Bromham
Timeline
Places > Bromham
1086: Domesday Survey mentions two mills in Bromham. At the time of the survey Hugh De Beauchamp held Bromham Manor.
1224: First reference to Bromham Bridge in Pipe Rolls (account records of the Exchequer of England)
1235: Radulph of Bedford is the first recorded incumbent of St. Owen's Church.
13th-15th Centuries: Development of St. Owens Church. Records show there has been a church on the site since the 13th century. The church is late 13th century in date and the the chancel 14th century. The 15th century west tower is 70ft in height and surmounted by gargoyles. There are six bells the earliest of which date to 1686.
1565: Sir Lewis Dyve purchases Bromham Estate.
1642: Royalist Sir Lewis Dyve escapes capture by Roundhead troops sent to arrest him at Bromham Hall.
1671: Population totals 153 persons.
1708: Sir Thomas Trevor purchases the Bromham Estate.
1740: Bromham Parish Library established.
1801: Population totals 297 persons.
1813-14: Bromham Bridge rebuilt. The 6 foot wide causeway was replaced by 20 new arches 17 feet wide.
1861: Miss Elianore Rice Trevor pays for a new school building (later known as St. Owen's).
1871: Population totals 373 persons.
1884: The school is struck by lightning.
1885: The school closed by an epidemic of Typhoid Fever in April.
1896: Bromham House built by the architect W.P. Allen for W.H. Allen who founded the Bedford Engineering company of that name. In 1926 the house was sold to Bedfordshire County Council for 7,500 to create what was then known as a 'mental hospital'. The first patients were admitted in 1931.
1901: Population totals 321 persons.
1902-03: Bromham Bridge widened.
1906: A fire in the church badly damages the tower and the west end of the nave.
1906: Crown Inn demolished.
1921: Population totals 328 persons.
1924: Baptist Church opens.
1926: Bromham House sold to Bedfordshire County Council.
1931: Bromham Hospital (formerly Bromham House) opened for the first patients.
1939: Evacuees arrive from Willesden, London, and are billeted in the village.
1941: First sheep dog trial held in Bromham Park.
1946: Branch of Womens Institute started.
1951: Population totals 1,220 persons.
1954: Village Hall built on land donated by Mr Robert Skinner.
1961: Population totals 2,722 persons
1964: Rice Trevor School built in Grange Lane.
1970: Bromham Mill ceases working.
1970-72: A Roman occupation site investigated close to the river prior to gravel extraction. The excavation revealed ditches, gullies, pits, traces of circular huts, a drying oven and occupational debris. Although no traces of kilns were found it was thought that the site may have been used to produce a form of pottery called "Clapham shelly ware". Occupation of the site seems to have ceased in the third century when it became subject to flooding.
1973: Bromham Mill purchased by Bedfordshire County Council.
1974: Roof and Upper Floor of Bromham Mill destroyed by fire.
1980: Parts of village flooded.
1981: New weir opened.
1983: Princess Anne opens Elizabeth Curtis School of Riding for the Disabled. Bromham Mill opened to the public.
1986: Bromham Bypass opened.
1989: Co-op closes in the Avoca Centre, Molivers Lane.
1991: Population totals 3,825 persons.
1992: New Baptist Church Built.
1993: New Village Hall opened. It cost approximately 380,000.
1995: Rice Trevor and St. Owens merge to form Bromham V.C. Lower School.
1997: Bromham Hospital closes.
2001: Population totals 4,770 persons
2007: Rainbow School closes. (Bedfordshire Times, 23rd February)
Sources:
- Bromham in Bedfordshire a history by Roger W. Rideout (2002)
- Newspapers cuttings in the collection at Bedford Central Library
Further Reading:
- A Belgic and Romano British site at Bromham by Peter Tilson in Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol. 8, 1973 (available in Bedford Central Library)
- Bromham Mill Bedford (Bedfordshire County Council, 1983)
- Victoria County History of Bedfordshire
Page last updated: 23rd January 2014