Artistic Heritage...
Situated on the edge of the north Cotswold Hills sits Broadway, home over the centuries to men and women of all backgrounds, from monks to farmers, gentry and artists. Its buttery stone houses and cottages, no two the same, line the main street, with the largest building, now the Lygon Arms Hotel, proudly taking centre stage. The Lygon family, who became the Earls Beauchamp, were one of the many families in Broadway’s past who were responsible for creating its rich and diverse artistic heritage.
It was thanks to the 6th Earl of Beauchamp’s generosity and foresight that helped the guild of craftsmen move from London to the north Cotswolds, where the ideals of the arts and crafts movement were nurtured and put to practise. Many of Broadway’s houses and gardens were consequently built or altered during this time, by such talents as Prentice, Jewson, Bateman and Parsons, incorporating the ideals of this movement by embracing nature and craftsmanship and avoiding modern technology.
One of the key figures in this movement was William Morris, who adopted Broadway Tower for his studio during the 1880s. It is because of his views and vision that Alfred Parsons first visited Broadway along with his American journalist friend Lawrence Dutton. The short walk from the tower, down Fish Hill, to the sleepy village was all it took to entice them to live in Broadway, and thus an American colony of artists soon followed suit. Millet, Abbey, Sargent, Boughton, Blashfield, and Barnard all made Broadway their summer retreat, where they revelled in each other's company and creativity.
Writers and poets were also drawn to the village during this time. Henry James, EV Lucas and Edmond Gosse were captured by the spirit of Broadway and its ‘glimpse’ of old England, and felt that here they had discovered Shakespeare’s true country. They were, in fact, benefitting from the consequences of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, when labourers left the countryside seeking better work in the towns. This, coupled with the new London to Worcester railway bypassing the village, resulted in Broadway for this short time being blissfully quiet and empty. It was this reason that enabled Frank Millet to rent the empty Farnham House where, in 1885, his friend Sargent is thought to have started to paint his iconic work Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. The work was completed in 1886 in the grounds of nearby Russell House, where the mediaeval Abbot’s Grange had been converted into studios.
The lure of Shakespeare also brought many thespians to Broadway, with one notable actress Mary Anderson, the first American actress to play Rosalind at Stratford, being so taken by the village that she and her husband Antonio de Navarro bought Court Farm and remained there. Their celebrity status brought many more artistic types to Broadway, and with composer Maude Valerie White living next door in Bell Farm, intimate concerts and great composing were hence encouraged at the top end of the High Street. Edward Elgar, another Worcestershire great who was given Lygon ‘encouragement’, also found its quiet cottages and meadows most inspirational.
Being just a short distance away from Stanway, Sudeley, Snowshill, Sezincote, Hidcote, Kiftsgate and Madresfield, Broadway can boast many more interesting stories enlightening us of its creative past. From Sir Gordon Russell learning and plying his trade; Alma Tadema and Evelyn Waugh enjoying the Lygon Arms; JM Barrie playing cricket on the village green; JMW Turner sketching en route to Evesham and German prisoners of war painting delightful pictures of Broadway on old bits of wood, it is clear that Broadway’s artistic path has been well trodden, inspiring many a visitor along the way. The tradition has been kept alight by the fantastic art galleries and antique shops which have for years lined the high streets, with art lovers such as Keil, Hagen and Noott all flying the flag of quality and selling great artworks from their mullioned windows. Artists still to this day work in the village, with Jeremy Houghton and Edward Noott now both ensuring that Broadway’s further involvement and influence with the arts is very much in safe and colourful hands.
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The Lygon Arms |
It was thanks to the 6th Earl of Beauchamp’s generosity and foresight that helped the guild of craftsmen move from London to the north Cotswolds, where the ideals of the arts and crafts movement were nurtured and put to practise. Many of Broadway’s houses and gardens were consequently built or altered during this time, by such talents as Prentice, Jewson, Bateman and Parsons, incorporating the ideals of this movement by embracing nature and craftsmanship and avoiding modern technology.
One of the key figures in this movement was William Morris, who adopted Broadway Tower for his studio during the 1880s. It is because of his views and vision that Alfred Parsons first visited Broadway along with his American journalist friend Lawrence Dutton. The short walk from the tower, down Fish Hill, to the sleepy village was all it took to entice them to live in Broadway, and thus an American colony of artists soon followed suit. Millet, Abbey, Sargent, Boughton, Blashfield, and Barnard all made Broadway their summer retreat, where they revelled in each other's company and creativity.
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'A Broadway Milkmaid' by Francis Millet (courtesy John Noott Galleries) |
'Japanese Paeonies in a Broadway garden' by Alfred Parsons RA (courtesy John Noott Galleries) |
Portrait of Henry James by John Singer Sargent RA |
Broadway Tower |
Writers and poets were also drawn to the village during this time. Henry James, EV Lucas and Edmond Gosse were captured by the spirit of Broadway and its ‘glimpse’ of old England, and felt that here they had discovered Shakespeare’s true country. They were, in fact, benefitting from the consequences of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, when labourers left the countryside seeking better work in the towns. This, coupled with the new London to Worcester railway bypassing the village, resulted in Broadway for this short time being blissfully quiet and empty. It was this reason that enabled Frank Millet to rent the empty Farnham House where, in 1885, his friend Sargent is thought to have started to paint his iconic work Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. The work was completed in 1886 in the grounds of nearby Russell House, where the mediaeval Abbot’s Grange had been converted into studios.
The lure of Shakespeare also brought many thespians to Broadway, with one notable actress Mary Anderson, the first American actress to play Rosalind at Stratford, being so taken by the village that she and her husband Antonio de Navarro bought Court Farm and remained there. Their celebrity status brought many more artistic types to Broadway, and with composer Maude Valerie White living next door in Bell Farm, intimate concerts and great composing were hence encouraged at the top end of the High Street. Edward Elgar, another Worcestershire great who was given Lygon ‘encouragement’, also found its quiet cottages and meadows most inspirational.
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A selection of furniture at the Gordon Russell Museum in Broadway |
