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It
is
an interesting thought that Bramham
could have taken its place among the Yorkshire public Schools, but for an
accident of fate just ewer one hundred years ago. During its short life,
Bramham College attracted the sons of many leading Yorkshire families before
being forced to close after falling into decline following a severe epidemic
of cholera in 1869. Several pupils died and are buried next to their
Headmaster under the yew tree to the east end of Bramham Church; others were
sent home and never returned.
Originally opened in 1842/3, when Dr
Benjamin Bentley Haigh leased Bramham Biggin and 130 acres of parks and
gardens and moved his school from Grimston Lodge, Tadcaster, the College
quickly earned a reputation as a happy, well ordered school, and flourished.
Dr Haigh, who was known as an "old‑fashioned gentleman" with high standards,
spent a great deal of his own money extending, upgrading and converting the
Biggin. Several memoirs, by his deputy the Rev Stephen Wilson and a number
of former pupils, eulogize over the facilities, rooms, and gardens, as well
as confirming the excellence of the education in the College. It is
difficult to visualise, on looking at Bramham Biggin today, reconverted to
the role of a private house, that its end‑extension encompassed the building
shown opposite. However, the College did contain a hall (60
x
30x 24 feet), theatre, gymnasium and cloisters in addition to classrooms and
living quarters.
.
An excellent Library, one of 20,000 volumes,
was available to the pupils. Its refectory (60
x 35 x
22 feet) was much admired, built in the Grecian style,
with elegant decorations and a huge glass dome which rose to the height of
two storeys. Such was Dr Haigh's pride in this room that no one, himself
included, was allowed to enter the refectory except in slippers. The
classical tradition was kept by calling rooms after Greek cities. The
curriculum included Greek, Latin, French and German (Dr Haigh was an
outstanding linguist); algebra, ancient and modern history, geography,
penmanship, astronomy, book‑keeping, music, drawing, dancing and horse
riding. Football was very popular. On Sunday mornings the boys were paraded
to the parish church, the Wesleyan Chapel ‑ or taken the lengthy walk to the
Congregational Church in Boston Spa!
After 1869, when cholera visited and
Dr Haigh died, the College never recovered its popularity, declining and
eventually closing. After lying derelict for some years, it was dismantled
entirely so that its stone could be used in the rebuilding of Bramham Park
around 1907. Even its admired rustic lodge and gateposts disappeared,
leaving only the Biggin in its original state.
One of Dr Haigh's
improvements, however, did live on, to the great advantage of the village.
To light his College and house, he had installed a gas supply, later
maximizing his investment by providing gas from his works at the College to
the Bramham Consumers' Gas Company, formed in 1860
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