The village of Brampton is situated midway between the market towns of Huntingdon and St. Neots and has a thriving community. Brampton retains its village green and the houses surrounding are probably part of the original village. The Masala Restaurant on the edge of the green has recently opened, this was formerly "The Harrier" public house, named in 1973 in honour of R.A.F. Brampton which is nearby.
The area owes much of its prosperity to the Great North Road and the Great Ouse River. Many of the inns still found in the small villages were formerly coaching inns. Those beside the river often cater for the modern leisure craft.
A key historic building in the village is the Grange Hotel. The Grange was built around 1773 and is a large red brick building in the high street. In the early nineteenth century it was acquired by Lady Olivia Bernard Sparrow of Brampton Park for use as a girls school. On her death the property passed to The Duke of Manchester and reverted to a private residence. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force and subsequently became the headquarters of the American Eighth Air Force. After the war it became the Headquarters of the Royal Air Force Technical Training Command and later, the Air training Corps. In 1981 The Grange was converted into a small Hotel.
Measures Master Butchers was founded in 1885 by Thomas Scotney and has supplied the residents of Brampton and surrounding areas with high-quality fresh meat ever since. The exception to this was during the Second World War when the then owners, Peacocks, were forced to close for period of several years. During that time, other local butchers supplied Measures' customers with meat, returning their custom to Measures at the end of the war.
Brampton's most famous resident was Samuel Pepys. He was born on 23rd February 1633 over his father's tailor's shop in Salisbury Court between Fleet Street and The Thames. He moved to Brampton from London because of his health and fears of The Plague (from which several of his brothers died).
Pepys lived at Brampton for part of his boyhood and attended the Huntingdon Free School which was the forerunner of the local Hinchingbrooke School. He lived for a time in his house in Brampton which he inherited from is uncle and which still stands.
Pepys Farm, house, on the South side of the road from Brampton to Huntingdon, 400 yards NE of the church, is of two storeys with attics. The walls are partly of plastered timber-framing and partly of brick; the roofs are tiled. The timber-framed North part of the house was built in the middle of the 16th century and to this was added, early in the 18th century, the brick wing on the south. There is a modern addition to the west of this wing.
The Samuel Pepys Diary
can be viewed online. This provides a fascinating insight into life in 17th century England and Brampton.
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