Did you know that...
Broxbourne name comes from the Old English words “brocc” and “burna” that mean badger and stream. The settlement formed around the Great Cambridge Road which is now known as A10. One of the first mentions of this North London area is in the Domesday Book. The reference tells about the Manor of Broxbourne and the mill. The area is home to a number of buildings constructed in the 16th century. Broxbournebury Manor is one of them. It currently houses the Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club. The house originally belonged to the Cocke family. The remains of the mill can be found at the Old Mill and Meadows Site Lee Valley Park. It was more than 900 years old and it originally belonged to the Knights Hospitaller.
A few footballers such as goalkeepers Pat Jennings and Ray Clemence and midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles who played for Tottenham Hotspur club have lived in Broxbourne. Dina St Johnston, the computer programmer who established the first software developing company in the UK, lived at the Hedgegrove Farm. Gambler Charles Wells was born in this EN10 area. He is remembered for his successful gambles in 1891 at the Monte Carlo Casino. Wells was the inspiration for Fred Gilbert’s The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo song. Actress Gillian Taylforth who played Kathy Beale in EastEnders, printer Richard Watts, and Victoria Cross recipient Sir Edward Thackeray are other notable residents.
St Augustine’s Church features a 12th-century Purbeck marble font. The current building dates from the 15th century. Three of the eight bells are from the 17th century. The New River artificial waterway is a 17th-century construction. Broxbourne Woods is a nature reserve and a Special Conservation Area. The rare purple emperor butterfly has been sighted here. The woods are home to Cornish oaks and hornbeam woodland.