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Bramham in Roman Times
The Saxon Inheritance
Norman Conquests
Feudal Bramham
Bramham in Church Hands
Bramham Moor
The Battle of Bramham Moor
Bramham in the Wars of the Roses
The Civil War around Bramham
Bramham in the Eighteenth and Ninteenth Centuries
The Grand Houses of Bramham
Bramham College
Bramham Moor/Tadcaster Aerodrome
 

 

Bramham Over The Centuries

Bramham in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

During this period large landowners consolidated their hold on the village and its surrounding parish. The rise of the Benson family, subsequently Fox and Lane Fox from William and Mary's time in the early eighteenth century, has been well chronicled.
Their acquisition of a large part of the parish land, and their building of Bramham Park, brought, through their continuous ownership, a stability to the area which lasts until the present day.
The passing down, in large blocks of land, from earlier to later landlords, and their enclosure of the open fields, allowed by private Acts of Parliament during the time of George III (1760-1810), enabled the parish to retain an agricultural unity unspoilt by urban development.
The rural nature of Bramham and its surroundings has been protected by the ownership of much of its acres by the Headley and Lane Fox families, and latterly, in the eastern part, by John Smith's Brewery, and the University of Leeds for its Department of Agriculture.
Though the road network has continued to develop, notably with the growing importance of the Al, Bramham avoided the organisation of the railways. Thus, to the individual inconvenience of the villagers, the nearest railway stations lay at Newton Kyne (for York), Thorner (for Leeds) and Thorp Arch (for Wetherby), all on the York-Wetherby-Leeds line of the North Eastern Railways.
The development of the Great North Road was continuous throughout this period, when its importance as the premier route between England and Scotland raised the profile of Bramham in common with other towns and villages throughout its length. A staging post less important than Aberford or Wetherby, Bramham nevertheless acquired its quota of beer-houses and brothels as it serviced the needs of travellers from north and south. Many of the village's older buildings bear a history related to this passing trade, as did the six inns registered in Victorian times.
Bramham moreover is notable for the striking number of grand-houses which lie within its boundaries, some pre-dating, but all developed within, this period. More than a dozen such gentlemanly residences remain, each with a history unique yet often inter-related.

The Grand Houses of Bramham

Bramham Park
Whose history has been well-chronicled elsewhere, was built in the period 1700-1710 by Robert Benson, first Lord Bingley, whose father had been granted the extensive lands by William and Mary for eminent public service.
During and after Queen Anne's reign, much of the Moor was enclosed and cultivated into delightful park land and prosperous tenanted farms. The original house was badly gutted by fire in 1828, and not restored until 1906-14, when the re-building was carried out using stone from Bramham College.

 

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Bramham Village Website
Bramham Park
Bramham Parish Council
Historic Britain
Bramham Horse Trials
Luminarium - Henry Percy
Old Maps of Bramham

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