Welcome to Broxbourne Recreation Ground. An open space to be enjoyed by the people of Broxbourne and the surrounding areas
Welcome to Broxbourne Recreation Ground. An open space to be enjoyed by the people of Broxbourne and the surrounding areas
Welcome to Broxbourne Recreation Ground. An open space to be enjoyed by the people of Broxbourne and the surrounding areas
Welcome to Broxbourne Recreation Ground. An open space to be enjoyed by the people of Broxbourne and the surrounding areas
An Act of Parliament passed on 4 July 1890 titled “Broxbourne and Hoddesdon Open Spaces and Recreation Grounds Act of 1890” (“The Act”) provided for Recreation Grounds and Open Spaces for the parishes of Broxbourne and Hoddesdon. The land forming these areas was gifted by the Smith Bosanquet family and was formerly part of the Broxbournebury Estate, a significant portion of which is now the Hertfordshire Golf & Country Club. The areas of land covered by The Act were set out in 3 schedules:
FIRST SCHEDULE
Part 1: "All that piece of land situate in the said parish of Broxbourne containing ten acres or thereabouts, ... bounded on the north by White Stubbs Lane, on the south by a lane leading from Broxbourne Farm to the south-east corner of Baas Hill, on the east by land forming or reputed to form part of the estate and on the west by Baas Hill Common."
Part 2: "All that piece of land situate in the said parish of Hoddesdon containing ten acres, or thereabouts, bounded on the north by land belonging or reputed to belong to Robert Barclay, on the south and east by Cock Lane and on the west by land forming part of the estate”. This land is immediately opposite the entrance to the Robert Barclay Academy in Cock Lane.
SECOND SCHEDULE
Strips of Land and Common or Waste Land covered by the Act
1. Strips of waste land on either side of the Brickendon Road
2. Strips of waste land on either side of the Hatfield Road
3. Martins Green
4. Broxbourne Common
5. Emanuel Pollards
6. Coldhall Green
7. Baas Hill Common
THIRD SCHEDULE
44 carriageways, bridleways and footways in the parishes of Broxbourne with Wormley and Hoddesdon covered by the Act.
Power of exchanging lands was given to Trustees and in 1916 the Broxbourne Trustees exchanged part of the Hoddesdon land (as set out in The First Schedule) for the area now known as Broxbourne Recreation Ground ‘bounded and situated to the south of Station Road (B194), west of Churchfields, north of Mill Lane and east of Church View, Broxbourne’. In 1924 the Trustees published byelaws with respect to The Pleasure Ground known as the Broxbourne Recreation Ground and “the permitted use thereof for all time by the inhabitants of the parish and by such other persons as the Trustees may from time to time think fit”.
With the advent of the Commons Registration Act 1965 it was necessary for all those pieces of land detailed in the 1890 Act as open spaces to be registered with the Commons Commissioners. In 1988 the question of ownership of Broxbourne Recreation Ground was: “set down in the list for hearing before Mr Martin Roth, Commons Commissioner, in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Hertford on Tuesday, second of February 1988 at 10.30 am.” and as a result of this hearing a decision was made on 29th March 1988 “ that the Broxbourne Trustees were the owners of the land and the Hertfordshire County Council were to register them as the owners under Section 8(2) of the Act of 1965.”
The Act required Trustees to be appointed by the Parish “vestries” (nowadays by the Borough of Broxbourne). The original Trustees were the owner of Broxbournebury, the vicar of the parish and seven elected ratepayers of the parish.
The Trustees are required by The Act to protect, care for and regulate these areas of Common land, recreation grounds and other areas of designated open spaces and to ensure that these areas are always kept free and open to the public- as if they were public roads. The Trustees are also empowered to make byelaws relating to the use of these lands.
The eight Broxbourne Trustees meet regularly to discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the 1890 Act. They may be contacted using the contact details below for further information, or if there are any matters which should be brought to their attention.