BRAMHAM, a parish partly in the liberty of ST-PETER-of-YORK,
East riding, but chiefly in the upper division
of the wapentake of BARKSTONE-ASH, West riding,
of the county of YORK, comprising the townships of
Bramham and Clifford, and containing 1987 inhabitants,
of which number, 970 are in the township of Bramham,
4 miles (S.S.E.) from Wetherby. The living is a discharged
vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean
and Chapter of York, rated in the king's books at
£6. 7. 6., endowed with £400 private benefaction, £400
royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant, and in the
patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church,
Oxford. The church is dedicated to All Saints. There
is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A
battle was fought here, in 1408, between Sir Thomas
Rokeby, sheriff of Yorkshire, and the earl of Northumberland,
in which the earl was defeated and slain, and
by which the possession of the crown was secured to
Henry IV. There are visible remains of the ancient
Watling-street on Bramham moor, a mile north of the
village: from the middle of this moor is an extensive
prospect of a well-cultivated district, which abounds
also with freestone, limestone, and coal. A fund of
£ 11 per annum, arising from land purchased by various
charitable bequests, is appropriated for the instruction
of six children, four from the township of Bramham,
and two from that of Clifford.