Broadbridge

Henry I granted 30 shillingsworth of land at Broadbridge in Bosham to William son of Ernulf, in exchange for the site on which was built the Abbey of St. Mary de Pre at Rouen. The holding was a serjeanty requiring the render of two white capons to the king when he rode past Broadbridge.

In 1269 William Papillon produced the capons when Henry III passed through. In 1283 William Papillon died holding a messuage with 28 acres of arable, an acre of meadow, two-thirds of a mill, and 4s. 6d. rent. After his death the estate was seized into royal hands and fragmented.

By about 1340 Thomas de Whelton and Isabel acquired the entire estate. Their son Thomas died in 1361 holding the messuage, mill, and other property "of the king, partly by serjeanty and partly by a rent of 15s." In 1384 Richard Whelton (aged 19) died, leaving three daughters: Elizabeth, Margaret, and Joan. The estate divided again among these lines.

Ellis Bradshawe died in 1545 holding "a toft, a fulling mill, and land in Broadbridge by service of 1 white capon when the king rode through the land." His granddaughter Dorothy married Roger Drewe of Densworth. Her son Bradshawe Drewe's grandson Francis died in 1630 and his sister Martha inherited. Martha married Sir Gregory Norton, baronet (a regicide), who died in 1652. Martha then married Robert, 4th Viscount Kenmure, and died in 1671.

The VCH states that "the estate is said to have been bought soon after this by one of the Peckhams, from which family it passed by bequest to John Williams; but all manorial rights seem to have lapsed before that."