Broadway is often referred to as the ‘Jewel of the Cotswolds’ and the ‘Show Village of England’ because of it’s sheer beauty and magnificence.
Broadway is a lively and vibrant village with one of the longest high streets in England. It has a superb range of unique shops and designer boutiques, restaurants and hotels on both sides of the road. It is steeply embedded with history dating back from Roman times.
In the 1600s, it was a major stopping place for the stage coaches travelling between Worcester and London – the Lygon Arms still remains popular with travellers and visitors. A couple of centuries later, Broadway established itself as an important centre for the arts – attracting such luminaries as J M Barrie, Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar and American artists Edwin Austin Abbey and John Singer Sargent.
Then, Broadway became involved in the development of the Arts and Crafts movement – with William Morris a regular visitor and Gordon Russell establishing his furniture workshop in the village.
Why then is Broadway such a prosperous place?
The High Street runs from the east, from the foothills of the “West Cotswold Escarpment”, to the west as a very gentle downhill slope. The energy flows down the hills and gently rolls down the street. The road is wide and the buildings are set far apart; enabling the energy to move downhill slowly – hence the prosperity over the ages.
The situation between Silver Street (Dursley) and Broadway is very different.
In Silver Street (Dursley), the gap between the buildings is narrow thus squeezing the energy flow, making it speed up which in turn, creates a turbulent flow. The area is not prosperous as the buildings are boarded up.
In Broadway, the street are wide and the buildings are set far apart. The allows the energy to flow slowly in a smooth and gentle manner. This village has been and will be prosperous for a long time to come (as long as the village remains unchanged).
Dr Michael Oon
