Bramley is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In the 2001 census it had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 3,348. It has a village shop, bakery, estate agency, pub – The Bramley Inn (opened in 1897 as The Six Bells) – and a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Also, Bramley Camp houses an Army facility where military training and manoeuvres take place.

History

Evidence of Bramley's first inhabitants can be found in Bullsdown Camp, a prehistoric settlement, where remnants of flint-scrapers, a spear-head, a core and flint-flakes have been found. This is thought to be a late Celtic "triple-walled dun".This fortification can still be seen today, situated to the east of the village south of the Bramley to Sherfield road. The Reverend Robert Toogood wrote a history of the village and church. It includes some anecdotes about

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

's connections with the village and Cufaude Manor. The Romans occupied

Calleva Atrebatum Calleva Atrebatum ("Calleva of the Atrebates") was an Iron Age oppidum, the capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia, at a major crossroads of the roads of southern Britain. The modern villa ...

and built a walled city known today as Silchester. Bramley is on the

Chichester to Silchester Way The Chichester to Silchester Way is a Roman Road between Chichester in South-East England, which as ''Noviomagus'' was capital of the ''Regni'', and Silchester or '' Calleva Atrebatum'', capital of the '' Atrebates''. The road had been entirely ...

Roman road and has remains of a Romano-British villa nearby. The Church of St James stands at the west of the village and originally dates from 1160, however it features many historical alterations and additions up to the 20th Century. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. St James' church, Bramley, Hampshire. Within the church, images were uncovered which dated back to the pre-Reformation. The famous physicist

Lise Meitner Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on rad ...

is buried in the burial ground next to the church, near the grave of her brother Walter. The railway line between

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

was built through the village in 1848. The village had to wait another 47 years until on 1 May 1895 a station in the village opened, at the insistence of the then Duke of Wellington, a prominent landowner in the area. During 1935 parts of the film 'The Last Journey' were shot on the railway within the village.

Geography

Bramley is located ten miles south of the large town of

, and five miles north of

. The village is the site of Bramley (Hants) railway station, on the line between Reading and Basingstoke, and is served by Great Western Railway's local services. The station is 5 miles (8 km) north of Basingstoke.

Governance

The

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Bramley includes the village of Bramley and the neighbouring settlements of Bramley Green and Bramley Corner. The village is also part of the Bramley and Sherfield

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Basingstoke and Deane borough council Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southam ...

. The borough council is a

Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government. At Borough level, Bramley is represented by Councillors Nicholas Robinson and Venitia Rowland who, together, represent the Bramley and Sherfield Ward. At County level, Bramley is represented by Cllr. Keith Chapman, MBE who represents the Calleva and Kingsclere Division.

Army training area

Bramley Camp is a military training area south of the village, used mainly by

21 SAS 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

(reserves). The camp has also been used to shoot parts of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series ''

Scrapheap Challenge ''Scrapheap Challenge'' is a British television show where teams of contestants build a working machine that can perform a specific task, using materials available in a scrapyard. The series features teams of four or five members who are given ...

,'' and the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

series ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of I ...

.'' Because the 900-acre site is not open to the public and in many ways is undisturbed; it is a valuable haven for wildlife, being home to badgers, deer and pheasant.

Publications

The village is served by three village magazines: the original parish magazine edited by the Reverend Robert Toogood and others, the Bramley 265 and the View Magazine. The Bramley 265 has been running for two years and was edited by Emma Cunningham until December 2009. As of 2010 it will be edited by Scott Millard. Bramley265 also has website, which is administered by Chris Wright. The View Magazine is run by two sixteen-year-old boys; George Blower and Oliver Yorke. Set up in 2008 the magazine has grown to have the largest distribution in the area, now serving 4000 homes. The View was nominated for two business awards in November 2009 at the regional Inspire 09 awards (Basingstoke and North Hampshire) for New Business of the Year & Micro Business of the Year.

References

External links

Bramley Parish Council

Bramley Show
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Civil parishes in Basingstoke and Deane