2007 News
Stories
The Bramall’s Return
A chance meeting with Phillip Bramall,
whilst he was visiting his son at the University of
Sheffield, led to one of the most extraordinary and
interesting stories of the year. Phillip Bramall is
the grandson of the last farmer to have worked Manor
Oaks Farm, Oscar Bramall. By chance he was passing
the site and he was delighted to see that the once
dilapidated Manor Oaks farmhouse had been restored
to its former glory. Phillip left in high spirits
and quickly spread the news amongst his family. Phillips
discovery was all the more interesting as it was around
this time that he had been researching his family
history and going through boxes and boxes of family
photos, documents and even objects. As luck would
have it, Green Estate are in the process of setting
up a community archive with the aim of bringing these
kinds of artefacts together in one place for the use
of local people and other researchers. When Green
Esatate set out to create the archive no-one had thought
we would be lucky enough to get a collection of this
size, quality or significance. Interest was so great
that the local press took up the story and Phillip
and his family had a VIP tour of the site and the
day was recorded by the Sheffield Telegraph.
Amongst the objects Phillip and
his family donated were such gems as:
- Handbill of the sale from 1938
showing all the farm animals and pieces of equipment
that were sold by Oscar Bramall on leaving Manor Oaks.
- A programme dating from May Day 1916 from a concert
party held at St. Aiden’s church in aid of comforts
for the troops at the Front.
- Clara Bramall’s notebook detailing recipes
for homemade food and medicines.
- An invitation for Oscar and his wife to attend the
Duke of Norfolk’s 21st birthday party.
- A pair of butter pads which would have been used
on the farm.
These items are being catalogued
and will be held on-site in a safe environment to
be used for further research. A small booklet of reflections,
written by Phillip himself, will be printed as well
as the creation of a small exhibition showing the
Bramall’s life at Manor Oaks.
Sheffield Manor Lodge
The Community Archive
As part of the Community
Archaeology project Green Estate is developing the
Manor Community Archive. Objects, photographs, documents
and maps have all been donated and this collection
will ultimately be stored in the new visitors centre
along with books and reports. Volunteer archivists
are being recruited to catalogue the large amount
of material already donated. They will also organise
drop in sessions where local people can donate new
material relevant to the Manor’s past. Local
people will be able to learn more about their surroundings
and everyone will be able to appreciate the diverse
and fascinating nature of the Manor’s past.
It is also hoped that the archive will take advantage
of Green Estate’s continually developing links
with local academic establishments and increase their
use of the resources on site. We hope this will be
a two way process with the Universities able to do
more research on the site and area which will feed
back into the archive.
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