Bramham

West Yorkshire

Bramham is a village in the Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire.

The village is about 4 miles south-south-east of Wetherby, 4 miles west of Tadcaster, 13 miles west-south-west of York and 12 miles north-east of Leeds.

The village is of ancient origin and was situated on an old Roman road from York towards Ilkley. In the Norman era, the Domesday Book in 1086 shows the village population to be larger than that of nearby Wetherby, which is now a considerably larger town.

The historic All Saints' Church in the village stands at the end of an Anglo Saxon oval churchyard. The present church has parts dating back to 1150, but was extended in the 13th century and given a major restoration in the 1850s with some further work following a fire in 1874.

At Camp Hill, just outside the village, the Battle of Bramham Moor took place on February 19, 1408, the last act of rebellion of Henry Percy, first Earl of Northumberland, who died in the battle against a local force loyal to usurper king Henry IV, led by High Sheriff of Yorkshire Sir Thomas Rokeby.

To the south east of the village is Bramham Park, a large private country estate, which is notably host to Yorkshire's largest equestrian event the Bramham International Horse Trials, in June, and the Leeds Festival music festival, in August.

Find out more about Bramham history at the Historic Bramham village archive website maintained by the Bramham Parish Council.

Village features

Bramham has an old parish church.

Bramham has pubs.

Bramham has a shop.

The village has a Post Office.

Bramham has a village hall.

Bramham has a school.

Place of worship: Anglican.

Travel

Bus travel

The village has bus services to neighbouring towns and villages and city centres.

Road travel

Bramham is reached on minor roads - about 2 miles from A1(M) J44 or J45.

Places to visit

Harewood House

Harewood
Harewood HouseHarewood House, an 18th century stately country home, is at Harewood, about 7 miles south of Harrogate. It opens to visitors during a season stretching from March to October. Harewood hosts a variety of exhibitions and events as well as guided tours of the house. The house has been used to film scenes for the ITV series "Victoria" in which it has represented Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. Harewood has extensive grounds including more than 100 acres of gardens, parkland planned by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, a farm experience, deer park and the ruins of the 13th century Harewood Castle. The grounds also include the purpose-built village set of ITV's "Emmerdale", although this is not open to visitors except on selected dates on pre-booked tours via partners of the TV company.
More information can be found at the

Harewood website.
Locate on map:

Harewood House

Spofforth Castle

off Castle Street, Spofforth
Spofforth Castle is the ruins of a fortified manor house about 6 miles by the A661 road to the south-west of Harrogate. William the Conqueror granted Spofforth to William de Percy, a favourite who was granted many estates in Yorkshire. A manor was built and extended through the 13th century by later generations of the Percy family. It is reputed that the Magna Carta was drawn up there in 1215. Although the Percy family made Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland, their base from early in the 14th century, Spofforth remained within the family and underwent some remodelling in the early to mid 15th century. In the War of the Roses, the Percy family supported The House of Lancaster and the castle was wrecked by Yorkists who had gained victory in the 1461 Battle of Towton in which Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland was killed. There was some 16th century restoration, but it was reduced to ruins around the time of the Civil War. The site is free to enter and managed by English Heritage.

Further details at the English Heritage - Spofforth Castle website.

Find on map: Spofforth Castle

Roundhay Park, Leeds

Roundhay Park and Tropical World

Prince's Avenue, Roundhay
Roundhay Park is a popular large park 3 miles north of Leeds city centre, owned by Leeds City Council, with more than 280 hectares of parkland, woodland, lakes and gardens. It also has cafes and is the location of Tropical World, which holds a large collection of tropical plants, birds and reptiles, a butterfly house, aquariums and other animal enclosures, including the ever-popular meerkats.

Find out more at this

Leeds City Council - Roundhay Park web page

Otley Chevin Country Park

East Chevin Road, Otley
The Otley Chevin Country Park is a forested hillside with rocky outcrops offering magnificent views across Otley and the Wharfe Valley, a network of paths to explore, a variety of wildlife and some interesting tree sculptures. The Chevin is an area with strong evidence of hunting in the stone age with thousands of flint arrowheads and knives having been found there. Cup and ring marked rocks dating from the bronze age are scheduled ancient monuments. Two areas of an iron age settlement were discovered in the 1960s and an archaelogical dig in the 1990s found evidence of a hut circle within a rubble enclosure. Much of the forestry in the area was planted in the 1950s and 1960s and it became a local nature reserve in 1989. There are car parks with access to the country park at East Chevin Road and Yorkgate.
Further information can be found at the

Leeds City Council - Otley Chevin Country Park and

Friends of Chevin Forest web pages.

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Extending across an area of 232 square miles (600 sq km), the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Beauty starts at the edge of Otley. The area has a beautiful and varied landscape including rolling heather-topped moorland, stone-walled agricultural fields and farms, small villages, lake-like reservoirs and some outstanding geological features, the best known of which are Brimham Rocks. For more details see our Nidderdale page.

Emergency services

West Yorkshire Police

West Yorkshire Police website.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Bramham Parish Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:

Bramham Parish Council

Metropolitan district council

City of Leeds

The City of Leeds authority covers an area extending several miles beyond the city itself, including areas of agricutural land with widely spaced villages to the north east and several separate small towns including Garforth, Guiseley, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, Wetherby and Yeadon.

Leeds is just one of a ring five metropolitan councils covering the many cities, towns and villages of the conurbation of West Yorkshire. Around one-third of the West Yorkshire population live in the Leeds metropolitan district, just over ¾ million at the time of the 2011 census.

In the City of Leeds metropolitan district a total of 99 councillors are elected. There are three councillors per ward across 33 wards. Councillors are usually elected for four-year terms, one councillor being elected in each of three years out of four. A Lord Mayor of Leeds is elected from the council each year.

Political composition after May 2023 election:

61 *15654 MBI3 GSI3 SD2
99 members * includes Labour & Co-operative MBI = Morley Borough Independents; GSI = Garforth and Swillington Independents; SD = Social Democratic Party

External link to Leeds City Council website.

See our Yorkshire.guide Gazetteer for more about the

Leeds metropolitan district and places within it.

County strategic authority

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Covers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield — which were at one time provided by a West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, with the addition of the non-contiguous unitary authority area of the City of York council as well as the unelected Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership. Since 2021 it has operated with an elected mayor as chairman and decision-maker for some responsibilities. These include transport, housing and planning and finance powers. The responsibilities also include those of Police and Crime Commissioner, a role substantially delegated to an appointee deputy mayor.

Elected mayor: ❚ Tracy Brabin Labour & Cooperative

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
This role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Fire Authority

West Yorkshire Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority web pages.

Parliamentary constituency

Wetherby and Easingwold
Elected MP: ❚ Alec Shelbrooke Conservative

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

West Yorkshire

Historic

Within the West Riding of Yorkshire

Also in Yorkshire.guide

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