Bow Top ~ The Gypsy Caravan's History
Built in 1930 by Henry Brazil for his sons wedding present. The family originated in England and moved to Ireland to retire. When Henry junior got married he and his wife moved to England in their gypsy caravan to find work. Henry's father built the caravan to be Henry's family home and decorated it with grapes, which in Romany’s belief represents a fruitful and prosperous life(the grapes of plenty).
Henry junior and his wife traveled from Kent and Sussex apple and hop picking in the summer months, returning to Gloster to winter out. Every year they returned and picked hops at the same farm even once they had family and the farmer became a friend. In about 1936 Henry junior while hop picking fell and broke his neck and died. (Usually if a death occurred to the owner of a caravan the caravan was burnt with the body inside. This was said to set their soul free).
The farmer set Henry's wife and children up in a cottage, buried Henry and kept the caravan. The caravan stood there jacked off its wheels for the next 58 years or so. Around 1994, whilst visiting the farm the caravan was seen and the farmers son now running the farm agreed to sell it.
It was restored in Sussex by a gypsy called Kailib Chapman. The owner of the home till 1999 then lived it in at an Animal Rescue home in Kent when she moved to Arizona. She had her home shipped out but once getting to Tucson realized the climate was too brutal and it had to be covered up all the time and also it made her desperately home sick. She then sold the caravan to enable her to build kennels to house some of the homeless dogs in her area.
The caravan has only ever been pulled by gray horses(considered lucky by the Romany's) as are piebalds(Black and Whites) and squabalds. (Brown and Whites)