Bramall Hall — Attraction in Stockport

Bramhall Hall - A beautiful building that is full of history

What is Bramhall Hall?

Bramhall Hall is a Tudor building which is a visitor attraction that is located in the heart of Stockport, Greater Manchester.

It consists of 3 floors that gives you a brilliant insight of how people lived there in the old times. The Davenports were the first family that lived there followed by the Neville family.

What rooms are inside Bramhall Hall?

Bramhall Hall is a historical building that contains numerous rooms. They are:

The Chapel Banqueting Room Entertainment Room Solar Room Servant Rooms Master Bedroom Bedroom for children born Dining Room Kitchen Office

Chapel

The Chapel is a beautiful building with coloured glass windows. It was lovely in presentation where religious service and weddings took place.. There was also a good variety of objects including an altar and a fire place.

Banqueting Room

This room inside Bramhall Hall was used to bring guests together and to dine together. The art work in this room was exquisite and it featured elements of Stone Henge. It complemented well with the furniture of the room.

The Solar Room

This room had incredible high ceilings and amazing chandeliers hanging on the roof. There were some nice items inside some cabinets including fine chinaware.

Entertainment Room

This room was where the family living at Bramhall Hall during the old times would entertain guests. The room is of a decent size and included a pool table. The paintings on the walls were superb and had an oriental feel that was unique.

The Servants Rooms

These rooms were detailed and had the essential items too. Some servants would share a room. This was the case in one of the rooms where there was a number of beds with brushes, a simple toilet and wash bowl. Some of the items were tactile and it was a lovely getting to touch them to get a feel of their texture.

Servants would work at 6am till 10pm.

Dining Room

The dining room was impressive. The dining table was lovely with all the plates, bowls and cutlery organised on the table. There were also lovely artwork that surrounds the room. When the Davenport/Neville families would dine in this room whilst enjoying the views of the garden. A lovely pleasant room.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen gave moments of nostalgia with the old kitchen utensils that you would recognise during the old times. It also had a machine in which they cleaned clothes. It was great.

Entry and Admission

In order to enter Bramhall Hall then you are required to book a ttmed ticket online and to pay for it in advance before the date of your visit.

For pricing details then check out the Bramhall Hall website for further information.

Facilities

There is a park with beautiful views and a small lake.

There is a café on site that serves a variety of hot and cold food including Sandwiches, Chips and Cakes. There are also hot and cold drinks on offer too. It is reasonably priced.

Toilets are on site.

Access

As Bramhall Hall is an old historical building therefore there are no lifts. As a result you will need to use the stairs in order to access all floors of the building. In addition, some rooms had a number of steps to go up and down in order to enter the rooms. If you are visually impaired then take your time going up and down them.

Parking

Bramhall Hall has its own designated car park which is free to use. There are also some disabled bays where people with a Blue Badge can park there for 3 hours.

If you love to learn about life in a historical building in a way that is interesting, engaging and informative then Bramhall Hall is the...

A Visit to Bramall Hall

After a long crawl on the motorway, delayed by an accident, we finally arrived at Bramall Hall, a magnificent black-and-white timber-framed Tudor manor set within 70 acres of sweeping parkland. Once we’d paid the small parking fee, we made our way to the lovely café for a restorative cup of tea and a snack before stepping back in time. Much of the building is covered in scaffolding due to building work, but this does not deter from the great experience once inside.

Bramall has a long and fascinating history, first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 when the Saxon owners, Brin and Hacum, were displaced by Norman overlords. Over the centuries, it passed through the Bromale family and later into the hands of the Davenports around 1400, who left an indelible mark on the estate.

Inside the house, every room whispered stories of the families who lived there. In the Solar, much of the original wall painting is currently protected during building work, but one tantalising section remains visible. A digital screen nearby allows visitors to imagine the room as it once was, with richly decorated walls and full of colour.

The Neville Room offered another glimpse into the past, with a surviving section of wattle-and-daub wall, hundreds of years old. The real highlight here, though, is a breathtaking Gothic-style credenza, designed by A.W.N. Pugin and crafted by J.G. Crace; a masterpiece of craftsmanship that immediately draws the eye.

Upstairs, the Paradise Bedroom revealed more secrets. This was the chamber of Dorothy Davenport, who lived here until her death in 1639 at the age of 77. Beside the fireplace, a hidden priest hole, a reminder of the dangerous religious tensions of the time.

The Withdrawing Room was equally impressive, with a striking lime-plaster ceiling and a grand cabinet of unknown origins, but dating from the 17th or 18th century. A short film revealed the painstaking restoration of the ceiling, which is now the room’s crowning glory.

Climbing further, we reached Mary Neville’s boudoir, a private retreat filled with quiet charm, the kind of room where one could easily imagine passing long afternoons with books or embroidery. The Davenport Bedroom followed, complete with its own dressing room and washroom, offering a glimpse into the private world of the family.

The tour finished in the servants’ quarters, beautifully presented and full of period detail. The kitchen, with its heavy range, stirred particular memories for Tim, it was identical to the one in his childhood home in the old coal board workers’ houses of the northeast.

Our Historic Houses membership gave us free entry, but we were struck by the affordability of Bramall Hall at just £6.50 (or £5 for over-60s). It’s the best value of any historic house we’ve visited, especially given the richness of the experience. Before leaving, we gladly added a donation to the collection box, a small token of thanks for such a...

My husband turned up today to visit Bramhall, but could not get in, as there were signs all over the car park saying 'NO COIN - mobile phone pay only'. He couldn't ring them on his mobile phone because apparently the parking system locked his mobile so he could not use it to call anyone! He does not (and has no wish to) use mobile phone payment for anything, and indeed why should he? So he drove away, far enough for his phone to be released, and then rang Bramall to query why he couldn't use coins to pay for parking. He was told 'but you can', by someone who presumably was either not on site or hadn't seen the signs. When he told the lady about the signs she backtracked, admitting that they had been experiencing issues with the new pound coin. No alternative method of payment was offered (why could he not have driven in, parked, and paid for his parking at the ticket office?) and so by this time, feeling extremely frustrated, disappointed and cross, he gave up and came back to our B & B, a round trip of approx 60 miles. I wonder how many tickets have gone and will go unsold through this inability to deal with a technological hiccup in a sensible and customer-friendly way? Ridiculous, and a waste of my husband's time, and of holiday time. We didn't see any mention of this on the website, and even the chap I spoke to when I rang to check if the Hall was open today, didn't think to mention it. Very poor. Apparently Bramhall (or the nearby village) has a reputation as 'the happiest village in Britain' - well, I can vouch for the fact that there was one VERY unhappy tourist today, who went away without contributing anything to the local economy and who probably won't bother to return. Shame. If you are thinking of visiting and don't have the facility or desire to use mobile phone to pay for parking, I recommend that you ring the hall and ask the question - is your car park accepting coins now?? Be specific, citing this case if you...