Broadway – the Northern Gateway to the Cotswolds

Broadway, Worcestershire, is often referred to as the ‘Jewel of the Cotswolds’ because of its sheer beauty and charm. The ‘broad way’ leads from the foot of the Western Cotswolds escarpment with a wide grass-fringed street, lined with red

chestnut trees and ancient honey-coloured limestone buildings dating back to the 16^th century. The Lygon Arms, said to be the most famous inn in England, was originally called The White Hart and has the distinction of hosting, at different times, both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell.

Broadway nestles at the foot of Fish Hill (where monks used to store fish and the eighteenth century Fish Inn once stood). Broadway Tower, a marvellous folly built by Lady Coventry in the 1790s, stands at 65feet on top of the hill overlooking the village and was a much loved retreat for the Arts and Crafts Movement founder William Morris. On a clear day, you can see no fewer than 14 counties from the top of it.

Broadway village became a busy staging post on the route from Worcester to London as coaches had to harness extra horses for the long pull up Fish Hill. As many as 33 inns existed within the village to service the many travellers passing through. To this day, Broadway still has an excellent selection of inns, hotels and restaurants. Click here to view Broadway attractions.

Broadway and its long association with the Arts

Broadway has been the inspiration for many writers and artists including Henry James, J. M. Barrie, Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar, John Singer Sargent, Sir Alfred Parsons, Leonard Hutton and William Morris. By the 1880’s, a small band of American artists, headed by Francis Millet, discovered Broadway as a ‘quaint reflection of a long ago country village’. John Singer Sargent paid his first visit to Broadway in September 1885 to recuperate from a bad head wound received while diving from a weir. He had been invited to go to this little Worcestershire village by his friend, the American painter Edwin Austin Abbey. It was here that Sargent painted what was later to become one of his best loved paintings ‘Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose’.

As an American magazine once put it: ‘Nowhere can the ideal of Old England be found in such a perfect state of preservation or so untouched by modern improvements as Broadway. There is scarcely a house which hasn’t been painted by a famous artist, there isn’t a chimney or doorway which hasn’t been sketched.’

In more recent times, Broadway was home to furniture designer, Sir Gordon Russell (1892-1980). In 1923, he founded Gordon Russell Ltd to produce furniture and by the 1930’s he and his brother Dick had built a reputation as designers of modern furniture based in the Cotswold Arts and Crafts tradition. Elected a royal designer for industry in 1940, his public service included a stint as chair for the panel designing “utility” furniture (1943-47), and director of the Council of Industrial Design. Until recently, the factory was situated at the rear of the High Street, with his prestigious showrooms in what is now shared by our own galleries, and Russells Restaurant. A museum dedicated to the work of Sir Gordon Russell is due to open in Broadway in Autumn 2007.

Broadway and the surrounding villages offer the visitor a wonderful variety of places to eat, stay and visit – go to the links page to see a selection!