History Seat

‘Tell of beacons and bonfires, tithes and taxes. Of alehouse and almshouse. Of cowled monks on a beaten path to penitence. Of the firm thumb and sore eye of the framework knitter. Tell of Henry Holden and Elsie Eatch. Of Ice Age stone and harvest home, of squires and shepherds, damsels and divinity. Hensons and Bagshawes are buried bones but live immortalised in stone.’

Text by Pat Ashworth, local writer, 2008

The sheep’s head shown at the top of this ‘chair’ reminds us of Bramcote’s agricultural beginnings. There is a skull and crossbones on the right. There is no sinister significance to this inclusion except that it was a design found on several tombstones during our archaeology digs! Another design found was the beautiful cross, shown in the centre of the ‘chair’.

This belonged to the headstone of Rev Thomas Wilkinson, a past vicar of Bramcote. On the side of the ‘chair’ are 2 designs which refer to the framework knitting industry within the village during 18th/19thcentury. There is a pair of clippers used by knitters and also a representation of stocking stitching, garments frequently made on the frames.