Hardingstone

"HARDINGSTONE, a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 2 miles S.E. of Northampton, its post town and railway station on the London and North-Western railway. The parish is situated on the river Nen, and a branch of the Grand Junction canal. It is the head of a Poor-law Union, and of a superintendent registry district, but belongs to the Northampton new County Court. It contains the hamlets of Coton End, Far Coton, and Delapre Abbey. The road from London to Northampton passes through the parish, near the side of which is one of those three-story octagonal crosses, erected by Edward I. to the memory of his consort, Queen Eleanor. On a hill to the S.W. of the village, are the remains of a Danish encampment, occupying about 4 acres. It is supposed to have been constructed by Sweyn. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £534, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Edmund, is an ancient structure. It contains tombs of the Tates, Clarkes, and Harveys, one of which last named family was author of "Meditations." At Hardingstone Fields a battle was fought in 1459, between the great Earl of Warwick and Henry VI., at which the king was made prisoner, generally known as the battle of Northampton."

"COTTON END, (or Far Cotton), a hamlet in the parish of Hardingstone, in the county of Northampton, 2 miles S. of Northampton. It was the site of a hospital for lepers, founded by William the Conqueror. The principal residence is Cotton House.

"DELAPRE ABBEY, a hamlet in the parish of Hardingstone, hundred of Wymmersley, in the county of Northampton, 1¼ mile S.E. of Northampton. It is situated on the site of a nunnery, founded by Simon de Liz, Earl of Northampton. The abbey, which was dedicated to St. Mary, belonged to the nuns of the Cluniac Order, and had a revenue of £119 9s. 7¼d. at the Dissolution.