The Gate on the Village Green

In the Waverley Review of the Bramley Conservation Area in 2005, both Bramley Parish Council and the Village Society identified the dilapidated gate by the Coronation Oak in the High Street as worthy of restoration. The Parish Council agreed to undertake this work, as resources permitted.
Through the auspices of the Estates Committee, John May and Bob Room offered their carpentry and metal working skills to progress the project. It was immediately evident to them that the wood was too far gone for selective repair, although the metalwork was generally sound. Their recommendation was that the gate should be rebuilt as an exact copy, the metalwork repaired, and the gate then reinstated on its original site. This was welcomed and approved by the Council.
Seasoned oak was ordered in the Spring of 2007, and there then followed more than a week of dedicated effort to rebuild the gate, so that it could be ready for display at the 50^th anniversary fete on Gosden Common on 27^th May 2007. Everyone who attended agreed that their craftsmanship was quite outstanding and a credit to them both.

The original style and design is also of high quality, and some investigation has been undertaken to find out the history of the gate. The Centenary Guide, published by the Parish Council, gave the base for research as it reproduces detailed OS maps of the village in both 1872 and 1895.
With the help of the History Society, it has been established that Bramley House (subsequently Bramley Park) built by Lord Egremont as a residence of some local importance, was the catalyst for the installation of the gate.
The lane by Saddlers, where the gate has been situated, was the original route from the village to Bramley Mill, but this was no longer considered suitable and an alternative route was built in the 1820’s on what is now Park Drive. This, in turn, was subsequently found to be unacceptable, in that it also led to the big house  (demolished in the 1950’s and now part of Coleman’s yard) so a third access route to the Mill was created around 1870– in what is still Mill Lane. The original track then became the route to the stable block (now Bramley Park Court) at the mouth of which the gate was installed.

The gate now on display at the fete is thought to be that original one, and it says much for the quality of the materials that it has lasted this long. No doubt the hand-crafted metalwork was made by the Forge – a smithy and workshop on the site of what is now Bramley Motors showroom – referred to in the Guide by Giles Corkran. An interesting feature is the dowelling in the gate – presumably designed so that farm animals could be fed through the higher level spaces but  could not escape below.
There had been some speculation that some sort of rope work took place along this track. Further enquiries with long-standing residents at the fete confirmed that the shop adjacent to “Saddlers” was the workshop of Mr Blunden, the saddler, who also made rope. A path ran behind the shop with a winding wheel embedded in the ground to wind the rope – the strands of which were firmly attached at the opposite end.
So, some 140 years after the original gate was made, a splendid replica will now stand on the original site – an icon of Bramley’s past and a feature which should last well beyond the end of this 21^st Century.

David Morley, Estates Manager, Bramley Parish Council