The name is believed to derive from the Old English words brocc and burna meaning Badger stream.[3]
History
Broxbourne grew around inns on the Great Cambridge Road, now known as the A10. A number of old houses and inns dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries still line the High Street (now the A1170).[4]The Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club is a 16th Century house with later alterations and additions.
The parish church of St Augustine was entirely rebuilt in the 15th century, although a 12th-century Purbeck marblefont survives. The interior has a number of monuments and brasses dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The three stage tower has a belfry with a peal of eight bells, three of which are dated 1615.[7]
Pulham House was demolished in 1957. All that remained was one of the six brick kilns and the horse-drawn puddling wheel that ground the terracotta, which are now Grade II listed. The local council originally conserved these in 1986, and in 2016 full conservation was undertaken as part of a joint project between B3Living, Lowewood Museum and Broxbourne Borough Council, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.[10]
The area was exploited for its gravel and sand extraction in the twentieth century leaving numerous water-filled lakes. Several of the lakes form part of the Lee Valley Regional Park.[8]
Local government
Broxbourne was a civil parish in the Ware Rural District from 1894 to 1935. In the latter year the more heavily populated eastern end of the parish, including the village of Broxbourne itself, was added to the Hoddesdon Urban District, while the rural western portion remained in Ware Rural District, forming part of the civil parish of Brickendon Liberty. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1270.[11]
As part of the London2012 Summer Olympics, Spitalbrook was chosen as the venue for whitewater canoe and kayak slalom events. On 8 October 2007 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced that due to contamination risks at the planned Spitalbrook site, an alternative site six miles (9.7 km) south was being investigated.[15] Subsequently, on 16 April 2008 it was announced that the venue would be built at nearby Waltham Cross and situated on what was (at the time of the relevant press release) the overflow car park for the showground at the River Lee Country Park.[16] The venue was initially known as Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre and later officially named Lee Valley White Water Centre.[17]