Brambledean, broadoak

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to be the new owner of the above property and would love to hear any history about it, look forward to chatting with you.Many thanks in advance Jayne

Post reply

4667 views

Hi Jayne and welcome to the forum !

Please can you give more info about the property to help us "place" it, eg description, precise location, and particularly approximate age, thanks. Search engines find the following estate agents info but sadly without any photos, so not too helpfull so far. As a complete guess where it's described as "end of terrace" I wonder if it's cottages for local farm or even river workers ?. Do you have Ancestry access, sometimes entering specific house names gives results particularly off the 1911 Census.
Whatever you find out about the house I'm sure it's a delightful and substantial one with healthy fresh air and peacefull space inside and out (so unlike my West London midterrace !). I'd certainly swop you my view for yours across the river, altho' sadly they'll no longer like this one !
http://www.antiqueprints.com/proddetail.php?prod=e8007

I hope your plans go well and you enjoy living there. By then you'll have the Deeds of course, they may yield some history.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/brambledean/broadoak/newnham/gl14-1jb/9686615

------------

In case you don't know a general and perhaps definitive history of Broadoak is in the British History website under Westbury, as follows. (No specific mention of Brambledean, but still interesting). Among various mentions of Broadoak are;

"Broadoak, a hamlet on the Severn in the south part of Elton tithing, owed its growth to the river trade, of which the remains of a quay and a derelict wooden barge were the only visible reminder in 1969. The first record found of a house there was in 1639, although the settlement probably existed earlier. Broadoak consists mainly of 18th- and early-19th-century brick cottages standing between the main road and the river; one is dated 1763 and another 1799. Broadoak House, the most substantial house there, was built c. 1800. It is of brick with stone quoins, dentil cornice, and a pedimented doorcase; the interior retains decorative plaster ceilings and carved fireplaces. A brick and stone building in the garden was being used as a private school in 1846. The Broadoak Inn, at a house at the east end of the hamlet, was open by 1760 and until the early 20th century. Another inn, the 'White Hart' recorded from 1783, remained open in 1969."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15765&strquery=broadoak

"Broadoak was a small centre of commerce and ship-building. Five sailors and two shipwrights listed under Elton in 1608 probably lived there, and a mariner of Broadoak was mentioned in 1702. Sloops and barges of 40-70 tons, and in 1801 a West Indiaman of 263 tons, were among ships built at the hamlet during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, some of them by Thomas Powell (d. 1785) and his son Thomas (d. 1795). The Boughton family were merchants at Broadoak during the second half of the 18th century: John Boughton was dealing in cider in 1755, and at his death in 1767 he left cider-making equipment at Hawkins Pill, just over the boundary with Newnham, and a brig to his son Joseph (d. 1782), who became prominent in the bark and cider trade; two other members of the family owned a brig trading with London in 1786. Three pilots and a sloop-owner were among the hamlet's residents in 1856. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries large quantities of stone for use on the roads of the parish were brought up river and unloaded at Broadoak."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15767&strquery=broadoak

For an insight into the life of the Boughtons of Broadoak you may want to lookup Issue 19 of the FoD LHS magazine "New Regard", Cinderford Library for example has some back issues.
http://79.170.40.163/forestofdeanhistory.org.uk/LHSnr19sample.htm

I see the poet FW Harvey lived there for a while in the 1920's, perhaps at Brambledean, before moving into the inner Forest ?
http://www.fwharveysociety.co.uk/Will%20Harvey%20and%20Yorkley.htm

Post reply

4689 views

Hi again,
using the great Old Maps website I see Brambledean is the building adjacent to, if not attached to, Broadoak House, right on the main road in the centre of the village. Does this sound right ? (apologies, I don't think I've ever been to Broadoak, nearest I've been is Elton Corner before turning off the A48 heading to my hometown Cinderford from Gloster etc)
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

Apologies if you already know this website, otherwise the notes below will hopefully help. First enter the postcode GL14 1JB in the search box, then select "Brambledean" from the resulting dropdown list, click this.
Wait for modern map of your area to load, with the searched item (postcode) dead centre.

On the righthand side a dropmenu will list the available maps for your area, in varying scales and in chronological order.
Click on the desired map image - main map will be replaced by your chosen old one - be patient as it can take a while to load.
Often the most usefull map (most detail) will be one of the large scale maps eg 1:2500, early OS maps show individual buildings etc etc. In this instance I suggest you start with the "1973-74 1:2500" map. I recommend you now select an overall screen zoom setting of abt 200%, such that the framed map image fills your screen yet remains readable. Furthermore, if you now click the "spyglass" icon it will then zoom again but with no loss of clarity.
As long as you are able to persuade the site's search engine to load the right map for the area you're hoping to study (postcode is best way !), and you allow time for it to "think" and images to load (very slow on my old basic laptop but fine on my modern pc), this is a truly excellent & most usefull website.

For your search, at centre of the 1973-74 map you'll see Broadoak House, next door/above is labelled "Brambledean" albeit at an awkward angle to see.
If you now select an earlier map, still keeping to the 1:2500 scale, you can see how the village changed over the years and particularly Brambledean. These maps are old Ordnance Survey maps so highly accurate and higly detailed, altho sometimes the placename spellings will vary from nowadays just as in Census's etc.
I wonder if the Brambledean terrace was built to house staff from the presumably important Broadoak House next door ??? Does it look similar ?. I see the 1902 map and before doesnt quote the name "Brambledean", maybe it wasn't in use until later ?

I do hope this helps a little.

Post reply

4604 views

Hi Jefff thank you for your information it's good to see some history, I have a copy of the deeds but they are not good enough to read? Hopefully the original will shed more light? Thank you again very much appreciated

Post reply

4575 views

Thank you Jefff this is good, form what I can make out its a late addition possibly in the 50,s we can see the house in the 1955 map ? We were confused when our surveyed said 213 year old? We are sure it's not that old.

Thanks again for getting us started off :)

Post reply

4565 views

Hi Jayne,
thanks for your kind words, sorry I couldn't be more specific to your house with the history. However seeing your reply I'm confused now ("situation normal" here then !)

Are you saying that your house is not the same Brambledean as is marked on the 1973-74 maps ?. I say this as I cannot make anything out clearly from the 1955 map due to it's scale ?
As your house is described in the estate agent notes as "end terrace" I'd assumed it was the far (northern) end of the terrace marked Brambledean which adjoins the larger "square" Broadoak House to the south (as I said I don't know the village personally so cannot picture it for sure as you can, looks like the Brambledean terrace was opposite a Methodist Church towards the west/railway ?).

Is this correct ? Altho not named Brambledean this same terrace is clearly shown on all the maps back to 1884.

Or are you saying your house is an addition to this terrace towards the North, and isn't marked on the pre 1955 maps at all ?. Having said this I've just looked at the satellite photos on Google Earth and to me the buildings look pretty unchanged from the maps, the "end terrace" looks to have some fine large lawns, is this yours, it's just next to "Riverside House" to the east which I suspect is now a care home.

I must admit if your House was 200 years old I was a little surprised the estate agents details that I saw, assuming they're the same property of course, didnt mention this history in any obvious way.

ANYHOW, I'm glad I've helped if only a little, shame the Deeds aren't too clear.
Good luck in your continued research and may you enjoy your new home for many years.

Post reply

4582 views

Yes Jefff you have the correct house, we will have another look tomorrow with less tired eyes :)

Post reply

4560 views

Thank you Jefff this is good, form what I can make out its a late addition possibly in the 50,s we can see the house in the 1955 map ? We were confused when our surveyed said 213 year old? We are sure it's not that old.

Thanks again for getting us started off :)

http://www.movewithus.co.uk/Property/Index/1611917/Brambledean-Broadoak-Newnham-GL14

Looking at the maps

The shape of the building on the plot seems similar from 1903, on the 1884 map the building on this plot seems to have a "wing" towards the main road.

Broadoak House at the end of the "terrace"

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1397699

To get you in the right area in 1881 Broadoak residents are:-

Year: 1892
Month: Jan
Day: 29
Surname: PARKER
Forenames: Charlotte
Residence: Newnham
Age_at_death: 46
Officiating_Minister: W G Baillie vicar
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P228 IN 1/20
Page_No: 11
Parish_Chapel: Newnham

1881
Andrew Parker abt 1840 Harleston, Norfolk, England Head Newnham, Gloucestershire
Charlotte Parker abt 1847 Dymock, Gloucestershire, England Wife Newnham, Gloucestershire
John Parker abt 1872 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England Son Newnham, Gloucestershire
Arthur A. Parker abt 1874 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England Son Newnham, Gloucestershire
Amy Parker abt 1876 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Newnham, Gloucestershire
Beatrice Parker abt 1878 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England Daughter Newnham, Gloucestershire
Sampson Parker abt 1879 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England Son Newnham, Gloucestershire
Alida S.C.Q. Quinton abt 1851 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England Governess Newnham, Gloucestershire
Rosa Wyman abt 1862 Westbury On Severn, Gloucestershire, England Servant Newnham, Gloucestershire
Alice Carter abt 1863 Longney, Gloucestershire, England Servant Newnham, Gloucestershire

Year: 1879
Month: Jan
Day: 16
Parents_Surname: PARKER
Child_Forenames: Sampson George
Fathers_Forenames: Andrew
Mothers_Forenames: Charlotte
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Newnham
Occupation: Solicitor
Officiating_Minister: T.J.Weight Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P228 IN 1/11
Page_Number: 4
Parish_Chapel: Newnham

Brambledean is not identified , I suspect it is under the shared heading of Hawkins Pill

again in 1871 not identified but a group of dwellings in Hawkins Pill
Andrew Parker 30
Charlotte Parker 24
Emma C B Parker 1
Sophia Aplin 17
Charles Gooding 24

Year: 1870
Month: Mar
Day: 15
Parents_Surname: PARKER
Child_Forenames: Emma Charlotte Burrup
Fathers_Forenames: Andrew
Mothers_Forenames: Charlotte
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Newnham
Occupation: Attorneys Clerk
Officiating_Minister: E C Price Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P228 IN 1/10
Page_Number: 52
Parish_Chapel: Newnham

( Hawkins Pill is downstream of BroadoakHouse, near the Silver Fox}

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Post reply

4782 views

Thanks for the photos Slowhands, well found and very helpfull !
I suspect the original Broakoak House as per your second photo (which is clearly Georgian period & home to affluent people) was built first, with a perhaps later Victorian extension to it's rear albeit and deliberately matching height and red brick, maybe for the staff & workers accommodation. This House is the 200+ year old property the Estate Agents alluded to.

Re Brambledean itself, as the first photo shows this looks to me to be a later addition. Clearly the paint obscures the original stone/brickwork so cannot tell if it matches the red brick of the "main" Broadoak House and the midterrace building. However the slate roof, different chimney and slightly "arched" windows all suggest a Victorian brick-built house to me. I wonder if this replaced the different shaped "wing" shown on the 1884 map, perhaps this wing was in the way of later road widening, or was it coachhouse/stables which were no longer needed ?. I wonder if this Victorian addition was originally two "2up/2down" cottages which were modernised again maybe 1970s and knocked-thro into it's present 4 bedroom layout; but then again the chimney suggests it was always a larger cottage so ?.

--------

Slowhands, are you saying the 1881 Census info for the Parker family relates to Broadoak House itself ? If it does then they seem a little short of staff ? Perhaps their other staff were listed separately such as living in the Brambledean part of the "terrace", or elsewhere locally of course, or were they in hard times ?.

Interesting stuff this, I can feel a short detour coming on the next time I drive to the Forest.

Post reply

4536 views

Thank you both for your interest, your interest is helping us very much. Brambledean has red brick under the render so Victorian could be correct. I'm going there tomorrow so will try to get some pictures for you to look at.

Post reply

4432 views

RSS Feed of thread

Forest of Dean FHT Forum

Brambledean, broadoak (General)

Brambledean, Broadoak, next to Broadoak House ?

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak

Brambledean, Broadoak