Bramall Hall in Cheshire is one of the county's grandest black and white timber-framed buildings.  The oldest parts of the building date from the 14th century however the Manor has been held in other forms since the time of the Saxons when two feemen Brun and Hacun held the Manor of Bramale as two separate manors.

Around 1070 the Bramale estates were given by William the Conqueror to Hamo de Masci, the first Baron of Durham Massey.

In the 12th century it passed from the Masseys to Mathew de Bromale (believed to have been a relation).  It remained in this family until the late 14th century when it passed to the Davenports through marriage.  It remained within the Davenport family for a further 500 years.

On the death of William Davenport Davenport in 1869 the Hall passed to his son John William Handley Davenport.  It was then leased to Wakefield Christy, a member of a well-known Stockport hatting firm.  When the lease expired the contents were sold and the furniture dispersed of.  The Hall was now owned by a Manchester property development firm and remained empty until 1883 when it was purchased by Charles Henry Nevill.
 
 

The Hall remained in the Nevill family until 1925 when the estate was sold to John Henry Davies.  He lived in the house until his death and his widow remained in the property until 1935 when she sold it to Hazel Grove and Bramall Urban District Council.

The estate became the property of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in 1974 and, assisted by the Bramall Hall Restoration and Conservation Fund, has undertaken major schemes of restoration including the roof and extermal timbers.

Sparsely furnished, much of the property consists of rooms which, by keeping uncluttered with furniture, can be appreciated for the woodwork and timbers throughout the house.

The tour begins with the Great Hall, the Lesser Hall and the Banqueting Room.

The Chapel is the next stop on the tour and until the early 19th century was the only place in Bramall for the tenants and visitors to worship.  The chapel was closed and dismantled following the departure of the Davenport family.  In the chapel you can see what remains of a pre-Reformation "Passion" painting. these were outlawed and whitewashed over following the Reformation.  It was not until the 20th century that efforts were made to remove the whitewash and try to find the paintings behind.  Unfortunately little has survived the passing of years although what has is on display to be seen.

The tour continues into the Ballroom where there are more wall paintings which are of a higher quality and are very rare.

In this room, high on the wall, in the gable, is a mysterious doorway which is unreachable to the public (or the owner of the house).  It has been suggested that the door could have been reached by a staircase built against the east wall of the ballroom.  It is believed that it could have given access to the long gallery which has now been demolished.

We then continue onto Nevill's room which has a strong Victorian sense to it having been decorated in this era by Charles Nevill.

In this room we find another mysterious doorway, this one being hidden behind an oak panel.  It was firstly thought to have been the entrance to a priest's hide but is now believed to have been older than that and have led to a staircase leading to the great hall or the outside of the building.  However no one knows for sure and we can only speculate.

We go from this room on to the Plaster Room (named after what would have been the original flooring).

We now see the Pedigree Roll which shows 28 generations of the Davenports of Bramall from 1086 to 1860.

The Paradise Room is the next stop with its name originating from both the Middle Ages when Paradise was the name for the bedchamber or favourite room and the bed hangings which contain embroidered images of Adam and Eve and their fall from paradise.

We then go on to the Withdrawing Room and then the Davenport Bedroom.

The next room was not open to the public at the time of my visit and is Mary Neviill's Bedchamber which is still being restored for the public to view.  I seem to recall that this may have been opened by the time of my visit but cannot say for sure as it was some time ago when I visited and as indoor photography is not allowed there are no photos to remind me if I am right or not.

The final stops on the tour are the servant's quarters which are also described as closed to the public in the guidebook but were certainly open when I visited in late August 2000.  However due to a wasps nest in one of the rooms my visit to this area of the house was quite short.

The final room on the tour is the kitchen which is set out as if the servants have just been called away from their work in a Victorian Kitchen.  With store rooms and the scullery off of the main kitchen you can see what wonderful efforts have been made to restore the kitchen to an exact replica of how it used to be.