Bramdean Common is near Winchester,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. Bramdean means "the valley where brooms grow" - broom being the gorse bush originally prevalent in the valley that carries a yellow flower. There was a Roman villa near the village, excavated in 1824. The name goes back to 923. It is close to

Hinton Ampner Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens within the civil parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England. The village and house are 8 miles due east of Winchester. The name probably derives fr ...

. There is a ''Church in the Woods'' which was built in 1883 for

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

who used to camp in the local woods. It is built of corrugated iron and took five days to build. It was here in 1993 that the

Dongas road protest group The Dongas Tribe was a collection of road protesters and travellers in England, noted for their occupation of Twyford Down outside Winchester, Hampshire. The name ''Dongas'' comes from the Matabele word for "gully", given by Winchester locals to ...

moved after being driven from

Twyford Down Twyford Down is an area of chalk downland lying directly to the southeast of Winchester, Hampshire, England next to St. Catherine's Hill and close to the South Downs National Park. It has been settled since pre-Roman times, and has housed a ...

by bulldozers.

References

Winchester {{Hampshire-geo-stub