green is the late 17th-century Farnham House. The Broadway Hotel in contrast is mostly timber-framed, with only one wing built of stone. Perhaps the best known building is an inn now called the Lygon Arms but originally known as the White Hart. At an even earlier date it was probably an important manor house. The Torrington Diaries of 1742-1813 record that the walls were very thick, “door oaken and wide, with a profusion of timber and remains of much tapistery for carpetting”. The writer then went on to record that he was lodged in “the grand bed-chamber of an old family seat”. All of which, in spite of the additions of 20th-century plumbing and heating, is true today. During the troubled years of 1645-51 the house sheltered at different times both Charles I and Cromwell. With its recessed centre and projecting wings, its gables and dormer windows, its mullions and transoms and the beautiful preservation of its stone, it is still the most exciting of the many beautiful houses in the village. The Tudor House is often considered a rival, but its very formal symmetry may relegate it to second place for some people. Another beautiful old gabled house restored with care is now St Patrick's Tea Room.
There is another delightful little manor house called Hunters Lodge, built during the Commonwealth towards the top of the hill. This is now a hotel. Fish Inn was once a summer-house or gazebo on Sir John Cotterell's estate and has a curious rusticated Venetian window and frieze. A little to the south of the inn is the Beacon Tower (sometimes called Fish Hill Tower) built by Lady Coventry and completed as a folly at the end of the 18th century. It stands over 1,000 ft up and commands a view over several counties. On a fine day Tewkesbury Abbey, Worcester Cathedral and Warwick Castle can all be made out.
The old Parish Church of St Eadbury is hidden away at the other end of the village. A cruciform church with a central tower, it contains much of architectural merit from the 12th to the 17th centuries. It is little used now. The present parish church was built in the 19th century. Spring Hill House, 3 miles to the south east, was Lord Coventry's mansion. He commissioned Capability Brown to build it in 1763. Some 70 years later it was sold to General Lygon who added to it. Much of the landscaping has been altered over the years.
Nearby towns: Evesham, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tewkesbury
Nearby villages: Childswickham, Chipping Campden, Mickleton, Willersey, Weston-sub-Edge
Have you decided to visit Broadway or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:
- a Broadway bed and breakfast (a Broadway B&B or Broadway b and b)
- a Broadway guesthouse
- a Broadway hotel (or motel)
- a Broadway self-catering establishment, or
- other Broadway accommodation
Accommodation in Broadway:
Find availability in a Broadway bed and breakfast, also known as B&B or b and b, guesthouse, small hotel, self-catering or other accommodation.