Bromham Village
The mill, recorded in the Domesday Book, is now owned by the County Council, with machinery in working order and open to the public with a picnic area nearby. On special open days the mill is run and demonstrations are made of milling flour which can then be purchased. There is also an annual apple festival where cider can be purchased.
Prior to 1924 when Bromham Hall was sold, the whole village was owned by the family at the hall. An interesting variety of trees grow in the parkland next to the mill which is open to the public.
The 13th century parish church is built of limestone and is approached through the park. Interesting monuments include a 15th century brass to the Wydville family and a marble statue of a recumbent knight, Sir Lewis Dyve, whose grandson another Sir Lewis, an ardent Royalist swam the river to avoid capture by the Roundheads in 1642.
The happy ghosts of children are sometimes heard playing in the churchyard. Some experts think that crop marks around the church indicate that houses were built there and that the village later moved.
Miss Elianore Rice Trevor, who owned the hall in the latter part of the 19th century, was a formidable lady who cared for the 300 souls in the village under her domain. She sent 'the bundle' to all new mothers, containing baby clothes, and in 1861 opened a school. Her girls were provided with a uniform, in winter of blue serge dresses, red capes and a hat, while in summer, print dresses, a holland cape and a hat were worn. Miss Rice Trevor bequeathed £12 each year for 12 girls attending Sunday School and church. This money was to buy their uniform when they went into domestic service.
Tradition has it that the water of Grove Spring in Bromham Park has healing powers for sore eyes and sprains.
The population of Bromham was 400 in 1927, 1200 in 1954 and some 5000 in the 1980s and is still growing.
After the bypass was opened in 1986 and following a public enquiry, permission was granted to build many new houses on agricultural land west of the village. A project which is still continuing today and now includes a golf course.
This page last updated on the 23rd of August 2007
