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| Today, people regard Broom as a pleasant hamlet attached to Bidford-on-Avon:this is so but it also has a long history, being the kernel of the mediaeval manor of King's Broom. What is not widely known is that another manor, Burnley's Broom, adjoined King's Broom. Its history was vastly different, for it has left no hamlet: the only building which remains is its manor house, Broom Court. The hamlet became deserted and is one of the hundreds of D.M.V.s (Deserted Mediaeval Villages) to be found throughout the country. . |
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Burnell's Broom's skeleton is visible under certain weather conditions: if one stands at Broom Court and looks south it is sometimes possible to see, about half a mile away, on rising ground the boundary lines of cottages and garden plots appearing as brownish 'crop marks' in the fields
To our knowledge, no excavations have been attempted on this site but such an archaeological examination would surely tell us when the desertion took place and perhaps how old the settlement was. So far, archival evidence for the two Brooms is very meagre. Our area has a number of partially depopulated villages (e.g. Kinwarton, Spernall) but only a few truly deserted ones (Burnell's Broom, Wyke and Billesley come to mind.)
