St Mary Magdalene, Broadwas

In about 740 A.D. King Offa gave an area of land bordered by the River Severn to the East, the River Teme to the South and reaching as far as Bradwasse to the West, to the Prior and Convent of Worcester. Thus this Village has its name in the Chronicles of England. In later times the monks of the Cathedral of Worcester had their mill at Broadwas, and an order for grinding corn was established, the monks being the first to have their corn ground each year.

A Church has stood on this site since 1170 A.D. Of that early building, there remains the walls of the Nave and the south doorway.

Walter of Broadwas and Ralph of Evesham led a party to Rome and returned with a Bull (dated 14th May 1203) under the seal of Pope Innocent III proclaiming Wulstan a saint

The Chantry Chapel is an impressive part of the Church.  It is believed to be the only building of this date in the County. It has window tracery similar to those of the Cathedral which indicates that it might have been built by the Cathedral masons and the details of its foundation have been carefully recorded. The deeds say “In 1344 A.D. The Prior and Convent of Worcester granted leave to John de Broadwas, clerk, to appropriate certain lands held of them ‘in capite’ at Broadwas and elsewhere to maintain a Chaplain to celebrate daily in the Church at Broadwas notwithstanding the statute of mortmain”.  The Lady Chapel and Chantry here were not joined by a small doorway as was the custom but by the erection of two very fine archways incorporating the chapel into the Nave. This was only just before the “Black Death” swept across the country, it could not have been done ten years later.

In 1542 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted the right of appointment of the Rector of the Parish to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral along with the Lordship of the Manor and much of the lands of the parish.  The lands remained with the Dean & Chapter until sold off by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Rector in the 1880’s organised a major rebuilding of the east end of the Nave & chancel, the north wall having for some years been leaning outwards. This established the current focus on the Sanctuary and Altar, previously the focus had been on the pulpit with pews in the chancel facing to the west. The chancel floor was raised and the old medieval tiles which were recovered from under the old chancel floor were reset in their present position.

In the 1970’s dry rot became established in the timbers of the tower and the wooden floor of the nave necessitating a major overhaul with the tower being mounted on steel and concrete beams and the wooden nave floor being also replaced with concrete; this was carpeted about five years ago when the kitchen and toilet facilities were also inserted to make this a very “user-friendly” place of worship.

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