Брамли: История и описание деревни в Суррее

Village and civil parish in Surrey, England

Bramley is a village and civil parish about three miles (5 km) south of Guildford in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, south east England. Most of the parish lies in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Within its boundaries there is evidence of the Iron Age but documents record a village at the end of Anglo Saxon era of the Kingdom of England and track its expansion and division during the Middle Ages. Much of the building was linear along the Horsham road: many such buildings have survived and the village has a substantial conservation area.

The name Bramley is of Old English (Anglo Saxon) origin; like "Bromley", one of its earlier forms, it means a clearing or lea in the broom). It rendered a total of £83 14s 8d per year to its feudal overlords. The area comprised most of the western half of the Hundred of Blackheath, extending to the Sussex border and including Shalford, Wonersh, Hascombe and west Cranleigh. The Anglo Saxon settlers of neighbouring Wonersh – the name means a crooked field – and any Celts not displaced by them may have been the people who developed the Linish, Bramley. This name means a flax stubble field and in 1843, when the Tithe Assessment map was drawn, it covered the area now occupied by the Library, Blunden Court and Old Rectory Close. Flax was used to make linen but before spinning and weaving the stems were "retted"; soaking in running water, a procedure which could have used the stream which also powered the mills. its external staircase was added in the 1580s, when it would have been seen from the village green, demonstrating the importance of the owners at a time when domestic staircases were still rare.

Bramley Church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, dates from the 12th century with further additions in the 13th century. The tower and chancel date from the early 13th century with the south transept (now part of the south aisle) added later in the century. Boundary walls were built and the burial ground was licensed for the first time in 1676. Holy Trinity was a daughter church of Shalford; Bramley only became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1847.

The village was growing in the 17th century; many of the houses on the west side of the High Street date from this period. Bramley Manor, opposite East Manor and originally the farm for Bramley Manor, was built in the middle of the century. The 18th century brought more changes with the road through the village becoming part of the turnpike road from Guildford to Arundel, following an Act of Parliament of 1757; there is still a milestone in Birtley Road. A bridge and causeway were built on the road to Wonersh in the 1770s; the river was then diverted from its original course close to the bottom of Wonersh Hollow into a new straight course to align with the new bridge. Most villagers made their living from agriculture. A house The Nunnery was purchased for the poor of the parish in 1735. This was at the far end of the Bramley millpond; it was sold a century later when the poor had to go to Hambledon Workhouse, in the early part of which century the Jolly Farmer public house was established. The Napoleonic Wars brought concerns for shipping in the English Channel and plans to create an inland waterway between London and Portsmouth led to the building of a canal to connect Guildford to West Sussex and the now traditional port of Littlehampton. This finally opened in 1816. St Catherine's School was established in 1885, and has grown to have a significant physical presence in the village. Building of the Chapel began in 1893 and it was dedicated in the following year. It is a notable example of the work of Charles Eamer Kempe, who was responsible for much of the interior decoration, especially the stained glass windows. By the end of the 19th century the local government of the village changed with the establishment of a Parish Council in 1894. This met, as it still does, in the Village Hall whose Victorian exterior and modern additions conceal a barn with timbers dating back to c.1400. The gardener Gertrude Jekyll retained an interest in the area, and her friend, leading Arts and Crafts movement architect Edwin Lutyens designed Millmead House in Snowdenham Lane as a speculative development for her in 1904; she designed the garden. This has coursed and part snecked Bargate sandstone/red brick quoins and dressings and is Grade II listed. Grange Cottages were also built at the beginning of the century as staff cottages for Bramley Grange. World War I brought deaths and wounded men from the front were also seen in the village as Thorncombe Park was used as a hospital. In 1921 the war memorial at the crossroads was built, designed by architect and local resident Frederick Hodgson. In 1887 Bramley Grange was built on the site of the earlier White House for Colonel Webster (who later developed Bramley Golf course). After the Great War it was converted to a popular hotel and remained a hotel until burnt down in 1996. Between the wars there was more housing development, including the start of Linersh Wood. In the years since World War II there has been considerable development in the centre of the village, much of it on the east side, including shops, Windrush Close, the Catholic Church, the public library, Blunden Court and Old Rectory Close. On the opposite side houses were built in Mill Lane and Home Park Close was built on the old kitchen garden of Bramley House, which had once contained ' a long range of greenhouses and an abundance of peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and pears.' In 2004, the building was replaced by retirement apartments constructed in a similar style.

St. Catherine's School, an independent girls' school established in 1885
Bramley C of E Primary School, also supported by the County Council, established in 1850.

Amenities include a post office, general grocer's, butchers, pet shop, antiques shop, art gallery, café, a restaurant, fish and chip shop, Chinese takeaway and a classic car showroom. There are two public houses: the Jolly Farmer and the Wheatsheaf.

There is a golf course and cricket green. This was the first cricket ground to host an all women's cricket match in 1745 on Gosden Common where Bramley Cricket Club play today.

There are two churches, one Roman Catholic, and the Anglican Holy Trinity Church.

A library is in the village. The village fete is held in May each year on Gosden Common and the village Bonfire in November is a huge local event. The village is twinned with Rhens, in Germany.

Four named localities cover the south of Bramley: Birtley Green, Thorncombe Street, Grafham and Smithbrook.

Birtley Green Hamlet, separated by a green buffer to its north, consists of Birtley Green Nursing Home, three listed buildings that form Birtley Courtyard and ten houses, three of which are listed buildings. The A281 road passes through the hamlet after passing through Bramley. Birtley Brook is a small linear woodland brook to its south that flows into the Cranleigh Waters or Cran, significant tributary of the main river Wey in Guildford. Charles Smith purchased a site from Elizabeth Street of Birtley House in 1848. His son William established a brewery in Bramley High Street before 1865. This continued in operation until 1923, when the brewery chimney was demolished. His other son Richard established a foundry in Bramley High Street which lasted until the early 1960s and is now the site of Bramley Motors.

This hamlet is 1.5 mile (2 km) SSW of Bramley village centre and has 29 houses and four listed buildings. The church was built between 1861 and 1864 at his own expense; it has a statue of Saint Andrew and carvings of Woodyer himself, his wife and daughter. There is cricket ground in Grafham used by Grafham and Smithbrook CC.

Smithbrook is a cluster of 26 buildings of which eight form Smithbrook kilns a former brick making factory; it is centred 2 mile (3 km) south of Bramley village centre Smithbrook Brickworks (1936) Ltd were its major operator, see British quarrying and mining narrow gauge railways.