Bramham, West Yorkshire

Bramham cum Oglethorpe, more well known as just "Bramham", is a village and civil parish in the English county of West Yorkshire. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,715. Bramham is located three miles south of Wetherby, midway between Leeds and York and about twelve miles south of Harrogate in the so-called "Golden Triangle". Bramham is a part of the Wetherby Ward of Leeds Metropolitan Council and is at the north-eastern edge of West Yorkshire where it borders North Yorkshire at Tadcaster, 4 miles away. Bramham is currently part of the Elmet constituency and the local Labour M.P. is Colin Burgon.

Bramham Park (at SE410417), two miles to the west of the village, is home to the Leeds Carling Weekend, an annual music and arts festival.

History

Edward Mee's "The King's England: Yorkshire West Riding" first printed in 1941 describes Bramham as follows:

"The Great North Road and a stream flowing to the River Wharfe are crossed by one of many Roman roads hereabouts. It has a fine bridge, an imposing peace memorial, an old windmill looking down,and houses great and small in a lovely green setting. South of the village, where the hillside road is bowered with stately beeches, are four fine houses not far apart; Bramham House, Bramham Lodge, Bramham Biggin (which began as a chantry to Nostell Priory),and Bramham Hall, a house in classic style with an entrance crowned by a pediment on six pillars. Shading its beautiful gardens are cedars, beeches, chestnuts, and ancient yews; and a great whitebeam here is said to be the biggest in England. Off the Roman road running through rich woodland west of the village is Hope Hall, where Sir Thomas Fairfax lived; it was the kennels of the Bramham Moor Hunt when we called."

Bramham is at the crossroads of the east-west Roman road from York through Tadcaster to Ilkley and the north-south Great North Road,now the A1 road, giving it a history that goes back to the Romans. The oldest part of All Saints Parish Church in Bramham was built in about 1150 by the Normans. The church consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with tower and short spire; and has a fine pointed doorway. The churchyard is uniquely oval in shape and therefore Saxon in origin.

Anglian (English) place name elements ham, inga and ingaham are often closely related those of Roman sites and Roman roads.Running north south and following approximately, the magnesium limestone belt, a line of ingaham (Collingham "homestead of Cola’s folk") and ham (Bramham "homestead amongst the broom") names can be identified, which also coincide with the distribution of seventh century burials.

Bramham is recorded in the Domesday Book as the Manor of Bramham and the Holder in 1066 was Ligulfr. The amount of land to be taxed (geld) was 12 carucates and there were eight ploughs in the village. By 1086, Bramham was held by Nigel from Count Robert of Mortain and Demesne ploughs (for lord’s needs) were three. There were 15 villeins or tenant farmers holding a total of 5.5 ploughs between them. An estimate of the total population of Bramham in 1086 was 68. Bramham's value in 1066 = 160 shillings but only 50 shillings in 1086 after the harrying of the north, indicating quite a severe levels of destruction. Bramham was a mill site in 1086.

By comparison Wetherby had a population of 41 and was valued at only 20 shillings in both 1066 and 1086.

Older residences in the centre of the village are constructed of magnesium limestone quarried in the parish. Building records of York Minster show that stone from Bramham was used in its construction. The Bramham limestone was transported to York by water from Tadcaster or Cawood. A large part of the village is included in a Conservation Area and all the land outside the present built area is currently designated Green Belt.

By 1686, Bramham was an important staging post on the London - Edinburgh coaching route and surprisingly had a population of 291, which was higher than that of Wetherby at only 279. In 1801, the population of Bramham was around 800, reaching 1,300 by 1861. However, a significant decline led to the population falling back to 950 in 1901. The population has gradually been increasing since then, although the 1861 peak was only overtaken in 1981. By 2001, the village had a population of about 1,750, about a quarter of whom were under the age of 19 and well over half (62%) were under the age of 44, making it a village of young people. There were 674 households, a growth of 20% on the 1991 census.

For many years, the village had a rural emphasis although as the Great North Road grew in importance, the number of coaching inns and stables increased to service the passing trade. Over the years, a significant amount of employment has been provided by the local estates, particularly Bramham Park and the other grand houses in the village. The late 20th century saw a decline in employment in agriculture that coincided with the growth of the village as home to a significant number of commuters. As a result, the village has become increasingly diverse in nature.

Present Day Bramham

The annual report by the chairman of the Parish Council in 2004 records that "Bramham is a village of churches and farms and pubs and clubs; a village with a stately home with formal gardens, and allotments; a village with florists, doctors, dentists, joiners, photographers, roofers, oil merchants, timber merchants and wine merchants; a village that puts on roller discos, plays, farces, pantomimes, pop concerts, rock stars from the USA and even the odd silent auction." Not even that list is complete as there are also accountants, engineers, solicitors, plumbers, teachers, plasterers, bankers, IT consultants, electricians and many more. Nevertheless, apart from the offices located at Bowcliffe Hall, there are few businesses offering employment within the Parish.

Education

Bramham and Clifford Primary School, just outside the Parish boundary, provides the village's primary education, mainly feeding Boston Spa Comprehensive School.

Healthcare

For health care, Bramham's Medical Centre is located on Clifford Road, near the centre of the village. Hospital treatment is usually provided by hospitals in Leeds or Harrogate.

Community Activities

The history of Bramham is long, but what sets the village apart are the many community based activities, such as the Drama Group, Bramham Guides and Brownies, Bramham Youth Club, Bramham Ramblers, Bramham in Bloom, the Bramham NSPCC Group and the Yorkshire Countrywomens Association.

Bramham Community Action Group was established in 2005 and is implementing elements of the far-reaching Parish Plan. In 2006 the group organised the Bramham Gala, which was held on the playing fields on Aberford Road. This was the first time the event has been held for over 20 years and was a tremendous success. Bramham Gala will take place again in June 2007.

Many of the community based activities take place in Bramham Village Hall, which is administered by the Village Hall Management Committee. In 2005/6 the Village Hall provided regular facilities for a number of village organisations including the Drama group, Dance and Fitness classes, Brownies, Youth club, Church functions, Senior citizens party, Children’s and Adult Parties, Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association. In addition, there have been a variety of entertainment highlights include bands from the States and Sweden, top comedian Dominic Holland, an evening featuring top Indian musicians and the popular New Years Eve party with local band The Spacecats.

For the last 4 years, the Leeds Carling Weekend Music Festival has been held on the three days of the August Bank Holiday weekend in the grounds of Bramham Park. Under an agreement between the Parish Council, the promoter (Mean Fiddler Music Group) and the Bramham Park Estate, a limited number of free tickets are available to residents of the parish who make a financial contribution (which is substantially less than the normal weekend price) to the Bramham Community Fund. Residents means residents. It does not extend to friends, family etc. who are not resident in the parish.

Mean Fiddler, the promoter of the festival has specified that this fund should be used to benefit the residents of the village and grants have been made to many of Bramham's local community groups. The Fund meets under the chairmanship of Nick Lane Fox, and so far has made grants of over £34,000

Sport

Based at the White Horse public house and playing home games at Freely Lane, Bramham Football Club, was first founded in 1907 and has two teams in the Harrogate and District League. Since reforming in 2005, Bramham FC have won several trophies including the prestigious Barkston Ash Cup in 2005 as well as the Harrogate and District League Division One title in 2006 and again in 2007. Bramham also has Junior and Girls football teams.

Bramham and Clifford Cricket Club have two teams in the local Wetherby and District League as well as a Thursday evening team in the Whixley Evening League. They play at the cricket ground on Rhodes Lane in nearby Clifford village.

The Bramham Horse Trials is held in the beautiful setting of Bramham Park every June and is one of the UK's leading 3-day horse riding events, attracting an International list of competitors to a very high standard. In 2006, over 35,000 visitors attended the event. Bramham International Horse Trials was voted the best event in the British Equestrian Trade Awards in February 2006

Battle of Bramham Moor 1408

A terrible battle was fought at Bramham Moor in the snow on the 28th February 1408. Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, who with other nobles had rebelled against Henry IV, was met here by Sir Thomas Rokeby; the rebels were cut to pieces and Percy was killed, his head, with its silver locks, being carried off and set on a stake on London Bridge.

There is a memorial stone marking where the Earl of Northumberland fell and was killed at Black Wood, Bramham, but the stone was moved from the actual site of the battle some years ago. A plaque erected to denote the significance of the stone has unfortunately been desecrated by vandals and nowadays is difficult to find or decipher.

Miscellanea

During World War I there was an aerodrome at Bramham Moor at Headley Bar, which opened on the 18th March 1916. The aerodrome was set in 198 acres of land of which 40 acres was occupied by station buildings. Initially, "B" and "C" flights, 33 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps were based at the new aerodrome with "A" flight detached to nearby York Racecourse. Following a bombing raid on York on May 2nd 1916 by Zeppelin airships, the airfield on York racecourse was closed, and 33 Squadron at RFC Bramham Moor became responsible for the air defence of Leeds, Sheffield and York against further Zeppelin attack. 33 Squadron's aircraft were the RAF BE 2c and BE 2d biplanes, these later being replaced by the much better FE 2b biplane. In July 1918, a group of American pilots and ground staff were based at RFC Bramham Moor for training. When the USA had entered WW1 in 1917, their pilots had gone straight into action with a lack of combat experience and had suffered heavy losses. It was subsequently decided that all American pilots should pass through the British training schools such as the one at Bramham. After World War I, with a reduced need for warplanes, the aerodrome was closed down in December 1919. One large hangar remains, as a listed building, among the barns of Headley Hall Farm. During World War II, the site was known as RAF Tadcaster and dummy aeroplanes were left on the old runway so that from the air, it looked like an operational airfield.

It is known that English Civil War soldiers who died during the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, a few miles to the north-east of Bramham, are buried in the churchyard at Bramham. Records show that three soldiers rest at Bramham: Samuell Allan, Robert Johnson and Thomas Mirole. Prior to the battle, Cromwell is reputed to have trained his Ironsides on Bramham Moor, and to have recruited local young farmers whose riding skills made them ideal cavalry soldiers.

Levi Whitehead of Bramham was the swiftest runner in England in his day. He ran four miles in 19 minutes, and even when he was 96, he walked four miles an hour. He was aged 100 when he took his last step in 1787.

Bramham College was a public school opened in January 1843 when Dr. Benjamin Haigh leased Bramham Biggin plus some 130 acres of parks and gardens. The college was much extended to include a large hall, theatre, gymnasium, cloisters and the huge Grecian style refectory culminated in a glass dome. The college quickly earned a good reputation and during its short life, Bramham College attracted the sons of many leading Yorkshire families. The school was forced to close after falling into decline following a severe epidemic of cholera in 1869. Several pupils died and are buried next to their headmaster under the yew tree at the eastern end of Bramham churchyard. Former pupils of Bramham College formed Bradford Football Club in 1863 and in 1880 they joined joined Bradford cricket club at Bradford Park Avenue.

Location Grid

References

Bramham - the Village in Times Past, privately published 1994
The King's England: Yorkshire West Riding by Arthur Mee 1941
Yorkshire Battles - The Battle of Bramham Moor by Edward Lamplough 1891
The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868
Wetherby - The History of a Yorkshire Market Town by Robert Unwin 1986, ISBN 0 9511968 0 4
The 2005 Parish Plan for Bramham in Times Future - Bramham Parish Council
The Parish Church of All Saints, Bramham by George Kirk 1936
Airfield Focus 71: RFC Bramham Moor/RAF Tadcaster by David Taylor 2006