Bramshott

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Offices of Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council

Bramshott is a village in Hampshire, England, near Liphook.

The first evidence for the hamlet of Bramshott is the record of Matthew as its first Rector in 1225 and the early 13th century church. The Parish evolved from the medieval manors of Brembreste (Bramshott today), Lidessete (Ludshott), Ciltelelei (Chiltlee), the Royal Forest of Woolmer, and fragments of two other manors.

Bramshott Manor is described in the Domesday Book as held by Edward of Salisbury from the King with 2 freemen, 13 tenants (of restricted freedom) and 2 mills. Ludshott Manor, lying to the north of Bramshott Manor, is recorded with 4 tenants and a mill. Chiltlee Manor lay to the south of Bramshott Manor and was recorded as being held by the King, William the Conqueror, with only 4 tenants and land for two ploughs, worth only 53 shillings. These four manors lay on the edge of the Royal Forest of Woolmer, with the origins of Liphook perhaps built as smallholdings to serve huntsmen.

Bramshott grew until the fourteenth century but was checked by the Black Death. It seems some people escaped from the manors to Liphook to evade taxes of the Lord. Since the sixteenth century development of Bramshott has been intertwined with that of Liphook.

The St. Mary's Church holds the graves of 318 Canadian soldiers stationed at nearby Bramshott Camp during the First World War, including many victims of the influenza outbreak of 1918.

Bramshott is also rumoured to be haunted, with 16 regular ghosts including a long-dead cat and a pig. Boris Karloff lived in Bramshott until his death, and it is said that his ghost walks the lanes.