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Bramham Over The Centuries

Bramham College

It is an interesting thought that Bramham could have taken its place among the Yorkshire public schools, but for an accident of fate just over one hundred years ago. During its short life, Bramham College attracted the sons of many leading Yorkshire families before being 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 to the east end of Bramham Church; others were sent home and never returned.
Originally opened in 1842/3, when Dr Benjamin Bentley Haigh leased Bramham Biggin and 130 acres of parks and gardens and moved his school from Grimston Lodge, Tadcaster, the College quickly earned a reputation as a happy, well-ordered school, and flourished.
Dr Haigh, who was known as an "old-fashioned gentleman" with high standards, spent a great deal of his own money extending, up-grading and converting the Biggin.
Several memoirs, by his deputy the Rev Stephen Wilson and a number of former pupils, eulogise over the facilities, rooms, and gardens, as well as confirming the excellence of the education in the College.
It is difficult to visualise, on looking at Bramham Biggin today, reconverted to the role of a private house, that its end-extension encompassed the building shown as a frontispiece.
However, the College did contain a hall (60 x 30x 24 feet), theatre, gymnasium and cloisters in addition to classrooms and living quarters. An excellent Library, one of 20,000 volumes, was available to the pupils.
Its refectory (60 x 35 x 22 feet) was much admired, built in the Grecian style, with elegant decorations and a huge glass dome which rose to the height of two storeys. Such was Dr Haigh's pride in this room that no one, himself included, was allowed to enter the refectory except in slippers.
The classical tradition was kept by calling rooms after Greek cities. The curriculum included Greek, Latin, French and German (Dr Haigh was an outstanding linguist); algebra, ancient and modern history, geography, penmanship, astronomy, book-keeping, music, drawing, dancing and horse riding.
Football was very popular. On Sunday mornings the boys were paraded to the parish church, the Weslayan Chapel - or the Congregational Church in Boston Spa!
After 1869, when cholera visited and Dr Haigh died, the College never recovered its popularity, declining and eventually closing.
After lying derelict for some years, it was dismantled entirely so that its stone could be used in the re-building of Bramham Park around 1907.
Even its much-admired rustic lodge and gateposts disappeared, leaving only the Biggin in its original state.
One of Dr Haigh's improvements, however, did live on, to the great advantage of the village. To light his College and house, he had installed a gas supply, later maximizing his investment by providing gas from his works at the College to the Bramham Consumers Gas Company, formed in 1860.

 

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