Welcome to Bradden Village.
Bradden is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England, about 4 miles west of Towcester. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 179 people. It is a village of mainly mature houses, built from mellow Northamptonshire stone.
The place name is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century “brade”, broad, and “denu”, a valley, thus a “broad valley”. The place name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Bradene”; as “Braenden” in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1186; as “Bradden” in the Book of Fees in 1220; and as “Braddene” in the Episcopal Registers of 1230.
We hope to provide on this website a detailed history of Bradden and St Michael’s Church. This will be quite an endeavour given the age of the village, and the information currently available. Selwyn Walgate has therefore prepared a little something to be going on with…
In advance of contributing something of substance on the history of Bradden I thought I would post a little “taster” of the areas I intend to cover.
I would welcome comments re any other matters which it is believed should be covered and contributions of information/material.
The Doomsday Book is a good place to start due to the paucity (especially written) of material pre Norman Conquest.
I will name landowners at that time and shortly after including the Greens of Greens Norton and the Knights Templar (and following their suppression, the Knights Hospitaller).
I will add the family tree of the Matthews family who acquired lands in Bradden in the late 15th Century and who include Sir John Matthew (Lord Mayor of London in 1490).
The Matthews connection with Bradden comes to an end some 200 years later when Gaius Matthew sells the family lands to William Ives “Rector of Greens Norton and Bradden” in 1677.
As always, religion played a significant part in the history of Bradden and this isn’t confined to the established Church. Bradden has an important place in the history of the non-conformist movement as I shall explain.
Click this link for more information about Non-conformists and Bradden.
Full details of the 19th Century inclosures are held (but not those of the 18th Century).
The Inclosures Act laid out both roads and footpaths and stipulated their width. Most footpaths ended up at the Sugar Loaf Public House! The field names mentioned are still with us today.
Click this link for the official notice issued after the 1803 Inclose Act was passed.
There had been earlier inclosures and the list of documents at the Northamptonshire Record Office include:
“Deeds concerning the inclosure of the North Field at Bradden 1506 to 1525“
(which seems very early for inclosure!)
The 1802 Act includes a quaint paragraph;
- “And that the said Thomas Fawcett as Rector and his successors, Rectors as aforesaid, shall, immediately after the passing of this Act, be forever exonerated and exempt from providing and keeping a bull and boar for the use of the inhabitants of Bradden aforesaid“.
It’s interesting to see that the Inclosure Act laid down the roads and footpaths and that most of the field names etc are still with us today.
Joseph Goodman lived in Lodge Farm and presumably his “orchard” was close by.
The Sugar-Loaf Public House’s name continues to this day, of course, as Sugar Loaf Cottage.
Lodge Farm has its own place in history as being one of the earliest buildings licensed for Dissenting religious services in 1689. The license was granted to a Joseph Goodman a direct ancestor of the namesake mentioned, in the Inclosure Act.
Click here for my paper on Nonconformity and Bradden.
I will add a map which shows Lower End joining up with Water Lane and the sites of buildings no longer with us (there were buildings on both sides of Main St originally, where we now have the Bradden House garden and adjacent woods). Cottages lost include “Honeymoon Cottage” which was apparently occupied by the blacksmith.
I will try and add an aerial photo which shows evidence of buildings in the field at the back of Bury Brake.
Some sources say that this was the site of the original Manor House. Others that it was the original village that moved!
I will try and include a pen and ink representation of the old Manor House. But was it “demolished after falling into disrepair” as some reports state or was it incorporated into the rebuilding of the present Bradden House in 1819. It is known that some of the current internal walls of the present house were previously external walls! Opinions welcomed.
Much of the history of the 20th Century will be in the living memory of many residents so I look forward to hearing from such residents. Any old photographs of Bradden would be welcome as would any contribution as the aim will be to make the site as accurate as possible so that its not just of interest to residents but a source for anyone interested in the history of Bradden and its former inhabitants”.
Selwyn Walgate
Bradden Village 
Hi Everyone at Bradden, I live at Braddon, near Ashwater in Devon, not a village but a small estate.
I like your website, and found everything on it of interest.
I was particularly interested in the interpretation of the name Bradden, here it is supposed that the name Braddon, means ‘brads down’ at least that is my bosses assumption, however your interpretation or the broad valley makes more sense to me, we are indeed in a broad valley here, I wonder if the interpretation could apply at this end of the country.
By: Jan Curtis on February 21, 2010
at 12:22 pm
Re Bradden Manor location
In 1477 March 5, John Holcot, esquire was granted, by Edward IV, (In year 17 of his reign) a Royal licence to crenellate Bradden (Bradden Manor)
The wording of this licence is;
“Licence for John Holcot, esquire, to crenellate his manor of Bradden, co. Northampton, and to enclose and impark 100 acres of land in Bradden and make a leap in the park, and grant that he and his heirs shall have free warren in all demense lands there and elsewhere in the said county, providing that the park and warren are not within the metes of the forest.”
Granted at Westminster, by King.
For more information see the Calendar of Patent Rolls (1476-85) p42
I look forward to seeing where Selwyn places the original building!
By: P Tubb on March 15, 2010
at 10:21 pm
Mr. Selwyn Walgate,
Perhaps residents of Bradden would find the following history of interest.
The Great Domesday Book (1086) states that there were two freehold owners in Bradden in 1066. One was King Edward the Confessor. (The king died in January 1066; his heir would have been Edgar the Aetheling [c.1051-c.1126].) The other was Biscop. Biscop owned 1 ½ hides, or 180 acres. He held this land freely. There was one acre of meadow. There was no mill or church. King Edward had leased out his one hide and one virgate (150 acres) to Cyneric. Thus Biscop owned 54.5 percent of the land and King Edward 45.5 percent. Domesday states that in 1086 there was sufficient acreage for 3 ½ ploughlands, one of which was the lord’s (but which lord?).
There were six households in the village of Bradden. Two households were on Biscop’s lands (one villein and one cottar). Four households were on King Edward/Cyneric’s land. It might be said that Biscop held 1/3 of the village itself and King Edward/Cyneric held 2/3’s of the village. The value of Biscop’s property in 1066 was 5s and in 1086 it was 10s; that is to say, the value doubled in 20 years. This is in sharp contrast to the lands of King Edward/Cyneric. Their lands decreased in value from 60s or £3 in 1066 to 40s or £2 in 1086. This is a diminution or loss of capital of 33 percent. King Edward/Cyneric’s was one of only 20 properties in all England surveyed by Domesday that in 1086 was worth less than in 1066. H.D. Darby, Domesday Geography 403 (1971).
The explanation for the diminution must lie in physical damage to Cyneric’s lands, not spilling over to Biscop’s lands. Anglo-Saxon authorities state that “Cynric” means royal power. It might well be that Cyneric was related to the ancient Anglo-Saxon royal house in some way. He may have fought (and died?) at the Battle of Hastings In October 1066, or he may have rebelled against King William I (‘the Conqueror’) before 1086. If not rebellion, perhaps William bivouacked his army on Cyneric’s property in campaigning against rebelling Anglo-Saxon thegns.
King William I confiscated both King Edward/Cyneric’s lands and Biscop’s lands. Yet Biscop could not reasonably have been tainted by the perception that his neighbor Cyneric rebelled against William or implicated in treason because Biscop’s lands were not wasted and in fact doubled in value, while Cyneric’s lands lost a third of their value, and Biscop was subinfeudated to properties in Harpole and Moulton Park by 1086. Cyneric was not subinfeudated to any properties. Moreover, Biscop was probably a priest of the universal church.
Biscop’s reason for initially acquiring the Bradden property before 1066 may have been because of Biscop’s calculation that though the land seemed over assessed for geld, there was potential for profit on the land.
In 1086 after confiscation, Biscop’s lands were held by David of Argentan, Normandy as tenant-in-chief and as lord of the manor (there was no subinfeudation). Cyneric’s lands were held by Count Robert of Mortain as tenant-in-chief and by William Peverel from Count Robert.
I hope to visit the beautiful village of Bradden some time this year.
Kent Bishop
By: Kent Bishop of Atlanta, GA, USA on May 18, 2014
at 5:15 pm
What a great website and what a lovely village.. We visited the village recently as my grandmother May Bates was born in Bradden in May 1892. I have two faded photos of her and her sisters taken around 1896 in front of a wall which may be in front of the cottages by the church. I also have a school photo from around 1900 which I believe may be in Abthorpe, where they moved to around that time.
By: Susan Eden on July 16, 2014
at 4:03 pm
Hello Susan, I have just read you comment re visiting Bradden and that you grandmother May Bates was born there.My great grandparents were also from Bradden and were married in Saint Michaels Church before immigrating to Australia, he was William A Chapman and his wife was Anne Elizabeth Bates(Father-Thomas Bates who married Katherine Hotton) so I am wondering if we may be related.
I can be contacted at jeff@warrington.com.au.
Cheers,
Jeff Warrington
By: Jeffrey Warrington on December 29, 2021
at 11:05 am
Hi, I have recently started researching my family tree and my paternal great grandmother (Caroline Emily Hart nee Buckby) had a brother living in Bradden. He was Tom Buckby and his wife was Moll. I have no other information, so very much a long shot, but if anybody has any information that could be useful I would be grateful. Thanks.
By: Debbie Cox on April 7, 2017
at 8:53 pm