Home News Project Info History The River Wye Links Brampton Abbotts Herefordshire     Brampton Abbotts church March 2006 The name Brampton means 'Broom settlement' - the 'Abbotts' is a reference to the abbot of St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester which held it at Domesday and to the Reformation. At Domesday there were two hides one of which paid tax and one which did not. In the free hide there were three ploughs in lordship. There were also five villeins and five bordars with five ploughs together with sixteen slaves. In the other hide there was one villein and one bordar with one plough and a mill valued at eight shillings. Another part of Brampton was held by the monastery of St Guthlac in Hereford. The marginal entry in the Herefordshire Domesday is Gadelesford suggesting that this property was at Gatsford, 1600 metres east of Brampton Abbots church. The name Gatsford is perhaps 'Gæddel's ford'.  The property was waste although it did pay tax. There was said to be land for two ploughs. Part of the tithe map of Brampton Abbotts parish, 1838. Several fields are still divided into strips. These would have been the land divisions recognised by the medieval tenants of Gloucester Abbey. In the centre is Netherton Farm.     Brampton Abbott's on the 1823 map of the manors of Yatton, Eaton, Tregos and Calborough by Henry Garling.     Brampton Abbotts on the 1880s OS map Welsh raiders from Archenfield were harassing the local English as late as the 12th century. A raid on Brampton Abbotts (Brantonia) recorded sometime between 1139 and 1148 caused the then abbot of Gloucester, Gilbert Foliot, to ask the Bishop of Hereford to act against Ithel, 'Chenedin' and their accomplices who were responsible. Brampton Abbotts church a century ago   and the rectory     Brampton Abbotts school in 1928     and the children     At the time of the dissolution Brampton Abbotts was granted to the Rudhall family of Rudhall in the extreme south-east of the parish. The first mention of the family is in 1306 when William Roedale leased some land and an adjoining mill from the Abbot of Gloucester. In the assessment of wealth for taxation carried out under Henry VIII's Subsidy Act of 1523, John Rudhall is easily the wealthiest person in the township. John Rudhall John Knyll Thomas Colley Martin Petitt Thomas a Pye Hugh Dyrham John Cox William Nurse William Taylor James a Bridge John Collins William Taylor of Gaitforde Thomas Taylor Roger Keys Walter Hale James Taylor Roger Purdie 24 pounds 40 shillings 20 shillings 20 shillings 26 shillings 20 shillings 20 shillings 40 shillings 10 pounds 6 pounds 5 pounds 10 pounds 3 pounds 6 pounds 3 pounds 10 pounds 10 pounds William Taylor of  Whelarr Henry Hyett Johanna Griffith William Taylor of  Byrton Philip Hyett John Mutlowe Roger Davies Hugh Mutlowe Walter Addis William Addis John ap Richard Henry Beynham William Collins John Griffith Richard  Mosell Richard Verne 53 shillings & 4 pence 10 pounds 3 pounds 10 pounds 3 pounds 40 shillings 3 pounds 8 pounds 6 pounds 3 pounds 5 pounds 20 shillings 4 pounds 20 shillings 20 shillings 4 pounds Tax assessment from Herefordshire Taxes in the Reign of Henry VIII edited by M A Faraday: Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Herefordshire, 2005 Brompton chapel contributed 2 shillings and 5 pence to Henry VIII's Devotion Money in 1543. Brampton Abbotts was a chapelry of Ross-on-Wye until 1671 and although there is a brass in Brampton Abbotts church commemorating a John Rudhall who died 1506, and his wife, most memorials of the family are found in the mother church of Ross. A road at Brampton Abbotts sunk into a hollow-way     Brampton Abbotts church in 1851   Gatsford Gatsford was variously Gedesford, Gadelesford and Gedelesford in the 12th century and may mean Gæddel's ford. It was Gaitforde in 1523 when William Taylor was identified as being from there (see above). Rudhall At Rudhall there are remains of a 14th century house. The property came into the hands of Nicholas Rudhall in 1411-12. The family rebuilt the house and the place took their name. Archaeological records from Brampton Abbotts are held on Historic Herefordshire On Line Brampton Abbotts GENUKI pages   Back to TOP

Wye Valley History pages

maintained by Archenfield Archaeology Ltd