Pre-history A
Mesolithic pebble
mace-head was found in Smalldale and a Mesolithic lithic working site was discovered when a site near Bradwell Moor Barn was excavated. A number of
Neolithic axes have been found in the village. A
Bronze Age barrow and the remains of a
cist with a skeleton was found in 1891. A possible Bronze Age round barrow 19 m in diameter has been found near to Mitchlow Lane. A Late Bronze Age socketed bronze axehead was found at a property in Hungry Lane in 1940. It is now held by
Buxton Museum.
Roman period A few
Roman remains have been found in the village, associated with the nearby
Navio fort near
Brough-on-Noe, including a
Roman bath. Coins from the reign of
Vespasian and
Constantine the Great have been discovered and a Roman
pig of
lead has also been found in the village. The
Roman road Batham Gate runs through the village.
Anglo-Saxon period Grey Ditch is a medieval
earthwork and a Scheduled Monument. Ceramic finds and the fact that the feature overlays the
Roman road Batham Gate indicate that Grey Ditch is post-Roman. No firm date has been established for the earthwork with speculation that the feature might have been designed to halt the advance of the Angels or
Anglo-Saxons in the 5th to 7th centuries. Other suggestions are the Grey Ditch might have formed the boundary between the Kingdoms of
Northumbria and
Mercia during the
Heptarchy or that it was constructed in the
Viking period.
Medieval period The
Domesday Book records that in 1066 Bradwell was held by Leofing, Owine of Bradwell and Sprot of Bradwell. By 1086
William Peverel is listed as both Lord and
Tenant-in-chief. The population in 1086 was 8 villagers. Hazlebadge Hall, dating from 1549, is a Grade II* listed building immediately south of the village in the adjacent parish of
Hazlebadge.
17th century to present The oldest surviving public house in Bradwell is the White Hart. It was constructed in 1676. A General Baptist chapel opened in 1790. This was used by Primitive Methodists as a Sunday school in the 20th century. A
Wesleyan Methodist chapel opened in 1807. It was restored and extended 1891. It is now a Methodist church. A Primitive Methodist chapel was constructed in 1845, extended in 1878, and closed in 1972. Historically Bradwell was part of
Hope ecclesiastical parish until 1868 when the Anglican Church of
St. Barnabas opened.
Samuel Fox, inventor of the Paragon umbrella frame, donated £100 towards the cost of constructing the church. The village grew again in the eighteenth century around
lead mining. ==Economy==