Bramdean

Bramdean is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is a linear settlement located along the busy A272 trunk road which was widened by the American troops in 1943 in preparation for D-Day.^[1]

The village itself is peculiar due to the large number of large houses dating from the Georgian period, a few of these are set in/next to beautiful rolling parkland with specimen trees.

Notable buildings

One of the main attractions of the village is Bramdean House with its beautiful mirror image herbaceous borders, it is open on particular days of the year and all proceeds go to the National Garden Scheme, it is also in this place that on one day each year the Bramdean Village Fete is held, it has become well known and is popular amongst people in the village and in the local area.

The Fox Inn, which is located just a short distance from the garage, is a thriving country pub- 17th century in origin, this cosy weather-boarded building has witnessed many historic events, for example the Battle of Cheriton in the year 1644, when Sir William Waller and his troops marched through the village, it was during this time that many of the houses in the village were requisitioned for use of troops of both sides.^{[2] [3]} The Fox Inn has accommodation in the form of two large shepherd huts in the gardens.

In the year 1823 a Roman villa was discovered in the parish. It was found to have contained two tesselated pavements of very fine qualities. ^[4]

Upon the entrance from the east the road (A272) is lined with a mid 19th century avenue of copper beech trees which was planted by Colonel George Greenwood of the Brockwood Park Estate, he also erected a rather peculiar stone circle opposite the entrance road to Brockwood.

The village church is supposed to have its origins in the 1170’s. Dedicated to St Simon and St Jude, the original 12th century structure is largely now lost to the 19th century additions and alterations, though some of the original structure survives. The original section of the building, consisting of a nave and chancel, is externally rendered, whilst the 19th century additions are built of flint and stone. The church retains its 12th century chancel arch, with two carved leaf capitals. In the 19th century, the church at Bramdean became notable for its recently ‘restored’ wall paintings, which had been uncovered and ‘retouched’ by the then rector Charles Walters. They were later recovered when Helier Touzel came to be the rector at Bramdean, and remain as such to this day.

Woodcote Manor is a Grade II* listed building with parts dating from the late 15th century, originally granted by the King to the custodian of Winchester Gaol.^[5] From 1888, the house was the home of Sir Francis Seymour Haden.^[5]

It was leased by Sir Francis and Lady Deborah Haden from 1887, from the Greenwood family of Brockwood Park. The house was later sold twice during the Haden’s residency, the last time to Edwin Austin Abbey who extended Woodcote in 1911 with works by Reginald Blomfield. The house later became the home of members of the Bowes Lyon family, who held the manor for a short period in the 20th century. As of summer 2023, the Manor and surrounding estate was on sale for £15 million.^[6] It remains a private residence.

Civil parish

On 1 April 1932 the parish of Hinton Ampner was merged with Bramdean,^[7] on 1 July 2002 the merged parish was renamed "Bramdean & Hinton Ampnet".^[8] In 1931 the parish of Bramdean (prior to the merge) had a population of 244.^[9]

References