The Bruderhof commune at Bromdon in Shropshire

This newsreel on the British Pathe website (click on the picture to go there and view it) shows the Bruderhof commune at Bromdon in Shropshire (the nearest village of any size is Stoke St Milborough) in 1959.

The Bruderhof are a Christian group with Anabaptist and Hutterite roots that was founded in Germany in 1920. The group was dissolved by the Nazis and many of its members fled to Britain or Paraguay. Their first British commune was in the Cotswolds, but they seem to have abandoned it in favour of Bromdon before long.

It is hard to discover very much about the Bruderhof's history on the Internet, but there is a page about this commune on the BBC Shropshire site. The comments reflect that fact that the group was wracked by division and controversy in later years.

Today the site of this commune appears to be occupied by a caravan site.

Later. There is more information on a new website about the Bruderhof.