The
Church of England parish church of
Saints Peter and Paul is a late
Norman church built in about 1190. In about 1250 the
bell tower and octagonal spire were built, the north and south
transepts were added, the
chancel remodelled and an arch was inserted in the north wall of the chancel, linking it to a new north
chapel. The south wall of the chancel also has a window added early in the 14th century. A
Perpendicular Gothic arch linking the north transept and chapel was inserted. In the 15th century a stair-turret was added to reach a room over the north transept. The church was restored under the direction of
E.G. Bruton in 1873. It is a
Grade I listed building. It is believed that the Knights Templar were the benefactors of Broadwell Church. Its history is linked to the rise and fall in power of the Templars. Land, which included that at Broadwell, was gifted to them after they were officially adopted and sanctioned by the Roman
Catholic Church in the 12th century. Unlike many Christian churches, the church at Broadwell doesn’t face east but north-east which accords with the Templar’s practice of aligning churches with sunrise on the Patronal Saint’s day. The 29th June is the feast day for the Saints Peter and Paul. The tower has an historic
ring of five bells from the 14th to the 17th centuries, plus a more recent
Sanctus bell. Currently all are unringable. The fourth bell was cast in 1581 by Joseph Carter, whose kinsman William Carter was a bell-founder at Reading and then at the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Edward Neale of
Burford cast the third bell in 1653 and the treble in 1663. Thomas
Rudhall of Gloucester cast the Sanctus bell in 1778. The parish is now part of the
Benefice of Shill Valley and Broadshire. ==Village cross==