Rotherham The Unofficial Website

Bramley

Bramley means the glade or meadow where the brambles grow, or as another authority would have it - where the broom grows. In the Domesday Book Bramley was held by William de Warenne as one of the manors that were part of his Honour of Conisbrough. There were only 7 villeins and 1 freeman resident.

Towards the end of the 12th Century two oxgangs of land at Bramley were given to the brothers at Roche Abbey by Mabilia de Tilli, widow of the seneschal of Conisborough. The monks established a grange and a series of fish ponds there which was likely to have been under the management of a lay brother or hired manager. By the time the Poll Tax records were complied in 1379 there were 51 taxpayers in the village. The most important was John Wikerson, Farmer and his wife Sibilla, who paid one shilling.

Bramley was part of the parish of Braithwell but had an ancient chapel of ease. Only one burial took place there in 1647 and the chapel was not licensed for marriages until 1949. By the mid 1950s it was in poor repair and was demolished about 1956. As late as 1955 a new ecclesiastical parish was formed consisting of Bramley, Hellaby, Sunnyside and part of Ravenfield. The parish church, dedicated to St. Francis, was consecrated the following year. The Methodist chapel was built in 1785 but was closed in 1972 and is now a private home.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s, the grange at Bramley was acquired by the Spencers of Attercliffe. A new building called Bramley Grange was erected. This was substantially remodelled in 1756. There was also in the village Bramley Hall owned by the Eyre family which was a substantial gabled house in the 17th Century. This is now four dwellings.

What remains of the old part of Bramley is surrounded by massive housing estates - I call them loop estates - once you start driving round you go round and round and round until you end up like the Oozalum Bird. You don't know how the Oozalum bird ended up - you've never lived! The variety of estates from poor council housing to the somewhat posh executive detached house with their own lake nearby are very convenient for the commuter as the M18 is close by. The census of 1801 details a population of 238 and this had reached only 431 by 1901. I tried to find the census figures for 2001 but got lost on the website and when I tried to search my way out of the morass was told that the server was busy. In 1971 the population was 3467 so, just plucking a figure out of the air, it seems likely to be about 5000 at present.

Bramley Lings

Bramley Lings is the name of a small area of Bramley south of the Bawtry Road which abuts Lings Common. Ling is another name for heather.

Flanderwell

I know nothing about the past of Flanderwell, other than the name means the Flemish Well. It is housing estates now.

Sunnyside

All I know of Sunnyside it that there used to be a council housing estate there so grim it entirely belied its name. Dave who lives in Sunnyside has told me that the housing estate there was actually built by the mine owners to house miners at the nearby colliery and that it is a great place to live.

Dave has sent this wonderful encomium of the village.

"Your mention of Sunnyside as being a 'council estate' is wrong. It was built in 1921 (I believe) for the workers at Silverwood pit, eventually being owned by the NCB for the same purpose. As for being so grim that it belies its name is completely out of order. The area has very little crime (I have lived here for 10 years and there has been no trouble whatsoever) and the surroundings are wooded, full of wildlife and the views from the edge of the plateau are breathtaking, enabling sight of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Wentworth from several standpoints. The vast sky provides spectacular sunsets and the lack of light pollution means the night sky is particularly full of stars. Please reconsider your entry on the Rotherham Unofficial Website, if necessary by visiting the area yourself to see at first hand the proof of what I've said. Oh, I don't live on the "Woodlaithes Village" estate. I live in the village of Sunnyside, in the parish of Dalton.
All the best,
Dave."

I have found out that the large housing development at Sunnyside was built in the late 1920s by the Industrial Housing Association to house workers at Silverwood Colliery.

Woodlaithes

My A - Z is a bit elderly and still shows nothing but Woodlaithes Farm and Silverwood tip. However part of the tip has been reclaimed and Woodlaithes Village, a collection of large modern houses together with their own lake has been built here.