The Cotswolds and their wool was enough to bring even Queen Elizabeth I to the ancient city of Worcester
nearby, and William Shakespeare is said to have passed through Broadway many a time and stopped by at
the Inn on his journey from Stratford-upon-Avon to his beloved Globe Theatre, on the banks of the River
Thames.
Cromwell and Charles I
Between 1642 - 1645, the Civil War raged through Britain. King Charles I passed through Broadway at
least six times during these years and stayed at the Inn on a couple of occasions. The Lygon Arms
also has a grand bedroom named after the King, with a four-poster bed, working fireplace and a secret
passage, which leads down to the very same lounge in which his cavalry saw him 350 years earlier.
The Battle of Worcester, the final and decisive battle of the great Civil War, was fought on the
evening of September 3rd, 1651. It is believed that Oliver Cromwell stayed at the White Hart Inn in
Broadway that night, in the room which now bears his name.
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