A history of Broxbourne by Mrs. R. G. Hoare which was published in 1897.
The village of Broxbourne is situated in that division of the County which goes by the name of the Hundred of Hertford. The parish or rectory impropriate and vicarage of Broxbourne comprises not only the rateable area so called, but also that on the northern side of that area which constitutes the hamlet of Hoddesdon, except some enclaves which were formerly parts of the parish of Great Amwell. The tithes of this composite district were formerly received by the same impropriator and Vicar of Broxbourne respectively, as are still the rentcharges, into which thoses tithes have been commuted, but the commutations were distinct; and for the rating purposes, and the appointment of parochial officers, Broxbourne and Hoddesdon have always, it is believed, been separate from each other. The name has been spelt in variuos ways during the past years, all of the following being found in one document or another: Brochesborne, Brocsborne, Brookesbourne, Brokesborne, Broxborn, Broxebourne, Brookesborne, Broxborne, Broxbourne. It is probably derived from the Saxon word “broc,” or badger, and “bourne,” stream, as no doubt the woodlands on either side of the river abounded in badgers.
In the time of the Britons the county of Hertford, Broxbourne included, must have been principally uninhabited forest, though there is little doubt that Ermine Street, the so called Roman road, a portion of which may be seen at Martin’s Green, a part of Broxbourne Common, was used as a highway by the Catieuchlani long before the Roman conquerors. It is probable that the above-named tribe, with the Trinobantes, had settlements on both sides of the river Lea, and the high ground on which Broxbourne Church stands would be a likely spot for such a purpose; but this is, of course, pure conjecture. That the Romans were to be found in the neighbourhood, is, however, proved by the remains which were excavated when making the present “Roman Street” in Hoddesdon, in 1874.
At the coming of the Saxons, the Lea marshes and forests may have protected this district somewhat, but it was doubtless conquered early in the sixth century, after which period it owed allegiance alternately to the kings of the East Saxons, of Mercia, and Kent.
Christianity had been introduced into Britian in pre Saxon days. There were bishops of the British Church in the beginning of the fourth century, but the Christians were subjected to great persecution from their heathen conquerors, and in time were driven almost entirely out of the country, leaving the land Pagan.
Christianity was the reintroduced into Kent by Augustine, who, although he was sent by Pope Gregory, founded the English Church as one entirely independent of Rome. The East Saxons partly adopted the faith under Bishop Mellitus, but no general conversion of the kingdom took place until the reign of King Sigeberht in the seventh century, when on a visit to Oswin, king of Northumbria, he and some of his followers became Christian. He requested a teacher for his subjects; Cedd was despatched, and in due course consecrated Bishop of the East Saxon See. From 654 the East Saxons continued to acknowledge the Christian faith. Hertford was chosen by Archbishop Theodore in 673, and Hatfield in 680, for his two great councils to decide upon Church government and Church doctrine.
Another wave of invasion was to sweep over the country; the ninth century was marked by the ravages of the Northmen, and for a time the whole of Essex belonged to the invading Danes. By the Peace of 886 between King Alfred and Guthrum, however, the western half of the East Saxon kingdom was seperated from the eastern half, and the river Lea became the boundary between the Dane Law and England. A few years later the Danes again broke into war; sailed up the Lea till within a mile or so of Hertford, dammed the river with a large weir (from which the present town of Ware takes its name) and built a fort there, from which they burned and ravaged the surrounding country; nearly every church was destroyed, and if there had been one at Broxbourne, it must have shared the same fate. It is a curious fact that the bowl of the font, which is probably of the Saxon period, bears unmistakable traces of fire.
It is not until the Conquest that we enter upon documentary local history. William I divided the country between forty-four of his followers, besides a portion which he reserved for the Crown, and the family of Hugh de Grantesmaisnil were among the favoured ones;
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