Brampton, Cambridgeshire

Map

The overlays that highlight 17th century London features are approximate and derived from Wenceslaus Hollar’s maps:

Open location in Google Maps: 52.320732, -0.220900

Summary

About 60 miles north-west of London, and two miles south-west of Huntingdon, close to the then residence of Lord Sandwich. Samuel Pepys’ uncle, Robert Pepys, lived there and on his death in 1661 the house passed to Pepys’ father. Samuel was due to inherit the property and dreamed of retiring there, but although he stayed there several times, he never lived there.

16 Annotations

First Reading

Emilio  •  Link

From "The Monuments of Huntingdonshire" HMSO 1926
(at http://www.pepys.info/bramho.html , along with a history of the house from the L&M Companion. Thanks Glyn for the link.)

Pepys Farm, house, on the South side of the road from Brampton to Huntingdon, 400 yards NE of the church, is of two storeys with attics. The walls are partly of plastered timber-framing and partly of brick; the roofs are tiled. The timber-framed North part of the house was built in the middle of the 16th century and to this was added, early in the 18th century, the brick wing on the south. There is a modern addition to the west of this wing.

The original block has 18th century brick walls to the ground storey and a plaster cove to the eaves.

The west room and the room above it have 17th century windows with solid oak frames and mullions and iron casements.

The central chimney stack has three grouped shafts and there is another stack at the west end; both are of the 17th century.

The gables at the east and west of the original block have moulded barge-boards. The early 18th century addition is of red brick with a chimney stack of the same date.

Inside the building, the original block has chamfered ceiling beams and two rooms have open timbered ceilings.

In the west room on the ground floor are some pieces of 17th century panelling.

The first floor has some cambered beams in the walls and partitions and one fireplace has a cambered lintel. In the attics are two old battened doors.

Pedro.  •  Link

Buckden (near Brampton and mentioned in Uncle Robert's will).

Two factors helped shape the character of the village. The first was Buckden Palace that was the residence of the Bishop of Lincoln and would have provided many of the villagers with employment and interest down the ages. The second was the Great North Road that used to run through the middle of the village. It was an established main road from London to the North at the time of the Conquest (and, of course, the one used by the Bishops of Lincoln; hence their palace).
Also for a mention of Sam see--
http://www.buckden-village.co.uk/…

Pedro.  •  Link

Brampton (Port Holme Meadows)

From the "Nature Atlas of Great Britain"
Dry/Wet meadow.
The river Ouse forks to run either side of this remarkable ancient meadow. It has been managed for hay in much the same way for centuries, allowing a wonderful range of wild flowers to prosper.
The footpaths, one of which runs along a route used by nuns at Hinchingbrooke, first cross dry meadow grassland characterised by lady's bedstraw, great burnet and pepper-saxifrage. In mid-summer the distinctive sound of yellow rattle seed heads will be heard as you brush past them. Wetter, lower lying parts in the middle have tubular water-dropwort, meadowsweet and marsh ragwort.
The river supports dragonflies including the scarce chaser. May and June are the best.
Flowers include fritillary, great yellow-cress, and meadow cranesbill. Birds include the corn bunting.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Brampton – in Huntingdonshire, England – is a village near Godmanchester south west of Huntingdon. Brampton has been variously known as: Brantune (11th century), Brantone, Bramptone (12th-13th century), Brauntone, Brampton (13th century)

Brampton has a long history and is mentioned in the Domesday Book: there was a church and priest at Brampton in 1086. The Church of St Mary Magdalene or St Mary the Virgin (as it was once called), consists of a chancel with a north vestry, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and north and south porches. This church is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but, with the exception of a few parts dating from the 12th century, no part of the current structure is earlier than the 14th century.

At one time the higher part of Brampton parish was forest but there are now less than 300 acres (1.2 km2) of woodland. Brampton is generally low-lying, mostly being about 33 feet (10 m) above sea-level, although the ground rises towards the south west boundary where it reaches 164 feet (50 m).

Brampton is associated with Samuel Pepys and legend has it that his fortune is buried somewhere in the village Brampton was the home of his uncle, Robert Pepys, elder brother of the diarist's father; his house still stands in the village. Samuel Pepys was known to have stayed there and at the Black Bull Inn in the village.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bra…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

BRAMPTON

Brantune (xi cent.); Brantone, Bramtone (xii-xiii cent.); Braunton, Brampton (xiii cent.).

The parish of Brampton adjoins Huntingdon on the south-west, and comprises an area of 3,557 acres, 30 of which are covered with water. The soil is gravel and the subsoil clay. The greater part of the parish is grass land, and the arable land produces cereals and roots. Formerly the higher part of the parish was forest, but there are now only some 300 acres of woodland. The River Ouse forms the eastern and south-eastern boundary and the Alconbury Brook forms the northern boundary. Another brook, which rises about the middle of the parish, flows eastward through the parish to the Ouse. The land between the two brooks and that adjoining the Ouse is low lying, being about 33 ft. above the Ordnance datum, but the ground rises towards the southwest boundary, where it reaches 164 ft. The Great North Road forks as it enters the parish from St. Neots on the south, throwing off a branch road northeast which joins the Huntingdon to Thrapston road at Bell End, a little north of Brampton village. The Huntingdon to Thrapston road passes through the parish, crossing the Great North Road about a mile north-west of the village of Brampton. At the crossing stands an inn now called Brampton Hut, but formerly known as Creamer's Hut, well known in the coaching days.

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Buckden is a village and civil parish 3.7 miles (6.0 km) north of St Neots and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Huntingdon. Buckden is in Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as a historic county of England. The small hamlets of Stirtloe and Hardwick are also in the parish of Buckden. Buckden is situated close to three major transport networks. The River Great Ouse forms the eastern boundary of the parish; the Great North Road used to pass right through the centre of the village. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buc…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

On 22 May, 1667 Pepys says:

“Thence by coach to the Red Lyon, thinking to meet my father, but I come too soon, but my wife is gone out of town to meet him.”

This may be a stop, but not the terminus, of the stage coach as in the past we have been told The George, Holborn was the coaching inn terminus for coaches to Buckden, which is close to Brampton, Cambridgeshire.

If you are going to Brampton, you secure a good seat at the terminus/The George.
If you are arriving in London, you get off at the nearest stop to your destination.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Animal and bird names were not standardied in Pepys' day.
Here are some names you may not be familiar with -- or think J K Rowling made them up:

Cuddy duck -- St. Cuthbert is said to have tamed eider ducks, hence the name cuddy duck in the North-East

Hoverhawk -- Kestrels because of the way they ride on the wind

Chiggypig -- There are more than 40 varieties of woodlouse in the UK. Many, such as chiggypig, chiggywig and chuckypig, allude to the ones that look like busy piglets

Erne -- Sea eagles are sometimes known by their Middle English name.

Langlugs -- In Scotland, mountain hares are known as lang lugs because of their long ears

Bog owl -- Reflecting the ground over which they often hunt, short-eared owls are referred to as bog owls

Pianet -- Magpie. The etymology is uncertain, but pianet, an obsolete name for magpie, is thought to derive from the items the birds bring back to their nests being as varied as a pie filling

King Harry’s red cap -- In Tudor times, goldfinches were called that because of their fancy plumage

Woodsnipe -- In old game books, woodcock were often called woodsnipe to distinguish them from common snipe

Bumblebee -- Dumbledore, foggy bummer, bumbóg

Long-tailed tit -- Long-tailed pie, mumruffin, bottle tit, bum barrel, bum towel, oven bird, bag, hedge jug

Common toad -- Bulcranag/granasag, bulgranack, cranag, farmer, gangrel/gangril, glouton, hornywink, jack, joey, josey, nalter-jack, natter, natter-jack, paddock, puddock, puddock-rude, puddoke, puddow-rudd, slug, tade, taed, taid, tode, tod, todelinge, toad, wilk, winky

Oystercatcher -- Chalder, chaldrick, dickie bird, gillebride, krocket, mere pie, mussel cracker, mussel picker, olive, oyster picker, oyster plover, pienet, pynot, scolder, sea nanpie, sea pie, sea piet, sea pilot, sea pyot, shalder, shelder, shedro, skeldrake, tirma, trillichan

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Cont.

Hedgehog -- Hotchi-witchi, fuzz pig, furze pig, prickly pig, hedgy boar, urchin, sharp nails, hag hog, nysebill, hodgen, porcupig, pricky back ochun, perpentine, pochin

Mole -- Mouldwarp, field tortoises

Brown hare -- Aunt Sarah, bandy, bautie, bawtie, betty, bowen, bun, capron, cuttie, donie, lang lugs, puss, poor wat, scavernick, skyper, whiddie, wintail, fuddie, hallan-chacker

Common snail (and sometimes slugs) -- Bulhorn, biljinks, bull-jig, bulorn, clare, cogger, conger, conker, dod/dodden/dodman, hodmedod, drutheen, grey, guggle, hornywink, jack-sna, jan-jake, jin-jorn, john jago, lobury one, malorn, oddie/oddy/oddy-doddy, snayle, snele, sniggle, snyle

Nuthatch -- Blue leg, jar bird, jobbin, mud dabber, mud stopper, nutcracker, nuthack, nut jobber, nut topper, wood-cracker, woodjar, woodpecker

Common heron -- Brancher, crane, diddleton, frank, frank hanser, ern, frog-eater, harn, harnser, harnsey, hegrie, hegril’s skip, herald, hernser, heronseugh, heronshaw, hersew, hershaw, huron, jack hern, jemmy crane, jemmy heron, jemmy lang legs, jemmy lang neck, jenny crow, joan-na-ma-crank, lang-necket harran, lonjie crane, longnix, moll hern, ooze bird, skip hegrie, tammie herl

Minnow -- Baggie, baggit, banny, jack barrel, jack sharp, meaker, mennet, mennon, mennot, men, minim, minnin, peer, penk, pink, shadbrid.

I think Pepys would have had a hard time communicating with the locals. But Navy jargon and dialects were probably just as complex.

For one of the Parliamentary backstories to this list, see
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/nat…

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

In September 1661 Sam and Elizabeth rode home from Brampton by the westerly route (aka the Great North Road):
Brampton, Buckden, St Neots, Biggleswade, Baldock, Stevenage, Welwyn, Hatfield, Barnet, Highgate, Holloway.
L&M Companion details 3 usual routes, the most easterly via Cambridge and the middle route with two Cambridge options. (I'll post them when/if I find them.)
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The History of Brampton in Cambridgeshire
Historical notes about the town of Brampton in Cambridgeshire.

The parish of Brampton adjoins Huntingdon on the south-west, and comprises an area of 3,557 acres, 30 of which are covered with water. The soil is gravel and the subsoil clay. The greater part of the parish is grass land, and the arable land produces cereals and roots.
Formerly the higher part of the parish was forest, but there are now only some 300 acres of woodland.
The River Ouse forms the eastern and south-eastern boundary and the Alconbury Brook forms the northern boundary. Another brook, which rises about the middle of the parish, flows eastward through the parish to the Ouse.
The land between the two brooks and that adjoining the Ouse is low lying, being about 33 ft. above the Ordnance datum, but the ground rises towards the southwest boundary, where it reaches 164 ft.

The Great North Road forks as it enters the parish from St. Neots on the south, throwing off a branch road northeast which joins the Huntingdon to Thrapston road at Bell End, a little north of Brampton village.
The Huntingdon to Thrapston road passes through the parish, crossing the Great North Road about a mile north-west of the village of Brampton.
At the crossing stands an inn now called Brampton Hut, but formerly known as Creamer's Hut, well known in the coaching days. There was an Inclosure Award in 1772.

The district of Houghton ... and the field of Houghton was on the west of the Great North Road extending southward to the north-east corner of Brampton Wood. Houghton Field is mentioned as late as 1628–9, but now the name has been almost lost.

The village is large and rather straggling and stands partly along the branch road from the Great North Road to the Huntingdon to Thrapston road, but mainly along the winding High Street, which runs westward from the branch road back to the Great North Road.
The northern part of the village is called Bell End, the south part Bridge End, from the bridge over the brook here, the cutwaters of which are the remains of a 17th-century bridge, and the west part Brook End, West End or Green End, from the village green on the south side of the street.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

CONCLUSION:

The church stands on the east side of the road to Bell End and on the south side of the churchyard is the Old Black Bull public house, an early 17th-century house with an 18th-century addition.
South of this house is the Manor Farm.
There are a few timber-framed cottages in the High Street, and at West End, fixed over a spring, is the stone base of a cross of the 13th or 14th century. The base is square brought to an octagon with bold angle stops. Perhaps it was part of one of the 'four stone crosses' which Cardinal Pole ordered the parishioners to rebuild in 1556.
The Manor House is on the opposite side of the road to the church.
FOR THE MANOR HOUSE DISCUSSION, SEE
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

There is mention of the Guild of Our Lady of Brampton in 1531 and there was a Brotherhood priest here in the 16th century.
Lands called Brotherhood Lands or Lady Lands or Lady Brotherhood Lands were dealt with in 1628–9, which doubtless were those of the Guild of Our Lady.
William Ball, Brotherhood priest, obtained these lands and they passed to his sisters, Frances and Anne Bawdes.

In 1086 there were two mills belonging to the manor;
in 1278–9 there were three, all water and one a fulling-mill;
and in 1576–7 there were four, one a fulling-mill, all on the Ouse.
There is still a mill on the Ouse to the west of the railway. The fishery in the mill ponds belonged to the manor.

Brampton Wood Green and the bridge called Kate Bridge are mentioned in 1652, and some early field names are: 'the Axe and the Helse' (now Axe and Helve), Hardhill acres (now Hurdle Acres), the Castell Gore, Mylne Pitt (now Mill Pits), Curriers Holme, Great Bonest (now Great Bonurst), being parcels of meadow lying, in 1550, in the common meadow called Portholme.
The present Port Holme may represent the 'great meadow of Brampton in Estholm super Oldeland near the ford' mentioned in 1205, and lying on the north-east boundary.
17th-century names are: Long Stonegill (Stonehill), Bolsgraffe meadow, Banbury close, 'the bailiff's swayth near the ford'; and Haddon dole, Shipping dole, Sharndole, and Thackingdole, all in Portholme.

The Pepys Family in Brampton
John Pepys, father of Samuel Pepys the diarist, inherited from his elder brother Robert a property of about £80 a year in Brampton. He resided here from 1661 until 1668, when Paulina Pepys married John Jackson and he went to live with them at Ellington.
Samuel's nephew John Jackson, to whom he left his library, is called 'son of John Jackson of Brampton.'
The house in which the Pepys lived is still pointed out, and an iron pot of silver coins, discovered at the foot of the garden wall about 1842, is believed to have been hidden by Samuel Pepys during the Plague, when he hid his gold.
YES, AND A PHOTO OF THE LOVELY PLACE. NO WONDER SAM WANTED IT!

After that it's all more modern info.
http://ephotocaption.com/a/3/Bram…

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1661

1662

1663

1664

1665

1666

1667

1668