Broadlands House, Staplers
Broadlands House, Staplers was originally built in the early 19th century as a Lace making factory owned by William Henry Nunn.
Mr Nunn decided to retire circa 1870 and closed the factory which was a significant blow to employment in the area. On the death of Mr Nunn in 1876, the factory, which still housed the lace making machinery, passed to his daughter, Mrs Mary Nunn Harvey. She sold off the machinery and in 1880 Mrs Mary Nunn Harvey established the 'Broadlands House Charity' to use the building as a training school for female domestic servants as well as a retirement home for single gentlewomen.
After WW1 the number of gentlewomen and trainee servants in residence seemed to decline until in 1939 there were just 14 gentlewomen, 8 trainee servants and 4 staff. An auction was held by Francis Pittis in June 1942 of ‘318 lots of useful HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE removed from Broadlands House’ ; this seems to reflect that the home had closed by that time.
The building and gardens were commandeered for military accommodation during WW2, and after the war Broadlands House has housed various government offices, and most of the land was developed for housing.
Today (2019), Broadlands House, together with a modern extension built along side, houses the local offices of jobcentreplus.
