Bramham the Village in Times Past

Introduction

The idea of producing a book on Bramham grew from the realisation that much pictorial and anecdotal evidence, just available now, would quite soon disappear. The resulting book was never intended therefore to be a complete historical record, though for the interest and convenience of readers, a short historical sketch is included. The real purpose was to collect and preserve pictures of old Bramham, together with recollections of those whose memories go back to former times. Thus the buildings and their owners of a Bramham disappearing or altered are here recalled. No attempt has been made to re-write the histories of those buildings best-known and already recorded — All Saints Church and Bramham Park. They are merely mentioned here and may be studied elsewhere. This book is a collection, and a recollection, for present enjoyment and future record, of a Bramham now passing.

Bramham-cum-Oglethorpe - the name

Various suggestions have been made to explain the origin of Bramham, among them:
Bramham— homestead among the broom or homestead amongst the brambles
Bramham — settlement next to a stream
Braboniacum — picket for a body of (Roman) soldiers.
The suggestion for Oglethorpe shows clearly its Saxon origins, an outlying farmstead belonging to Odkell.

Contents

Pictorial Record

Map: Bramham Village

Houses, Buildings and Businesses which have disappeared

Schools in Bramham

Bramham College

Gas in Bramham

Bramham over the Centuries

Bramham in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Bramham Moor/Tadcaster Aerodrome

Bibliography

Map: Around Bramham

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the generosity of the many who have assisted in the compilation of this record. Bramham present and former villagers, have in large numbers given their time; loaned their cards, photographs and articles; and searched their memories. Without their help this book could not have been produced.

Particular thanks are due to:
Christopher Shaw for his skilful reproduction of many old photographs and cards;
Harry Tindall for supplying much material, and checking so many facts;
Dianne Greenwood for her patient and efficient word-processing of sundry information;
Bob Murphy of ElectroVellum Ltd for his painstaking retouching of the photographs & illustrations, and for his formatting & preparation for publication;
Alison French for drawing the sketch maps;
the following for their kind permission to reproduce photographic materials:

Bayford Group, K Bradshaw, M Campbell, A Chambers, E Chambers, P Clayton, M Coggan,
C J Dickinson, D Dickson, A Dykes, G M Freeborn, N Greenhead, Percy Kitchen, D Lawn, W Lawn, Dr Lodge, S Mottershead, C Shaw, A Smith, R Soper, A Tindall, H Tindall, B Turner,
O Warrington, J Watson, G Wood, J Young and to those whose material was not included.
Dr J S H Lodge of Wetherby Historical Society, and Dr Robert Unwin of Leeds University for their encouragement and support;
Yorkshire Post Newspapers for giving permission to reproduce articles and pictures.

Every effort has been made to find the owners of all copyright material in this book. The authors never­theless apologise for any unintentional infringement.

Editorial Team :
Researched and written by Patricia and David Machin.
Additional research and field work by Doreen & John Dickson, who's original idea it was.
Honoray Treasurer - Ruth Watson

This book is dedicated to the memory of Christine Shaw whose work in compiling much of the historical material was invaluable. Her early death in January 1994 prevented Christine, the wife of the Reverend Derek Shaw, Vicar of Bramham, from seeing her research on the village she loved come to fruition

Main Text Copyright ©Bramham in Times Past 1994
Aerodrome Text Copyright © Paul S Lehman 1994
Gas Text Copyright © Ken Goliste, British Gas 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilsed in ant form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including storage and retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the publishers