Pytchley / Pitchley

"PITCHLEY, (or Pytchley), a parish in the hundred of Orlingbury, county Northampton, 3 miles S.W. of Kettering, its post town, and 5 N.W. of Wellingborough. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural, but some of the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of shoes, and others in that of lace. The surface is watered by several brooks, which fall into a branch of the river Nene. The soil is fertile, resting upon a substratum of limestone, which is quarried for building and burning into lime. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £99, in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient edifice, with an embattled tower containing a clock and five bells. The parochial charities produce about £27 per annum, of which £23 goes to Aylworth's free school, A Sunday-school is held at the church. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. There are two agricultural societies, distinguished as the Horticultural and the Provident Benefit Societies. Pitchley Hall, now a ruin, was formerly the seat of the Knightleys, and was held by the Pytchley Hunt, which has removed to Brixworth. Lewis Lloyd, Esq., of Overstone, in Northamptonshire, is lord of the manor." [Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]