ODSEY HUNDRED 



charity together with the charities of John Sell and 

 Thomas Plomer consists of 32 a. 21. 7 p. of land in 

 Mob's Hole in Ashwell North Fields, producing 

 £32 lot. yearly. 



The income of these charities after deduction of 

 the fixed payments mentioned above is applicable for 

 the general benefit of the poor. 



In 1886 Miss Anne Heath Westrope, by her will 

 proved at London 28 July, bequeathed £100 to the 

 rector for the time being, represented by £100 Cj. 

 consols, the annual dividends, amounting to £z 10s., 

 to be distributed among the poor, especially the 

 afflicted poor, without regard to sect or denomina- 

 tion. 



The same testatrix bequeathed £100 to the 

 minister and deacons of the Independent Chapel 

 upon the same trusts. This legacy is represented by 

 £100 5/. consols, and the charity is regulated by a 

 scheme of the Charity Commissioners dated 14 July 

 1905, which also regulates the trust estate of the 

 Congregational Chapel comprised in deeds 1829, 

 1864 and 1875. 



In 1891 Mrs. Mary Hitch Westrope, by her will 

 proved at London I April, left a legacy, now repre- 

 sented by £187 19J. yd. consols, the annual dividends 

 amounting to £4 14/. to be distributed among the 

 afflicted poor, especially widows, without regard to 

 sect or denomination. 



BROADFIELD 



The Moss Cottage Homes were founded by George 

 Moss by indenture 10 July 1905 and endowed by 

 him with £2,000 London and North Western 

 Railway 3 per cent. Perpetual Debenture Stock. 

 The endowment was increased in 1907 to £2,800 

 London and North Western Railway stock by aug- 

 mentation of Mrs. Frederika Emily Bowman, pro- 

 ducing £84 a year. The Homes consist of six cottages 

 for six aged and infirm persons, and the inmates, who 

 receive 5/. weekly, may be either married couples 

 {each married couple counting as one inmate), single 

 women or widows. 



The several sums of stock above mentioned are 

 held by the official trustees. 



The school was founded by the will of Henry Colborn 

 dated 1 August 16;;." The Educational Charity 

 was founded by deed of grant dated 22 March 1842 

 made by Michael Edward Rogers, Charles Stubbs 

 Tinling and Mary Susanna his wife, and consists of a 

 sum of £306 10/. 3d. consols with the official trustees, 

 producing £7 I y. yearly, purchased with ,£300 pro- 

 duced by sale of the old school site, &c. The charity 

 is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 dated 6 August 1878. The endowment was aug- 

 mented in 1878 by a donation of £50 by Edward 

 King Fordham. This was invested in £51 18/. yd. 

 consols with the official trustees, producing £1 6j. 



BROADFIELD 



Bradefella (xi cenc.) ; Bradefeld (xii cent.) ; Bradfeld 

 (riv cent.). 



Broadfield is a small parish containing 374 acres. 

 As its name would possibly imply, it is comprised 

 within field boundaries, and was probably originally 

 a part of Rushden, of which parish it was said to have 

 been a chapelry in the 1 6th century. 1 About two- 

 thirds of the parish are arable land and the remainder 

 permanent grass. There are now only three small 

 woods in the centre of the parish, called Great Wood, 

 Middle Wood and Chapel Wood, and a small copse 

 in the south called Foxholes. In the 1 7th century, 

 however, the woodland was probably more extensive, 

 as Chauncy describes Broadfield as situated on a hill in 

 woods,* . The soil is generally heavy, with a subsoil of 

 chalk. A spring which rises a mile to the north of 

 Broadfield Hall is said to have had at one time powers 

 of petrifaction. 3 The parish lies on the high chalk 

 land, reaching an altitude in the south-east of 465 ft. 

 above the ordnance datum, but falls to a little over 

 400 ft. in the west. 



The nearest railway station is in Buntingfbrd on 

 the Great Eastern railway, about 3 miles to the east. 

 The small village lies a little north of the road from 

 Cottered to Throcking, with which it is connected 

 by a branch road. Until the beginning of the 19th 

 century this road went no further than Broadfield, 

 but turned south again and joined the Cottered- 

 Buntingford road.* It is probably largely due to this 

 limited communication that the village has consistently 

 diminished in size and importance. Even during the 

 last century the population has fallen from thirty-one 

 to seven, and consists of little more than Broadfield 



"* See article on Schools, V.C.H. Herts, ii, 99. 

 1 Norden, Description of Herts, (ed. 1903), 15. 

 * Chauncy, Hiit. and Antiq. of Herts, 71, 



Hall, the manor-house, now the residence of Mr. 

 T. H. Whitehead. Chapel Wood, supposed to mark 

 the site of the church which fell into ruins in the 

 16th century, lies a little to the north of the hall. 



Broadfield Hall stands about a mile to the north of 

 the village of Cottered. Portions of a moat which 

 originally surrounded the site still exist as ornamental 

 water. The house was built about the year 1689, 

 and existed until the middle of the 19th century, 

 when it was allowed to fall into ruins. In 1882 it 

 was practically rebuilt on a smaller scale, and portions 

 of the old house still remain incorporated with the 

 new work. In the east wall is one of the old windows 

 with stone mullions and transoms, and part of the 

 north side is old and has a large brick niche with 

 semicircular head set in the brickwork. Some of the 

 old cellars still exist and have round vaults of brick. 

 On the modern front door is a fine iron knocker of 

 late 17th-century work, said to have come from 

 Cottered Lordship. It represents two dolphins with 

 entwined tails, holding a human head between them 

 in their jaws. The old staircase and an oak chimney- 

 piece from the old hall are now at Coles Park, 

 Westmill.' 3 The original entrance door is of oak and 

 is richly covered with moulded panels. The top part 

 of the door has a semicircular panel with fluted and 

 moulded spokes radiating from the centre. There is 

 a good lion's head knocker and a drop handle on a 

 shaped plate. Both on the rails and in the panels are 

 a number of iron studs. 



The brick stables, which stand immediately behind 

 the hall, are of the early part of the 18th century. 

 Some of the old oak stalls still remain in the stable 



209 



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