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.
Bramley Grange belonged to the Abbots of Roche Abbey. A grange is defined as amongst other things, a farmhouse with stables and outbuildings or a country house. It is likely that Bramley Grange was run by a steward or agent on behalf of the brothers. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s, the grange at Bramley was acquired by the Spencers of Attercliffe who owned it for nearly 300 years. A new building called Bramley Grange was erected. This was substantially remodelled in 1756. There have been many restorations and little of the original monastic building can be found. I think that Bramley Grange is now apartments. 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.