"LILBOURNE, a parish in the hundred of Guilsborough, county Northampton, 6 miles S.E. of Rugby, its post town, and 6 S. of Lutterworth. It is a station on the Rugby branch of the London and North-Western railway. The village, which is extensive, is situated on the river Avon, and on the Roman way Watling Street. It is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Tripontiuin. There are traces of a square camp a quarter of an acre in extent, also a large tumulus at Round Hill. The inhabitants are partly employed in the stocking manufacture. The tithes were commuted for land at the enclosure of the parish. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £127, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has a square embattled tower containing five bells. The charities produce about £40 10s. per annum, the produce of 40 acres of land. There is a free school for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. William Smith, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"ACHURCH, (or Thorpe Achurch) a parish in the hundred of Navisford, county Northampton, 4 miles N.E. of Thrapston, its post town, and 3 S.W. of Oundle. It is a station on the Peterborough and Northampton railway. The living is a rectory* with the vicarage of Lilford annexed, in the diocese of Peterborough, value £420. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, contains monuments of the Elmes, Powys, and other families. The parochial charities produce about £15 per annum.

"ALDWINKLE ALL SAINTS, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton, 2 miles to the N.E. of Thrapston. It is watered by the river Nen, and the Northampton and Peterborough railway passes through the parish. It is an ancient place, and its Saxon name was Aldewingle. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £311, in the patronage of the Rev. R. Roberts, D.D., the rector. The church is in the later English style, and has a fine tower, decorated windows, and a beautiful chapel adjoining the chancel. It contains a brass of an Aldwinkle of the year 1463. The father of the poet Dryden held this rectory, and the parsonage-house was the birthplace of the poet (1631). There is a free school for the benefit of this and the adjoining parish of St. Peter, founded and endowed in 1671 by Richard Thorpe."

"ALDWINKLE ST. PETER'S, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles NE. of Thrapston. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £230, in the patronage of Lord Lilford, of Lilford Hall. This parish has a share in the charities of Aldwinkle All Saints. The river Nen, on which the village is situated, communicates with the Northampton canal, and is navigable to the ocean. Thomas Fuller, author of the "Church History," and "History of the Worthies of England," was born here in 1608, his father, the Rev. T. Fuller, at that time holding the rectory. Aldwinkle House is the seat of the Hon. and Rev. F. Powys. Here are ruins of a structure called Liveden, built by the Treshams which is in the form of a cross, and has some interesting sculpture."

"ASHBY-MEARS, a parish in the hundred of Hansfordshoe, in the county of Northampton, 3 miles to the S.W. of Wellingborough. Northampton is its post town. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £235, in the patronage of Mrs. M. Newby's Trustees. The church is dedicated to All Saints. Ashby-Mears House is the principal residence."

"BANBURY, a parish, market town, and municipal and parliamentary borough, chiefly in the hundred of Banbury and county of Oxford, but partly also in the hundred of King's Sutton, in the county of Northampton, 23 miles to the N. of Oxford, and 73 miles to the N.W. of London, or 77 miles by the London and North-Western railway, with which it is connected by a branch line from Bletchley. It is also a station on the Oxford and Birmingham section of the Great Western railway. The town stands in a pleasant valley on the banks of the river Cherwell, and includes the hamlets of Neithrop, Grimsbury, Nethercote, Wickham, and Hardwick. It is a place of great antiquity, and was called by the Saxons Banesbyrig. Roman relics have frequently been found in the town and neighbourhood. In the first half of the 12th century, a fortress was founded here by Alexander de Blois, Bishop of Lincoln, then lord of the manor of Banbury. It continued to be the occasional residence of the bishops till the reign of Edward VI. Danesmore, a level tract 3 miles from Banbury, was the scene of the battle of Banbury in 1469, when the Yorkists, led by the Earl of Pembroke, were totally defeated by the great Earl of Warwick, the kingmaker, and last of the Barons. Pembroke and his brother, and several other gentlemen, were captured the day after, and beheaded. The manor came into the possession of the crown in the reign of Edward VI., and the castle was granted by Queen Elizabeth to the Saye and Soles of Broughton. During the Civil War of the 17th century the castle was first garrisoned for the parliament, but was surrendered to the royalists in 1642, after the battle of Edgehill. It stood a siege of thirteen weeks in 1644, and another of ten weeks in 1646, when it was given up to the parliament, and was a short time afterwards dismantled. Scarcely any traces of it are visible. A fragment of the strong wall now forms the foundation of a lowly human dwelling-place, and garden vegetables grow on the site of the vanished fort. The market-cross, famous in all nurseries, no longer exists: it was destroyed by the Puritans in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Banbury, which was a borough by prescription, received a charter of incorporation from Queen Mary, which was subsequently confirmed and enlarged. It is now governed, under the Reform Act, by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, with the style of "the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Banbury." The borough has returned one member to parliament since the reign of Queen Mary. The mayor is the returning officer. The limits, however, of the municipal and parliamentary boroughs are not co-extensive, the former comprising, according to the census of 1861, only 790 inhabited houses, with a population of 4,055; while the latter includes 2,067 inhabited houses, with a population of 10,194. The borough magistrates hold petty sessions once a-week, and general sessions every half-year. Ban bury is the seat of a Poor-law Union and of a County Court district. The town is generally well built, and the streets are broad, paved, and lighted with gas. Great improvements were made under the authority of an act passed in the reign of George IV. And the continued prosperity of the borough is shown by the rise of its population from 8,715 in 1851 to 10,194 in 1861, showing an increase in the decennial period of 1,479. The trade of the town has long flourished, and is greatly indebted to the Oxford and Coventry canal, by which it is connected with the general system of inland communication. The district is one of remarkable fertility, and the principal occupations of the people are those connected with agriculture. There is a manufacture of plush, shag, and girth webbing, though of less extent than it was formerly. Farming implements are made. The "cakes "are still famous, and are exported in large quantities, and a superior cheese is made though it is doubted by some whether it be the kind so much in repute in the 16th century. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Oxford, and in the patronage of the bishop. The church is a large modern structure, erected in 1797, on the site of a fine ancient one which, with its monuments, was entirely demolished. There is also a district church in South Banbury, called Christ Church, the living of which is a perpetual curacy of the value of £180, likewise in the gift of the bishop There are chapels belonging to the Roman Catholics, Unitarians, Friends, Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists. A free grammar school here attained such reputation that it served as a model for St. Paul's School, and the Manchester Free Grammar School. It has long ceased to exist. Here is a blue-coat school founded in 1705, and subsequently united with the National school. The former has an income from endowment of £70 a-year. There is an almshouse for twelve persons, and some other charitable institutions. The annual value of the parochial charities is £263. The town has an ancient gaol, a modern town hall, a savings-bank, a mechanics' institution, a library, and a racecourse. The principal seats in the neighbourhood of Banbury are -Wroxton Abbey, the seat of Colonel North; Broughton Castle, the seat of Lord Saye and Selo; and Neithrop House, that of Miss Milward. Two hospitals, dedicated, one to St. John, the other to St. Leonard, formerly existed here. The remains of the former are converted into a dwelling-house: of the latter no ruins are left. The market, which is held on Thursday, is large and well attended. Fairs are held in every month throughout the year except February and November."

"GRIMSBURY, a hamlet in the parish of Banbury, hundred of Kings-Sutton, county Northampton, 1 mile N. E. of Banbury. It is situate on the borders of Oxfordshire, close to the Oxford canal."

"BARNWELL ALL SAINTS, (or King's), a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton, near Barnwell St. Andrew's. The rectory is united with that of Barnwell St. Andrew's, in the diocese of Peterborough.

"BARNWELL ST. ANDREW'S, a parish in the hundred of Polebrook, in the county of Northampton, 3 miles to the S.E. of Oundle, its post town. It is a station on the Northampton and Peterborough railway, 16 miles from Peterborough, and 94 from London. The name of this place is said to be equivalent to Bairn's Well, and to refer to an ancient practice in connection with a holy well here. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value with that of Barnwell All Saints, of £303, in the gift of the Duke of Buccleuch. The church is chiefly in the early English style, with a tower and spire. The charitable institutions are: Latham's almshouses for 14 persons, with an income, from endowment, of £316; a free school, with an endowment, and several other charities, the annual value of the whole amounting to above £509. The chief residence is Barnwell Castle, the seat of the Oddies. The grounds contain extensive ruins of a castle built here by Reginald le Moine, in the reign of Henry I."

"BRAFIELD, (or Brayfield On The Green), a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, in the county of Northampton, 5 miles to the E. of Northampton. The Northampton and Peterborough branch of the London and North-Western railway passes near it. The living is a vicarage united with that of Little Houghton, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church is dedicated to St. Lawrence. There are some charitable endowments for the benefit of the poor, amounting to £16 a year.

"BRAMPTON, a parish in the hundred of Corby, in the county of Northampton, 6 miles to the S.W. of Rockingham. Market Harborough is its post town. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £400, in the patronage of Earl Spencer. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, contains two monumental brasses. The parochial charities amount to £6 a year. The rectory of this parish was once held by Bishop Cumberland."

"BRAMPTON-CHAPEL, a parish in the hundred of Nobottle-Grove, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles to the N. of Northampton, its post town. It is a station on the Northampton, Market Harborough, and Stamford branch of the London and North-Western railway. There is no church."

"BRAMPTON-CHURCH, a parish in the hundred of Nobottle-Grove, in the county of Northampton, close to Brampton-Chapel. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £346, in the patronage of the President and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The church, which is partly in the perpendicular and partly in the decorated style, is dedicated to St. Botolph. It contains a round font, and had formerly a rood-loft. The parochial charities are worth £6 a year. The chief residence is Brampton Lodge."

"CHALCOMBE, (or Chacombe), a parish in the hundred of King's Sutton, in the county of Northampton, 3 miles N.E. of Banbury, its post town and railway station. It is situated near the river Cherwell, which bounds the parish on the W. There are considerable remains of a priory, which was founded by Hugh de Chacombe in the time of Henry II., and at the Dissolution the site was purchased by the Foxe family, now represented by Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq., its present owner. The inhabitants are engaged in agriculture and the manufacture of hosiery. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £250, in the patronage of Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is a stone edifice, partly in the decorated and partly in the perpendicular style, and contains an ancient brass. The Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans have chapels, and there is a school with a small endowment. The charities amount to £4 per annum. Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq., is lord of the manor.

"CLAPTON, a parish in the hundred of Navisford, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles E. of Thrapston, its post town, and 3 E. of Titmarsh. The village is very small, and the inhabitants wholly engaged in agriculture. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £154, in the patronage of G. and W. G. Shedden, Esqrs. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a neat building, in good repair, and formerly possessed a beautiful tower, which was destroyed by lightning. There are monuments in the church to the memory of the Dudley, Breton, and Williams families. The charities amount to £11 per annum. Liveden House, now in ruins, was erected by the Treshams."

"COLLEYWESTON, a parish in the hundred of Willybrook, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles S.W. of Stamford, its post town, and 6½ from Wansford. It is situated near the river Welland. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £252, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, was built in the 14th century of barnack stone, and is in good repair. Here are several slate-quarries. The Marquis of Exeter is lord of the manor."

"COTTESBROOK, a parish in the hundred of Guilsborough, in the county of Northampton, 7 miles S. E. of Welford, and 9 N. of Northampton. It was formerly a cell to Sulby Abbey, founded in the 12th century by William de Widvile for monks of the Premonstratensian order. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £400, the patronage of Sir J. Langham, who is lord of the manor. The church is dedicated to All Saints. Here is a hospital for two widowers and six widows, which was founded and endowed with 53 acres of land in 1651. There is a parochial school."

"CRANFORD ST. ANDREW (and Cranford St. John) parishes in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton. 3½ miles S.E. of Kettering station on the Midland railway, and 70 from London. The village is small, and entirely agricultural. The two parishes are united for ecclesiastical purposes. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £150, held together with the rectory* of St. John, value £198, in the patronage of Sir G. Robinson, Bart. The churches are small, and one of them contains a fine stained-glass window. The tithes of St. Andrew were commuted in 1775, and of St. John in 1805. The charities amount to £6 per annum. The Duke of Buccleuch is lord of the manor. Cranford Hall, the seat of the Robinsons, is a modern mansion, surrounded by a spacious lawn and pleasure-grounds. The founder of this family, Alderman Sir John Robinson, was Lord Mayor of London in 1660, and was created a baronet by Charles II. for his efforts in promoting the Restoration.

Hardingstone

The local gentry in Hardingstone were the BOUVERIE family and they have several 19th century family plaques in the chancel of St Edmund's Church, Hardingstone. The last Miss Bouverie died post World War 2 and Delapre Abbey, her home, became the Northamptonshire Records Office until it moved to Wootton Park a few years ago.

When compulsory education came in seriously, around 1860/70, General Bouverie built a School in Hardingstone which educated children up to 11 years old until the 1960/70s. Then the Primary School was transferred to a modern building in Martin's Lane, and the Old School was transferred to Social Services, who hired it to the Hardingstone Village Hall Association.

The School has a small front yard, tarmaced to take about 6 cars and a front brick low wall topped by iron railings to 8 feet.Originally there were two small gates either side. The School is a single story brick building with three square pyramidic roofs. Inside there are three classrooms, the front one a double cube which can be split by a heavy wooden folding partition. It can take about 80 people for a slide show or 45 for a supper/dance.It has an "Early English" clear glass window at the end and 4 large windows facing the front. The roof is wooden and high. The side room is the same width and height but only 15' for the third dimension, and is now the Playgroup room and the back room is about 30' each way. Between the classrooms there is a central lobby, broadening in the middle section, with cloakrooms and side entrances behind the playgroup room, and a kitchen in front of the back room. I think the original plan was 4 classrooms, two of which could combine for Assembly, beginning the day with the whole school in Christian worship. Each classroom would take 30/40 children. 

Behind the School, with a fantastic view over Northampton 2 miles north, is a fenced grassy area surrounded by trees, dropping sharply. Hardingstone stands on a ridge about 150' above the flood plain of the Nen. Never, we were taught as children, the Nene until you got past Peterborough ! 

Many of the brick terraced houses on the Green, a triangle surrounding a War Memorial, were rented to retired senior members of the Bouverie Staff. From here the High Street runs due west, passing the Sun Inn, the south side of the School, then the Churchyard with its double rank of yews up to the north entrance of the church and finally the Crown Inn and the Spar supermarket before becoming Hardingstone Lane and passing through newer housing and a 1/4mile wide roundabout to the main London Road. A dual carriageway, the A45 drives under the roundabout nowadays. From the Green, Back Lane loops round and rejoins High Street a field away from the School.

The buildings in the village are very mixed in age and type. There are farmhouses and cottages of the local warm golden brown ironstone, brick terraced houses built by the Bouveries, several 19century houses that are much larger (including the Old Vicarage, now two houses) and modern infilling. It is a dormitory village for Northampton and an estate agent's dream. Between the town and Hardingstone there is now a golf-course (1980, municipal) and a large industrial estate, and the new housing is creeping all round the outside. There is a field of allotments on the south side, now partly sold to a newly built and prestigious Girls High School and beyond that stood Wootton Barracks, held by the Army from the days of Napoleon down to 10 years ago.

The above description of the village was provided by Heather Cotton.

"DODDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Willybrook, in the county of Northampton, 5 miles S.W. of Stamford, its railway station and post-town. It is situated on the river Welland, which separates it from the county of Rutland. The county is hilly and well wooded, chiefly oak and ash. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £115, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient stone structure, and has a square tower with small spire. The charities amount to £18 per annum, £10 of which goes to Jackson's free-school. The Independents have a chapel here, and there is a free school with a small endowment. George Monekton, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"EASTON, a parish in the hundred of Willybrook, county Northampton, 2½ miles S.W. of Stamford, its post town and railway station. It is situated on high ground near the river Welland, and contains several quarries of building stone and slate. The tithes were commuted for land and a corn-rent under an Enclosure Act in 1817. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £440, in the patronage of the Marquis of Exeter, who is lord of the manor. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient stone structure, with tower and four bells. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel, and there is an endowed school for fourteen boys and six girls. The parochial charities produce about £150 per annum, of which £82 belong to Gonford's school. The principal residence is Easton Hall."

"EASTON NESTON, a parish in the hundred of Cleley, county Northampton, 12 mile N. E. of Towcester, its post, town, and 3½ miles S. of the Blisworth station. It contains the townships of Hulcote and Showsley, and is situated on the river Tove. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £151, in the patronage of the Earl of Pomfret, who is also lord of the manor, and has a noble mansion here. The church, dedicated-to St. Mary, is an ancient structure, with tower containing six bells and a clock; and contains monuments of the Fermor family. The charities, principally derived from the Hulcote Estate, produce about £150 a year, applied chiefly to the support of the free school for boys and girls. The chief seat is Easton Neaten House, built by Wren and Hawksmoor, in which the collection of marbles, afterwards presented by the Countess of Pomfret to the University of Oxford, was originally formed."

"HULCOTE, a hamlet in the parish of Easton-Neston, hundred of Cleley, county Northampton, 1½ mile N.E. of Towcester."

"SHOWSLEY, a hamlet in the parish of Easton Neston, county Northampton, 2 miles N.E. of Towcester."

"EDGCOTT, a parish in the hundred of Chipping-Warden, county Northampton, 7 miles N.E. of Banbury, its post town, and 9 N.W. of Brackley. The river Cherwell passes through the parish, the greater part of which is in pasture. In a vale, called Danesmoor, a little to the S. of the village, a battle was fought between the Saxons and Danes. In the reign of Edward IV. a conflict took place in this neighbourhood, in the year 1469, between the houses of York and Lancaster, in which the former being defeated, the Earl of Pembroke and his two brothers were taken prisoners and executed at Banbury. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £300. The church is an ancient stone edifice, partly covered with ivy, and has a handsome E. window, It is dedicated to St. James. Mrs. Cartwright is lady of the manor. Edgcott House is the principal residence, and in it is preserved the bed in which Charles I. slept the night after the battle of Edgehill."

"EVENLY, a parish in the hundred of King's Sutton, county Northampton, 1 mile S. of Brackley, its post town. It is situated near the river Ouse. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £182, in the patronage of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. George, is an ancient structure in the form of a cross, and partly covered with ivy. There is a school for both sexes. The Hon. Philip Sydney Pierrepont is lord of the manor."

By Alec Payne

Glapthorne, Northamptonshire      

Lying within a mile and a half of Oundle, some 14 miles from Stamford, and surrounded by the famous family estates of Deene, Drayton Boughton and Burghley, is the ancient village of Glapthorne. It belongs to a group of forest villages, including Southwick, Bulwick and Nassington, which once lay within the medieval Forest of Clive or Cliffe, a sub-division of the great Royal Forest of Rockingham. To the north lies Short Wood, with its Saxon earthworks; to the east, the Cow Pastures common land allegedly sold by a drunken reeve while encircling the village are the ancient fields, with their evocative names, such as Casteepings, The Swinner, Hanging Balk, Milking Stool and Hens and Chickens.

Although Glapthorne lies on the periphery of the Cliffe Bailiwick, it did enjoy the advantages of agistment, estovers and pannage. Life was hard in these small, nucleated forest villages, with their open fields, assarts, or arable land won from the forest. Despite the presence of John Johnson, of "the staple at Calais", resident in Cromwell's Manor - as the Manor of Glapthorne was called in the 16th century - the men of Glapthorne had no great house to sustain them, unlike the retainers of Burghley and Boughton. They were free men and could look only to their own efforts for sustenance. So, to supplement their crops, taken as best they could from the ancient rhythm of the three-field system, the villagers looked to agistment for the right to admit their cattle to the forest at stipulated times; to pannage, for the right to make payment for the pasturage of swine and particularly to estovers, for the privilege to take wood from the King for necessary repairs to property.

Proximity to the forest was not all advantage though. There were temptations. The illegal killing of deer, unofficial grubbing up of trees to establish arable land, illicit building within the forest bounds, purpresture, could all involve presentment before the forest courts and fines.

No matter how laxly the laws were administered in the early 17th century there was always a threat from verderers, judicial officers of the Royal Forests, or from the regarders, responsible for the triennial inspection of the forest bounds. Such officers were even known to inflict fines on members of the prominent Brudenell and Westmoreland families. For the humble villager, an unexpected dog (a dog with claws likely to inflict harm on the royal deer), could also bring its owner to the risk of facing the swanimote, or forest court of the bailiwick, in which he resided.

Morehay, Tottenhoe and Earl's Woods were near enough to Glapthorne for its men to run this risk. If they did, they would have been in conflict with their own representatives, for each forest village sent its own officers to the swanimote. Generations of Glapthorne men must have made the five-mile trip to King's Cliffe to guard the interests of the village and, no doubt, on their return, nailed instructions to the church door of St Leonard's.

Glapthorne's church of St Leonard's is mostly 13th century. Traces of Norman work are still extant, and there are some semi-obliterated murals, reading desks with linen fold panels, together with three very interesting bells. The most important of these is the 14th century bell inscribed, INNORE SATTI MARIA JOHANNES SLEYT ME FECIT. Bells by John Sleyt are rare, and this is the largest surviving example of his work.

A walk eastwards from St Leonard's leads to Cotterstock, with its old collegiate church for a provost and 12 chaplains. Continuing the walk leads across the Nene, through demure, little Tansor, with its Norman piers, and along a straight road to Fotheringhay's truncated gloom and its memories of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. All three of these churches are beautifully set against the green and gentle waters of the summer Nene. Glapthorne's present isolation has helped to perpetuate her history - a history embodied in her field names, which have Saxon and even Nordic associations.

In 1932 Mrs L.V.Smith, headmistress of the Glapthorne Church of England School, performed a valuable service for the community when she instructed her pupils to chart a map of the surrounding fields and to include the names of the fields, as they were then known. To supplement this information, Delapre Abbey, the County Record Office, has a copy of the list of fields owned, in Glapthorne, in 1563, by the Brudenalls, ancestor of the Earl of Cardigan, of Balaclava fame. Also in the Record Office is a map of the Manor of Glapthorne, as it was in 1635.

The most ancient of the evocative place names on these lists include Stemrowe Felde, Stockewellsyke Felde, Longe Swynhoe, Doles Croft, Carvills Stibbings and Hanging Balk; Munck Sins and the Frith are perhaps medieval; while Hens and Chickens, Gallas Acre and Milking Stool date from a more recent period. Even as I type, I can see, to the north, Gypsy Lane, leading to the Thrift, which was at one time common land, and to the south, Milking Stool and Blackmoor. Puckwell Feilde is as intriguing as it sounds, and Saxifraga spatularis is not unknown in Hens and Chickens next to Synderhill. To the west lies Wheate Wonge Lees, close to Ralph de Carvill's clearing, which was listed by Mrs Smith as Casteepings.

In the early hours of the morning, or as the evening shadows fall in an autumn sunset, the traveller can still catch a glimpse of the roving deer, descendants of those medieval deer whose presence gave rise to many customs, to the survival of so much forest and to the preservation in this area of such attractive names.

 

(The above article, supplied by John Palmer, appeared in Country Life - 11 October 1979)

"ALTHORPE, (or Althorpe Park), an extra-parochial district, in the hundred of Nobottle Grove, in the county of Northampton, 7 miles N. W. of Northampton. It now contains only the noble mansion of Earl Spencer, situated on the road to Ruby.

"BARFORD, an extra-parochial liberty in the hundred of Rothwell, in the county of Northampton, adjoining the parish of Glendon."

"BOROUGH FEN, (or Borough Fen Ville), an extra-parochial district in the liberty of Peterborough, in the county of Northampton, 5 miles to the N. of Peterborough. It comprises an area of about 3,130 acres of very valuable grass and arable land, the property of Sir Culling E. Eardley, Bart., and lies on the north side of the parish of Newborough.

"CROSSWAYHAND LODGE, an extra-parochial place in the parish of Southwick, in the county of Northampton, 2½ miles N.W. of Oundle."

"FINESHADE VILLE, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 7 miles S.E. of Uppingham, and 8 N.W. of Oundle, its post town. It is situated in the vicinity of the river Welland. A monastery of Austin friars once stood here, which, at the Dissolution, was given to the Russell family. Here is a church, the living of which is a donative curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £342. Fineshade Abbey,' a seat built on the site of the ancient priory, is the principal residence."

"HARTWELL LODGE, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Cleley, county Northampton."

"HIGHAM PARK, an extra parochial place, in the hundred of Higham Ferrers, county Northampton, 3 miles S.E. of Higham Ferrers."

"MAWSLEY, an extra parochial place adjoining the chapelry of Faxton, county Northampton, 3 miles S. of Rothwell."

"MINSTER-CLOSE-PRECINCTS, an extra parochial place in the city of Peterborough, county Northampton. See Peterborough."

"MOORHAY-LODGE, an extra parochial liberty in the parish of Apethorpe, county Northampton, 4 miles N.W. of Oundle. It is situated in Rockingham Forest."

"MOULTON-PARK, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Spelhoe, county Northampton, 2 miles S.W. of Moulton."

"PIPEWELL, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 6 miles N. W. of Kettering. Here was formerly a Cistercian Abbey, founded in 1143 by William de Boutevylein, which at the Dissolution had a revenue of £347 8s."

"SALCEY-LODGE, an extra parochial place in the parishes of Grafton Regis and Hartwell, hundred of Cleley, county Northampton, 6 miles S.E. of Northampton. It is the seat of the Duke of Grafton, situated in the honour of Grafton and Salcey Forest, which latter comprises about 1,847 acres in 4 walks. The government of the forest is vested in a warden, deputy-warden, surveyor, two verderers, three yeomen keepers, and a woodward. It contains an oak measuring 47 feet in circumference. The forest, which contains about 1,000 head of deer, has 1,121 acres enclosed for navy timber."

"SPA LODGE, an extra parochial place, adjoining the parish of King's Cliffe, county Northampton."

"STONETON HOUSE, an extra parochial place in the parish of Chipping Warden, county Northampton, 8 miles S.W. of Daventry."

"SULBY, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 10 miles W. of Rothwell, and 6 S.W. of Harborough. It is situated on the river Avon, and had a Premonstratensian abbey, founded by Robert de Quercet, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1155, and its revenue at the Dissolution was estimated at £305 8s. 5d., when the site was given to the Hattons. Sulby Hall has a gallery of paintings by Flemish masters."

"SULEHAY WALK AND LODGE, an extra parochial place in the parish of Yarwell, county Northampton, 5 miles N.E. of Oundle. It was formerly comprised in Kingscliffe forest."

"THORPE-LUBBENHAM, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 2 miles S.W. of Market-Harborough, on the river Welland."

"TOWN PART, an extra parochial place in the borough and county of Northampton."

"FLOORE, a parish in the hundred of Nobottle Grove, county Northampton, 5 miles S.E. of Daventry, and 1 mile E. of Weedon, its post town and railway station on the London and North-Western line. It is situated on the turnpike road between Northampton and Daventry, a short distance from the Grand Junction canal. The river Nen flows through the parish, which includes the hamlet of Glassthorpe. This place is mentioned in Domesday Book under the name of Flora. The surface is generally flat, and the soil a deep rich loam resting on gravel alternating with clay. Two-thirds of the land is arable, the rest pasture. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £467, in the patronage of Christ Church, Oxford. The church is a structure of the 11th century, with later additions. It is dedicated to All Saints, and has one brass of 1450. The charities, including a small school endowment, produce about £36 per annum. The Independents have a chapel, and there are two schools. Floore House is the principal residence."

"GREAT ADDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles to the S.W. of Thrapston, and 1 from Woodford, near a railway station. It is situated on the river Nen, and the Northampton and Peterborough railway passes through it. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £420, in the patronage of Mrs. Clay. The church is dedicated to All Saints. Addington House is the principal residence.

"GREAT BILLING, a parish in the hundred of Spelhoe, in the county of Northampton, 4 miles to the E. of Northampton, its post town. The Peterborough and Northampton branch of the London and North-Western railway passes near it, and there is a station at Billing Road. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £495, in the patronage of the Principal and Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew, and contains a monument to Henry, Earl of Thomond, to whom the manor belonged, and who died in 1691. A tablet to the memory of Caroline Elwes, who died in 1812, is adorned with a bas-relief by Flaxman. A hospital was founded here by John Freeman in the 17th century, which has an income from endowment of £33 a year. There are other small charities. This village was the birthplace of Sir J. Wake, a scholar and diplomatist of the reign of James I., the rectory being at that time held by his father. Billing Paddock is the seat of the Elwes family, to whom the manor now belongs.

"GREAT CREATON, a parish in the hundred of Guilsborough, in the county of Northampton, 8 miles N.W. of Northampton, its post town and railway station. Here are the remains of Holmby House, in which Charles I. was confined. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £270, in the patronage of the Rev. E. T. Beynon. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. The charities produce £60 per annum. The tithes were commuted in 1782. The Independents have a place of worship.

"GREAT DODDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Hamfordshoe, in the county of Northampton, 8 miles E. of Northampton, and 22 S.W. of Wellingborough, its post town. It is pleasantly situated near the river Nen, and the Peterborough branch of the London and North-Western railway passes through it. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture, and in the manufacture of boots and shoes. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £165, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Luke, is a commodious stone structure, with an ancient Gothic belfry, doorway, and square tower with five bells. The charities are worth £5 per annum. There, is a chapel for Independents, and a large building used as a Sunday school. The Marquis of Northampton is lord of the manor.

"GREAT HARROWDEN, a parish in the hundred of Orlingbury, county Northampton, 2 miles N. of Wellingborough, and 5 from Kettering. This was formerly the seat of the Vaux and Knolles families. The village, which is small, is wholly agricultural. The living is a vicarage,* value with that of Little Harrowden, £475. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a small stone and brick building, with a square tower containing a clock and three bells. There are almshouses and a free school, supposed to have been founded by the Wentworth family, earls Fitzwilliam.

"GREAT HOUGHTON, a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 2 miles S.E. of Northampton. The village, which is small and wholly agricultural, is situated near the river Nen. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £538, in the patronage of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a modern structure with a spire. The charities produce about £5 per annum.

"GREAT OAKLEY, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 4 miles N. of Kettering. It anciently formed part of Rockingham Forest. The village, which is inconsiderable, is situated on the road from Kettering to Rockingham, near a branch of the river Nen. It is a meet for the Warwick hounds. The principal residence is Oakley House, the seat of Sir W. de Capell Brooke, Bart. The living is a donative curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £50. The church is dedicated to St. Michael, and has a tower built about 1600 with materials supposed to have been brought from Pipewell Abbey, about 3 miles distant. There is a chapel for Dissenters.

"GREAT OXENDON, a parish in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 14 miles N.W. of Northampton, its post town, and 2½ S.E. of Market Harborough. There is a joint station for Clipstone and Oxendon on the Stamford and Blisworth branch of the London and North-Western railway. The village, which is small and wholly agricultural, is situated on the main road from London to Manchester. It consists almost wholly of good grazing land. The soil is clayey. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1767. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £410. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient edifice, with a tower. The living was once held by Morton, the author of the "Natural History of Northamptonshire." The interior of the church contains effigies of Lady Gorges. There is a Sunday-school, also a place of worship for the Independents.

"GREAT WELDON, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 8 miles N.W. of Oundle, and 4 E. of Rockingham. The parish includes the hamlet of Little Weldon. The village was formerly a market town, but the market-house, erected by Viscount Hatton, over which were the sessions chambers, was pulled down at the beginning of the present century. On a hill, at a little distance from a branch of the river Nene, are the remains of an ancient town. There are some freestone quarries. Weldon gives name to a deanery. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £209. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The Independents have a chapel. There are National schools. The parochial charities produce about £8 per annum. In an enclosure called Chapel-Field were found in 1738 the pavements of a Roman villa, forming a double square, measuring 100 feet by 50, with the foundations of a stone wall and numerous coins of the lower empire. A fair is held on the Thursday following the second Sunday in July. The Earl of Winchelsea is lord of the manor.

"HASELBEECH, (or Hazlebeech), a parish in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 5 miles S.E. of Welford, and 7 S. of Market Harborough. The village, which is small and wholly agricultural, is situated near Isle Brook. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £296. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure, with a square embattled tower containing four bells. It was entirely renovated in 1854. There is a Sunday-school for boys and girls.

"HELPSTONE, a parish in the Peterborough liberty, county Northampton, 4 miles S.W. of Market Deeping, its post town, and 7 N.W. of Peterborough. It is a station on the Midland line of railway. It is situated on the river Welland, and is a station on the Great Northern railway. The land is chiefly arable. The village is neatly built, and in the centre is an ancient cross. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1774. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £99. The church, dedicated to St. Botolph, has been re-roofed and thoroughly restored. It is an ancient stone structure, with a tower surmounted by an octagonal spire. The parochial charities produce about £40 per annum. There is a Sunday-school, chiefly supported by Earl Fitzwilliam and the Rev. Charles Mossop. The Wesleyans have a small place of worship. The Marquis of Exeter and Sir John Trollope, Bart., are lords of the manor. On occasion of the enclosure of the parish in 1774, 20 acres of land were allotted to the poor, which is let out in small portions for garden ground."

"HINTON-IN-THE-HEDGES, a parish in the hundred of King's Sutton, county Northampton, 2 miles W. of Brackley. The surface, which is undulating, is well wooded, chiefly with oak and beech. The land is divided between arable, pasture, and meadow. The village consists of a few farmhouses. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act obtained in 1766. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value, with Stean annexed, £343. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is an ancient structure, containing a monument, with the recumbent effigies of a knight and his lady. The parochial charities produce about £40 per annum, chiefly the endowment of Lord Crewe's almshouses. Near the village are the remains of the family mansion of the Lovells."

"LITTLE ADDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, in the county of Northampton, 1 mile to the S. of Great Addington. It formed part of the possessions of she monastery of Sulby. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £245, in the patronage of J. Boodle, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The river Nen and the Northampton canal pass through the parish. There is a small free school, and a Wesleyan chapel. The land is chiefly arable.

"LITTLE BILLING, a parish in the hundred of Spelhoe, in the county of Northampton, a little to the S. of Great Billing. It is situated on the banks of the river Nen, near the Billing Road station of the Peterborough and Northampton railway. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £349, in the patronage of Earl Brownlow. The church is dedicated to All Saints, and contains a curious old font. A farm-house in the village was formerly the seat of the Longuevilles, who held the manor.

"LITTLE BOWDEN, a parish in the hundred of Rothwell, in the county of Northampton, close to Market Harborough. The south-east branch of the Midland railway passes through it. The parish contains the hamlet of Little Oxenden. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £293, in the patronage of the Rev. T. Barlow, rector. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas. The parochial charities, consisting of the town estate, worth £72 per annum, and an endowment for a school, amount to about £76. In the vicinity is Bowden Lodge.

"LITTLE OXENDON, a hamlet in the parish of Little Bowden, hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 1 mile from Great Oxendon, and 2 miles S. by W. of Market Harborough. There was formerly a chapel-of-ease, but no traces of it now remain.

"LITTLE HARROWDEN, a parish in the hundred of Orlingbury, county Northampton, 1 mile N.W. of Great Harrowden, and 3 miles N.W. of Wellingborough. This village is much more considerable than that of Great Harrowden. The living is a vicarage annexed to Great Harrowden. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small structure of stone and brick, overgrown with ivy, and having a Norman doorway on the S. side. It has a square tower containing four bells and a modern clock. The interior has been recently renovated. The Wesleyans have a chapel and there is a free grammar school. The charities produce £83 per annum, including Aylworth's bequest for the school.

"LITTLE HOUGHTON, a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 3½ miles S.E. of Northampton. The village is considerable, but the inhabitants chiefly engaged in agriculture. The living is a vicarage,* with that of Brafield-on-the-Green annexed, value £285. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There are National schools with a small endowment.

"LITTLE OAKLEY, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 2 miles E. of Great Oakley, and 5 N. by E. of Kettering. The village, which is small and wholly-agricultural, is situated in a vale on the road from Kettering to Stamford. The land is divided between arable and pasture, with about 119 acres of woodland. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act, and the glebe comprises 106 acres. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £81. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a spacious structure, with a square embattled tower of great antiquity. There are two schools partly supported by subscription.

"LUDDINGTON-IN-THE-BROOK, a parish partly in the hundred of Polebrook, county Northampton, and partly in that of Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 5 miles S.E. of Oundle, its post town, and 8 N.E. of Thrapston. It is a small rustic place. The tithes, with certain exceptions, were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1807. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £150. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. The charities are shared with the parish of Hemington."

"MARTIN-STAMFORD-BARON, a parish in the borough of Stamford, soke of Peterborough, county Northampton, half a mile S.E. of Stamford. It is situated on the navigable river Welland, and may be considered a suburb of Stamford. A Benedictine nunnery was founded here in the reign of Henry II. by the Abbot of Peterborough. The surface is varied and well wooded. Freestone is quarried- The old Elizabethan mansion, once the seat of the great Lord Burleigh, and still known as Burleigh House, is now the residence of the Marquis of Westminster. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1795. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £225. The church, dedicated to St. Martin, is of the 15th century, and contains monuments to several of the Cecil family, including the great Lord-Treasurer Burleigh. There is a hospital for a warden and 12 poor brethren, founded by William Lord Burleigh in 1597, who endowed it with a rent-charge of £100, subsequently augmented by various gifts. The charities produce about £150 per annum, which is appropriated to the support of the schools and in assisting the poor."

"MIDDLETON-MALZOR, (or Milton), a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 3½ miles S.W. of Northampton, its post town. The parish, which is small, is situated on the canal, and near the line of the Northampton railway. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £340. The church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is a neat structure with a spired tower containing five bells. The parochial charities produce about £52 per annum. There is an infant school, also a place of worship for the Baptists. Blake, Esq., is lord of the manor.

"MILTON-MAZOR, (or Middleton Malsor), a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 3½ miles S.W. of Northampton, its post town, and half a mile from the Blisworth station of the Birmingham and London railway. The parish, which is of small extent, is situated on the Northampton and Oxford road, and on the Northampton section of the Grand Junction canal. It is wholly agricultural, except a few persons employed in the shoe trade. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1780. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £340. The church, dedicated' to the Holy Cross, has a spired tower containing five bells. The parochial charities produce about £52 per annum. There is an infant school and a chapel for the Baptists. Blake, Esq., is lord of the manor.

"BEDFORD LEVEL, an extensive tract of flat marshy ground, also called the Fens, on the eastern coast of England, comprising parts of the six counties of Lincoln, Northampton, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Norfolk, and Suffolk. It is situated to the south of the Wash, extending from the river Welland, in the south-east part of Lincolnshire, to Milton, in Cambridgeshire; and from Peterborough, on the river Nen, in Northamptonshire, to Brandon, on the little Ouse, in Suffolk. It is about 40 miles in length from N. to S., and the same in its greatest breadth. The Level is divided into three parts, the North, Middle, and South Levels. The first is the district lying between the rivers Welland and Nen; the second, that between the Nen and the old Bedford river; and the third, that which lies to the south-east of the old Bedford river. The area of the Level is estimated at about 400,000 acres. Above half of that area is comprised in the Isle of Ely. When the Romans invaded Britain, the whole of this district, it is believed, was a great marsh, and its surface was considerably lower than at present. Roman ways were formed across its site, one of which is still to be seen. Writers of the 12th century describe the Fens as being at that time a most fruitful and agreeable country, with lakes and many rivers, woods, and orchards. But in the following century it was all changed; for in the year 1236, on occasion of a fierce storm which lasted above a week, the sea broke in and spread destruction over the country. Similar calamities occurred several times in subsequent years; the natural drainage was stopped, and the whole district again became a morass. In some parts it was covered with stagnant water above ten feet deep, and boats were necessary for communication between the towns and villages. In the 15th century, the first attempts were made to drain the Fens. One of these was Bishop Morton's Cut, from Peterborough to Guyhern, 40 feet in width, and now forming part of the river Nen. After several other failures, the task was undertaken afresh in the reign of Charles I., by Francis, Duke of Bedford. A charter was granted to the company formed under the presidency of that nobleman, and in three years their proposed works were completed. It was in honour of this important undertaking for the drainage of the Fens that they have since been called the Bedford Level. Fresh works, however, soon became necessary, and in 1664 the company received a charter of incorporation, with all necessary powers and regulations for maintaining and improving them. They are styled the Corporation of Bedford Level, and consist of a governor, 6 bailiffs, 20 conservators, and a commonalty. The principal cuts formed under their management are, the Old and New Bedford Rivers, Bevil's River, Sam's Cut, Peekirk, South-eau, and other great drains, besides many smaller ones. The most important recent works are the following:-A new channel; 6½ miles long, for the outfall of the Nen, by which a larger area has been reclaimed, and the Wisbeach navigation much improved; a new communication opened between Lincolnshire and Norfolk by a bridge over that channel, and a long bank across the sands at Sutton Wash; a new drain for the waters of the North Level; a new cut, 11 miles long, for the drainage of the Middle Level; and works for the drainage of Whittlesea Mere. The cost of the Nen outfall was £200,000; that of the new drain for the North Level, £150,000. The Old and New Bedford rivers, which run parallel to each other, are 21 miles in length and 1 mile apart. The former is 70, the latter 100 feet wide. They extend from Earith in Cambridgeshire, to near Downham in Norfolk."

"CHERWELL RIVER, rises at Charwelton, in the county of Northampton, and runs in a southerly direction to the Thames below Oxford; the river Snere joins it near Deddington, and the river Ray near Islip."

"CHIPPING-WARDEN, a hundred in the S.W. portion of the county of Northampton, contains the parishes of Ashton-le-Walls, Boddington, Byfield, Chipping-Warden, Edgcott, Eydon, Greatworth, Sulgrave, and Woodford, comprising 21,370 acres."

"CLELEY, a hundred in the S.W. portion of the county of Northampton; contains the parishes of Ashton, Easton-Neston, Grafton-Regis, Alderton, Cosgrove, Furthe, Hartwell, Potterspury, Passenham, Roade, Wicker, Stoke Bruerne, and Paulerspury, comprising 26,620 acres."

"CORBY, a hundred in the northern portion of the county of Northampton, contains the parishes of Blatherwycke, Great and Little Newton, Weston, Weekley, Wilbarston, Cottingham, East Carlton, Dingley, Fineshades, Stoke-Albany, Wakerley, Gretton, Corby, Sutton-Basset, Oakley, Brigstock, Ashley, Deene, Geddington, Great Weldon, Brampton, Balwick, Harringworth, Laxton, Rockingham, Stanion, comprising 59,400 acres."

"DANES MOOR, (or Duns Moor), in the county of Northampton, 4 miles N.E. of Banbury. Here the Yorkists, under the Earl of Pembroke, were defeated in 1469; and Charles I. quartered here before the battle of Edgehill, in 1642.

"ELKINGTON, a township and parish in the hundred of Guilsborough, county Northampton, 22 miles S. of Welford, its post town, and 9 N.E. of Rugby. It is situated in the vicinity of the Grand Union canal. There is no church, it having gone to decay many years back. Sir James Hey Langham, Bart., is lord of the manor, which formerly belonged to the monastery of Daventry, and subsequently to that of Pipewell."

"FAWSLEY HUNDRED, one of the 20 hundreds or subdivisions of the county of Northampton, situated in the W. part of the county It embraces the two ancient hundreds of Gravesend and Alwardeslea, and is bounded on the N. by the hundred of Guilsborough, on the E. by the hundred of Nobottle Grove, on the S. by the hundreds of Greens Norton and Chipping Warden, and on the W. by the county of Warwick. It included the parishes of Ashby St. Legers, Badby, Barby, Braunston, Catesby, Charwelton, Daventry, Dodford, Everdon, Farthingstone, Fawsley, Helledon, Kilsby, Litchborough, Newnham, Norton, Preston-Capes, Staverton, Stowe, Nine Churches, Weedon Beck, and Welton, comprising about 49,200 acres."

"GREENS NORTON HUNDRED, one of the 20 hundreds or subdivisions of the county Northampton, situated in the south-western part of the county. It is bounded on the N. by the hundred of Fawsley, on the E. by the hundred of Towcester, on the S. by the hundred of King's Sutton, and on the W. by the hundred of Chipping Warden, and includes the parishes of Canons Ashby, Blakesley, Bradden, Greens Norton, Maidford, Morton Pinkney, Plumpton, Silverstone, Slapton, Weedon-Loys, and Whittlebury, comprising 22,080 acres."

"GUILSBOROUGH HUNDRED, one of the 20 hundreds of county Northampton, situated in the north-western part of the county. It is bounded on the N. by the county of Leicester, on the E. by the hundreds of Orlingbury and Rothwell, on the S. by the hundred of Fawsley, and on the W. by the county of Warwick. It has within its limits the parishes of Cold Ashby, Clay Coton, Cottesbrook, Great Creaton, Crick, Long Buckley, Elkington, Guilsborough, West Haddon, Lilbourne, Naseby, Stanford, Thornby, Watford, Welford, Winwick, Yelvertoft, and a portion of Ravensthorpe, comprising about 43,300 acres."

"HAMFORDSHOE, a hundred in the county Northampton. It contains the parishes of Mears-Ashby, Great Deddington, Earls-Barton, Ecton, Holcot, Sywell, Wellingbro, and Wilby, comprising 16,530 acres."

"HIGHAM-FERRERS, a hundred in county Northampton, contains the parishes of Bozeat, Chelveston, Easton Maudit, Hargrave, Higham-Ferrers, Irchester, Newton Bromshold, Raunds, Ringstead, Rushden, Stanwick, Strixton, Wollaston, and part of Farndish, with the ext parish place of Higham Park, comprising about 30,430 acres. It gives names to a deanery in the archdeaconry of Northampton, and diocese of Peterborough."

"HUXLOE, a hundred in the county of Northampton, contains the parishes of Great and Little Addington, Aldwinkle, Barnwell, Barton Seagrave, Burton Latimer, Cranford, Denford, Finedon, Grafton Underwood, Irthlingborough, Islip, Kettering, Lilford, Lowick, Sudborough, Twywell, Warkton, and Woodford, comprising 41,790 acres. This hundred is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as Hochesla."

"KINGS SUTTON, a hundred in county Northampton.

"NASSABURGH, a liberty within the borough of Peterborough, county Northampton."

"NAVISFORD, a hundred in the county of Northampton, it contains the parishes of Clapton, Pilton, Stoke Doyle, Thorpe-Achurch, Thrapston, Titchmarsh, and Waden hoe, comprising an area of 13,090 acres."

"NEN, (or Nyne), a river of county Northampton, rises at Chapel Well, near Naseby, and passing through part of Cambridgeshire, falls into the Cross Keys Wash, near Sutton St. Mary, in Lincolnshire.

"NOBOTTLE-GROVE, a hundred in the county of Northampton. It is mentioned in Domesday Survey as Nevebote and Nivebottle. It contains the parishes of Althorpe, Chapel-Brampton, Church-Brampton, Brington, Brokhall, Bugbrook, Dallington, Duston, Floore, East Haddon, Harleston, Harpole, Nether and Upper Heyford, Holdenby, Kislingbury, Upton, Whilton, and part of Ravensthorpe, comprising an area of 34,160 acres."

"ORLINGBURY, a hundred in county Northampton, contains the parishes of Brixworth, Broughton, Cransley, Hannington, Hardwick, Great and Little Harrowden, Isham, Lamport, Old, Orlingbury, Pitchley, Scaldwell, and Walgrave, comprising an area of 29,600 acres."

"PETERBOROUGH, (or Nassaburgh), a liberty in the county of Northampton, containing, besides the city of Peterborough, the parishes of Bainton, Barnack, Borough-Far, Castor, with chapelries of Sutton and Upton, Etton, Eye, Glinton, Helpstone, Marholm, Maxey, Newborough, Northborough, Paston, with the chapelry of Werrington; Peakirk, St. Martin Stamford Baron; Thornhaugh, Ufford, Wansford, Whitring, and part of St. John Baptist, comprising 51,430 acres, exclusive of the city of Peterborough.

"POLEBROOK, a hundred in the county of Northampton, contains the parishes of Barnewell St. Andrew, Benefield, Hemington, Oundle, Polebrook, Warmington, and parts of Luddington, Thurning, and Winwick, comprising an area of 19,840 acres."

"ROTHWELL, a hundred in the county of Northampton, contains the parishes of Arthingworth, Barford, Little Bowden, Braybrook, Clipston, Desborough, Draughton, East Farndon, Glendon, Harrington, Haselbeech, Kelmarsh, Loddington, Maidwell, Marston-Trussell, Great Oxenden, Rothwell, Rushton, Sibbertoft, Sulby, Thorpe-Malsor, and part of Theddingworth, comprising an area of 42,640 acres."

"SPELHOE, a hundred in the county of Northampton, contains the town of Northampton, and the parishes of Abington, Great and Little Billing, Boughton, Kingsthorpe, Moulton, Overstone, Pisford, Spratton, and Weston-Favell, comprising an area of 1.7,650 acres."

"TOVE, (or Tow), a river of county Northampton, joins the Ouse near Stoney Stratford.

"TOWCESTER, a hundred, county Northampton, contains the parishes of Abthorp, Cold Higham, Gayton, Pattishall, Tiffield, and Towcester, comprising about 27,490 acres."

"WELLAND, a river rising near Sibbertoft, on the borders of counties Leicester and Northampton, and, after a course of 70 miles, falls into the Wash at Fosdyke in Lincolnshire."

"WILLYBROOK, a feeder of the river Nene, rises near Dene, county Northampton."

"WILLYBROOK, a hundred in the N.E. division of county Northampton, contains the parishes of Apethorpe, Colley Weston, Cotterstock, Duddington, Easton, Fotheringhay, Glapthorn, Kingscliffe, Nassington, Southwick, Tansor, Wood Newton, Yarwell, and part of Sutton, comprising together 27,490."

"WYMERSLEY, a hundred in county Northampton, contains the parishes of Castle Ashby, Blisworth, Brafield, Cogenhoe, Collingtree, Courteenhall, Denton, Grendon, Hardingstone, Horton, Great and Little Houghton, Milton, Piddington, Preston Deanery, Quinton, Rothersthorpe, Whiston, Wootton, and Yardley Hastings, comprising 36,060 acres."

"MORTON-PINKNEY, a parish in the hundred of Greens-Norton, county Northampton, 10 miles N. of Brackley, and 8 W. of Towcester. Banbury is its post town. The parish, which is of large extent, is chiefly agricultural. There is a mineral spring in the neighbourhood. The manufacture of lace is carried on extensively. The soil is chiefly clay on a substratum of iron and sandstone. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment under an Enclosure Act in 1761. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £167, in the patronage of Oriel College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a stone structure with a low embattled tower containing a clock and five bells. The church was restored and the chancel rebuilt in 1845. The parochial charities produce about £22 10s. per annum. There is a National school supported by subscription. The Baptists have a place of worship. Edward Candler, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"NASSINGTON WITH YARWELL, a parish in the hundred of Willybrook, county Northampton, 2; miles S.W. of Wansford, its post town, and 5½ N. of Oundle. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the Peterborough railway and the river Nen. It is chiefly agricultural. The appropriation belongs to the Prebendary of Nassington, in the cathedral of Lincoln. The living is a vicarage* with the curacy of Yarwell annexed, in the diocese of Peterborough, value £400, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is a neat structure, dedicated to St. Mary. The parochial charities produce about £31 per annum. There is a National school. The Wesleyans and Independents have each a place of worship. The Earl of Westmoreland is lord of the manor."

"NEWBOROUGH AND BOROUGH FEN, a parish of the liberty of Peterborough, county Northampton, 5 miles from Market-Deeping, its post town, and the same distance N.E. of Peterborough. This place, formerly a tract called Borough Fen Common, was about the commencement of the present century elevated into a parish. It is bounded on the S. and S.W. by the Carr Dyke. The parish is very extensive, and the chief part of the land improved by drainage, A great portion of it is used in grazing cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. In the neighbourhood is an interesting structure called the Decoy Farm, belonging to the Williams family, so named from the former occupant's success in the capture of wild fowl. The village, which is small, lies midway between Peterborough and Crowland. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £250, in the patronage of the crown. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a white brick structure, with a small square tower containing two bells. The church was erected in 1830, upon the creation of the parish. There are a National school for both sexes, and a Sunday-school. The Earl Fitzwilliam and the Marquis of Exeter are lords of the manor."

"NEWTON-BROMSHOLD, a parish in the hundred of Higham-Ferrers, county Northampton, 3 miles S.E. of Higham-Ferrers, its post town, and 8 from Wellingborough. The parish, which is inconsiderable, is wholly agricultural. It is situated on the confines of the county of Bedford, and was anciently called Bromswold. The tithes have been commuted under an Enclosure Act for 170 acres of glebe and a money payment. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £180, in the patronage of All Souls' College, Oxford. The church is a small ancient structure dedicated to St. Peter."

"NEWTON-IN-THE-WILLOWS, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 1 mile from Geddington, and 3½ miles N. by E. of Kettering, its post town. The village is wholly agricultural, and of small extent. The parish is traversed by the roads from Stamford and Uppingham to Kettering. Limestone is quarried. This place anciently belonged to Pipewell Abbey, and formed part of the parish of Geddington. The living is a donative curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £40. The church, dedicated to St. Faith, is a very ancient edifice, with a spired tower of more recent date. The Duke of Buccleuch is lord of the manor."

"NEWTON-WOOD, a parish in the hundred of Willybrook, county Northampton, 4 miles N. of Oundle, and 5 S.W. of Wansford, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on a branch of the river Nen, and on the road from King's Cleft to Oundle. The houses are in general built of stone, which gives the place a substantial appearance. The soil is rich and fertile, on a substratum of oolite rock, which is quarried for building purposes. Part of the land is in market gardens, for the supply of the Leicester markets with vegetables. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Peterborough, value £80, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists."

"PISFORD, (or Pitsford), a parish in the hundred of Spelhoe, county Northampton, 5 miles N. of Northampton, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the brow of a hill, near Pisford Bridge. The surface is gently undulating, and the soil a strong red mould. A peculiar kind of white sand and limestone abounds. The parish is watered by numerous springs, and includes the hamlet of Moulton Grange. The road from Northampton to Harborough intersects the parish. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The tithes have been commuted for 200 acres of glebe, valued at £300 per annum. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £379. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a rich Norman doorway. It contains a font of great antiquity. The living was formerly held by the father of Bishop Skinner, who was born here. The parochial charities produce about £5 per annum. There is a National school. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. There is a tumulus near the London road, called Longman's or Lyman's Hill; also a small ancient encampment, called Borough Dykes. Captain Richard Howard Vyse is lord of the manor.

"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.

"PRESTON-CAPES, a parish in the hundred of Fawsley, county Northampton, 5½ miles S. of Daventry, its post town, and 6 from the Weedon station on the London and North-Western railway. The village, which is of small extent, is wholly agricultural. The parish includes the hamlet of Little Preston. A portion of the land is in pasture. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £426. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient, ivy-covered structure, with an embattled tower containing a clock and five bells. The church was thoroughly restored in 1853. There are schools for both sexes; the boys' school has an endowment for the education of 20 pupils, and the girls' school is supported by Lady Knightley and the Rev. N. Knightley, M.A., by whom a Sunday-school is also supported. Preston Capes had formerly a Cluniac priory, founded by Hugh de Leycester in 1090, but which was subsequently removed to Daventry. Sir Rainald Knightley, Bart., of Fawsley Park, is lord of the manor."

"QUINTIN, a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 4½ miles S.E. of Northampton, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is wholly agricultural. Land was assigned in lieu of tithes under an Enclosure Act in 1814. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £295. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has a tower containing two bells. The Rev. Sir H. J. Gunning is lord of the manor."

"RUSHTON ALL SAINTS AND ST. PETER, a parish in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 2 miles N.E. of Rothwell, and 4 miles N.W. of Kettering, its post town. It is a station on the Midland railway. The parish comprises the hamlet of Pipewell. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the Ise, a branch of the river Nen. It anciently formed two separate parishes. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £674. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The parochial charities produce about £4 per annum. W. W. Hope, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"ST. MARY-IN-ARDEN, a parish partly in the hundred of Gartree, county Leicester, and partly in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 1 mile E. of Market Harborough. It is situated on the Union canal, near the bridge on the river Welland, and may be considered a suburb of Market Harborough. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church) Oxford. In 1613 the rites of baptism, marriage, &c., were transferred from the ancient church of St. Mary-in-Arden to the church of St. Dionysius, at Market Harborough, but the burial-ground is still used.

"STAMFORD BARON ST. MARTIN, a parish in the liberty of Nassaburgh, county Northampton , half a mile S.E. of Stamford in Lincolnshire, within which borough it is included. It is a station on the Midland Counties railway. The parish is situated on the bank of the navigable river Welland, here crossed by a bridge of five arches connecting the counties of Lincoln and Northampton. It includes, besides the large village of its own name, which may be considered a suburb of Stamford, the hamlet of Walthorpe. It appears to have been a place of considerable importance in the Saxon times, having been walled round by Edward the Elder, and made a mint town by Athelstane. It subsequently became a barony to Peterborough Abbey, and in the reign of Henry II. Abbot William de Waterville founded a nunnery as a cell to Peterborough, which at one period had 40 nuns, but at the Dissolution possessed a revenue of only £72 18s. led. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £215. The church of St. Martin, which stands in the High-street, was built in the 15th century by Bishop Russel, of Lincoln, and contains monuments to the Cecil family, including the great Lord Treasurer Burleigh, whose ancient mansion, called Burleigh House, is now the seat of the Marquis of Exeter. In the churchyard is the grave of Daniel Lambert, who died in 1809, at the age of 39, when he measured 9 feet 4 inches in girth, and 3 feet 1 inch round the leg, and weighed 739 lbs. The charities produce about £510 per annum, of which £240 belong to the hospital founded in 1597 by Lord Burleigh for a warden and 12 poor brethren, and £234 to Fryer's almshouses, founded in 1722, for six poor widows. There are also two charity schools founded by Dorothy, Countess of Exeter, in 1596, one for the education of ten poor girls, and the other for a like number of boys. The poor-house for the Stamford union is situated in this parish.

"WOOTHORPE, a hamlet in the parish of Stamford Baron St. Martin, soke of Peterborough, county Northampton, 6 miles N.W. of Wansford. There was anciently a Benedictine nunnery here, dedicated to St. Mary, which, in the reign of Henry III., became a cell to the convent at Stamford-Baron."

"WOTHORPE, a township in the parish of Stamford-Baron St. Martin, county Northampton, 1 mile W. of Stamford-Baron. It is situated near the river Welland, and contains the ruins of Wothorpe Hall, built by Lord Burleigh in the reign of Elizabeth."

"STANION, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 4¾ miles S.E. of Rockingham, and 6 N.E. of Kettering. Thrapstone is its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Nen, and is wholly agricultural. The living is a curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Brigstock, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. There is a free school. The Earl of Cardigan is lord of the manor."

"STEAN, (or Stene), a parish in the hundred of King's-Sutton, county Northampton, 2½ miles N.W. of Brackley, its post town. The village is situated near the river Ouse, and is wholly agricultural. The road from Brackley to Banbury passes through the parish. The living is a rectory annexed to the vicarage of Hinton-in-the-Hedges, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and contains effigies, &c., of the Crewe family from 1619. The church was erected by T. Crewe, Esq., in 1620. Divine service commences on the first Sunday in April, and is performed but six times during the year. Earl Spencer is lord of the manor.

"STOWE-NINE-CHURCHES, a parish in the hundred of Fawsley, county Northampton, 2½ miles S.E. of Weedon, its post town, and 6 N.W. of Towcester. The village is on the river Nen, and close to the line of the ancient Watling Street, the North-Western railway, and the Grand Junction canal. The Pytchley hounds meet in this parish. It was for some time in the possession of Sir John Danvers, one of those who signed the warrant for the execution of Charles I. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £705. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, contains effigies of Lady Danvers, by Stone, and a monument of Dr. Turner, President of Corpus Christi, Oxon. The parochial charities produce about £24 per annum. There is an infant school."

"STUTCHBURY, (or Stutsbury), a parish in the hundred of King's-Sutton, county Northampton, 5 miles N.W. of Brackley, its post town. The parish is situated on the river Tove. There is no village. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £5. The church is in ruins.

"SYRESHAM-WITH-CROWFIELD, a parish in the hundred of King's-Sutton, county Northampton, 4½ miles N.E. of Brackley, its post town. The village is situated on a branch of the river Ouse, and on the road from Brackley to Towcester. There are stone quarries. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £152. The church is dedicated to St. James. The parochial charities produce about £28 per annum. There is a village school for both sexes, endowed with an annuity of £16. The Wesleyans have a chapel. Nicholas Parry, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"DAVENTRY, (or Daintree), a parish and market town, with separate jurisdiction, but locally situated in the hundred of Fawsley, in the county of Northampton, 13 miles from Northampton, and 4 from Weedon. It is supposed to derive its name from the words Dwy-avon-tre, or "town of the two rivers," from its situation between the source of the river Learn and the river Non. From the common pronunciation of the word Danetree, there is a tradition that the town was built originally by the Danes. Certain it is, that at Danes' or Borough Hill, about half a mile from the town, there are traces of perhaps the largest encampment in England. Near the north-eastern extremity of this encampment, the Roman military way called Watling Street passes, but the camp itself is of more recent date. The town was of considerable importance at the Conquest, and was given by the Conqueror to his niece, Judith, wife of Waltheof, the great Earl of Northumberland. It belonged to Robert Fitzwalter in the reign of King John, and ultimately came to the Finches. Before the battle of Naseby, in 1645, it was occupied by the king on his march to relieve Oxford. Hugh de Leycestre, in 1090, founded a priory, which was granted by Henry VIII. to Cardinal Wolsey. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of shoes, whips, and stockings. They are obliged, by a singular custom, to "bake their bread at a public oven, and grind their malt at a public mill," unless exempted by fees. The borough is exempt from contribution to the county, and from serving on its juries. King John granted the first charter to Daventry, and it is now governed under the new Act by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councilmen. The common seal bears the data 1593, with the impress of a Dane and a tree. It is a polling place for the southern division of the county, and a sessions town. The population in 1851 was 4,430 which in 1861 had decreased to 4,121. The town, which is situated in a gentle hollow surrounded by hills, has a clean appearance, and is well paved, lighted with gas, and sup plied with water from springs only equalled in purity by those of Malvern. The borough sessions are held at the townhall. The gaol is built on the site of the priory. There are two banks, a county court, and water works. The Grand Junction canal passes through a tunnel upwards of 2,000 yards long, to the N. of the town. The poor-law commissioners have recently erected a workhouse, to accommodate 300 inmates. The union of Daventry comprises 28 parishes, and extends over an area of 95 miles. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £344, in the patronage of Christ Church, Oxford. The church is dedicated to the Holy Cross, and has a tower and spire, in which is a clock with musical chimes, and a fine peal of bells. There is a recently built chapel-of-ease, dedicated to St. James, in connection with the parish church. The charities amount to £446 per annum. The Wesleyans and Independents have chapels. There is a free Latin grammar school, founded in 1660, and a National school. R. T. Clark, Esq., is lord of the manor. The manor-house at Ashby St. Ledger's was for centuries the residence of the Catesby family. Naseby is an object of historic interest in the neighbourhood. Before railways were in existence as many as eighty mail and stage coaches passed daily through Daventry, once the great thoroughfare to the north-western parts of England. John Smith, said by Walpole to be the best engraver in mezzotinto, was born here. It gives the title of baron to the Finches, earls of Winchelsea. At the foot of the hills, in the vicinity, are some ancient ruins known as the Burnt Walls, and at a short distance other ruins called John of Gaunt's Castle. A market for provisions is held weekly on Wednesday, and thirteen fairs during the year, the principal of which are those in Easter week and the beginning of October, which last two days."

[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868). ]

BRACKLEY, a parish, market town, and municipal borough, in the hundred of King's Sutton, in the county of Northampton, 20 miles to the S. of Northampton, 8 miles to the W. of Buckingham, and 63 miles from London, or 67 miles by railway. It is a station on the Buckingham and Banbury branch of the London and North-Western railway. Brackley is situated on the borders of Buckinghamshire, on the banks of the river Ouse, not far from its source, and is a town of great antiquity. It was an important place before the Norman Conquest, and was at an early period the seat of a considerable trade in wool. In the reign of Edward II. it was made a staple town for wool, and in the reign of his successor it was represented in a council held at Westminster by three merchant staplers. The privilege of a market was granted before the year 1217, and a charter of incorporation early in the 14th century. Edward VI. conferred on the town the elective franchise, and the right of returning two members to parliament. This right it exercised till the Reform Act, under which it was disfranchised. The government of the borough is vested by its ancient charter in a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 26 burgesses. The town stands on the slope of a hill rising from the river, and consists chiefly of one broad street, about a mile in length, running up from the bridge of two arches, by which the river is crossed. The houses are mostly built of stone. In the middle of the town is a handsome townhall and market-house, erected in 1706 by the first Duke of Bridgewater. The lace manufacture and the boot and shoe trade are the principal branches of local industry. Brackley is the seat of a Poor-law Union, the head of a County Court district, and a polling place for the south division of the county. The town contains the Union poorhouse. For civil purposes Brackley is considered as two parishes, those of St. Peter and St. James, but for ecclesiastical purposes these are consolidated. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, value £369, in the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. It is an ancient edifice in the early English style, with an embattled tower, and contains a curious old font. St. James's church, also old, has been taken down. The burial service is performed in a small chapel built on its site. Divine service is occasionally performed in the chapel connected with the old hospital of St. John, a small bequest having been made for that purpose about 1750 by John Welchman. The hospital was founded about 1150 by Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester, and was given by Henry VIII. to Magdalene College, Oxford. The Independents and Wesleyans have chapels in the town There is a free school, founded and endowed by William of Waynflete, about the middle of the 15th century, and almshouses for six widows, established in 1633 by Sir Thomas Crewe, which have an income from endowment of £36 per annum. But the principal charity is the feoffee's estate for the benefit of the poor, producing £127 a year. A castle formerly existed in this parish, the site of which is still called Castle Hill. At Bayard's Green, near the town, several tournaments were held in the 13th century. In the reign of King John the barons assembled here for the purpose of treating with him. Samuel Clarke, the Orientalist, one of the contributors to Walton's Polyglot Bible, was a native (1624) of this town. Brackley gives the title of viscount to the Earl of Ellesmere. The market, chiefly for corn, is held on Wednesday. Fairs are held on the Wednesday after the 25th February, the second Wednesday in April, the Wednesdays after the 22nd June and the 11th October, and on the 30th November (St. Andrew's Day)."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]

"BRIXWORTH, a parish in the hundred of Orlingbury, in the county of Northampton, 6 miles to the N. of Northampton. It is a station on the Northampton, Market Harborough, and Stamford branch of the London and North-Western railway. Brixworth was once a market town, and the manor was held by the Fitz-Simons. The parish contains iron and other stone-quarries, and some of the inhabitants are employed in the lace manufacture. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £300, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is one of the most interesting in England, with its Saxon arches formed of Roman bricks, and exhibiting every subsequent style of architecture interposed up to the time of Henry VI. Mr. Britton concluded it to have been an Anglo-Roman building, Mr. Rickman a Norman; it appears, however, as deduced by Mr. Roberts, from the edition of his book in 1835, that he then classed it amongst the Saxon buildings of the country, though not earlier than those of Barton-on-Humber and Earl's Barton. It remained for Mr. Watkins, the present incumbent, to point out the great antiquity and real character of this building, which he found, by excavations carried on with untiring energy both within and without the church, to have been built upon the foundations of a still more ancient structure, the walls and piers of which could still be clearly defined, proving it to have been originally built for a Roman basilica; or, as Mr. Watkins more explicitly defines it, "a building in which the royal and sacerdotal functions, as united in one person, were exhibited-the civil and religious authorities exercised by the same individual-the rex Anius atque sacerdos having its type in the earliest periods of most ancient nations." This hypothesis he illustrated at a meeting of the British Archaeological Association, held on the 16th of August, 1862, by reference to the foundation of a basilica in the ruins of Nineveh, as described by Mr. Layard, corresponding in its several details to that at Brixworth, and by the slabs from Nineveh in the British Museum, on which he thinks he has discovered the type of one of our Saxon arches, and beside it, on one of the blocks, a type of the Norman arch, with its chevron work. However this may be, there can be no doubt of the high antiquity of the present building, which was a venerable structure when the present south aisle was added, in the early part of the 14th century, as a chapel for Sir John de Verdun, lord of the manor, whose effigy is now enclosed in an arched recess of the south wall of that aisle. Fifty years later, the larger arch was opened, and a clerestory window above. In the north wall of this compartment a decorated and a Tudor window were afterwards inserted; the latter is now superseded by a decorated window, substituted at the time of rebuilding this wall in that part. The church contains three slabs of the 14th century; but the inscriptions are wearing out, and are now only preserved in Brydges. There were formerly some brasses, now missing. There is a chapel belonging to the Wesleyans, and an endowed school. The charitable endowments-consisting partly of the revenue of a free school founded in 1665 by Thomas Roe, and three fields-amount to £110 a year. Brixworth is the seat of a Poor-law Union. The Pytchley hounds are kept here. The principal seat is Brixworth Hall. An annual fair used to be held on the 5th June, but is now discontinued."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]

"PETERBOROUGH, a parish and a market town, city, and parliamentary borough, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of the liberty of Nassaburgh, or Peterborough, county Northampton, 40 miles N.E. of Northampton, and 81 N.W. of London by road, or 76 by the Great Northern, 102½ by the Great Eastern, and 110 by the London and North-Western lines of railway, each of which companies have important stations in the town; there are also branch lines to Blisworth and Stamford. It is an ancient and well-built city, situated on the northern bank of the river Nene, which here divides Northamptonshire from Huntingdonshire, and is crossed by a wooden bridge. In the Saxon times it was called Medeshamsted and Medeswelhamsted, from a whirlpool in the river Nene, then the Aufona, and owes its origin to the celebrated Benedictine abbey, founded in the middle of the 7th century by Peada, son of Penda, fifth king of Mercia, in atonement for having murdered his own sons, for their attachment to Christianity, prior to his own conversion. About 870 the monastery was burnt by the Danes, who had laid waste the adjoining country, and continued in a ruined state for a century, when it was restored by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, under the auspices of King Edgar and of Adulph, the king's chancellor, who appropriated all his wealth to the rebuilding of the monastery, of which after its restoration he was made abbot. About this time, the name Medeshamsted was superseded by that of Burgh, otherwise Gildenburgh, from the wealth and splendour of the new structure, and subsequently was called Peter-burgh, or Peterborough, from St. Peter, to whom the church was dedicated. In the reign of William the Conqueror, Hereward-le-Wake, the last of the Anglo-Saxon warriors, who distinguished themselves by their resistance to the Normans, hearing, whilst in exile, that the Conqueror had given away his paternal lands to a Norman, set sail from Flanders, and putting himself at the head of the insurgents of the fens, attacked and plundered the abbey, and burnt the village which was rising around it. In 1116 the monastery and village were greatly injured by fire, but were gradually restored, and the present cathedral commenced by Abbot Salisbury, and further completed by Abbot Martin in 1144. At this period the town, which had previously stood on the eastern side of the monastery, was removed to the situation it now occupies, and the monastery raised to the rank of a mitred Benedictine abbey, the abbots being summoned to Parliament in the reign of Henry III. The town appears also to have rapidly risen in importance, for we find it returning two members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I. At the Dissolution, the revenue of the abbey was estimated at £1,972 7s. OM., and the conventual church made a cathedral in 1541 by Henry VIII., who selected Peterborough as the seat of one of the new bishoprics. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the parliamentary forces, under the command of Cromwell, destined for the siege of Croyland, were stationed in the town, where they committed numerous depredations-defacing the monuments in the cathedral, and pulling down part of the cloisters, the chapterhouse, and the episcopal palace, which were sold by order of the Parliament. The Lady-chapel was shortly after taken down by the townsmen, to whom the cathedral had been granted for a parish church. In 1790 an Act of Parliament was obtained for carrying out various local improvements, which have greatly modernised the town; and in 1834 about 60 houses of an inferior class were destroyed by fire. The streets, which are regularly laid out close upon the bank of the river, are well pave lighted with gas, and well edificed, many of the houses being modern. The environs have many villa residences. The principal public buildings are the cathedral, to be described presently, the sessions house, and gaol, in the Norman style of architecture, erected in 1842, at a cost of £10,000, borrowed on security of the rates, and comprising the sessions court, magistrates' room, jury room, and house of correction for the liberty of Peterborough, with the governor's residence in the centre, upon the plan of the Model Prison at Pentonville, London; the corn exchange, erected in 1848, on the site of the old theatre in Church-street, is in the Italian style, containing a market room, lighted by a lantern roof, supported by stone Corinthian pillars, and having a gallery at one end; the dispensary and infirmary, rebuilt in 1845, is situated in New Town; the mechanics' institute in Wentworth-street has a good library and newsroom; the assembly rooms, in Cumbergate, are large and well lighted; there are besides a registry for wills and diocesan documents lately erected in the minster precincts, a savings-bank, public library over the S. porch of the parish church, four commercial banks, gas and water works. The bounds of the city comprise only 1,430 acres; but the borough, since the passing of the Reform Act, is co-extensive with the parish, comprising, besides the ancient city, the Minster Close, which is extra parochial, and the townships of Dogsthorpe, Eastfield, Longthorpe, and Newark. The population in 1851 was 8,673, and in 1861, 11,732, showing an increase of 3,059 in the decennial period. It has returned two members to parliament since the reign of Edward I., the chief influence being with Earl Fitzwilliam of Milton Abbey. Until recently the civil government was vested in the custos rotulorum of the liberty, assisted by seven magistrates and a high bailiff, who was returning officer, the last named being appointed by the dean and chapter, who are lords of the manor, but is now administered solely by the magistrates appointed by Earl Fitzwilliam, as lord of the hundred or liberty. The jurisdiction extends only over the parish of Peterborough, and constables and other officers are still chosen at the court leet, which is held annually. General sessions for the peace are held quarterly in the sessions court at the gaol, and petty sessions weekly on Saturday. The trade carried on at Peterborough is chiefly in corn, malt, coal, timber, lime, bricks, stone, and in the transmission of live stock and agricultural produce by the several lines of railway, which have greatly increased the commercial prosperity of the town. A large steam flour mill has been recently erected by Earl Fitzwilliam, and the works in connection with the several lines of railway are extensive. The Nene is navigable only for boats, but a general survey has lately been made with the hope of rendering it navigable for vessels of larger burden, and for the better drainage of the surrounding meadows, which are periodically inundated. As the seat of a bishopric Peterborough ranks as a cathedral city, but consists of only one parish, that of St. John the Baptist, and the ecclesiastical district of St. Mark, the former containing a population of 11,497, and the latter one of 3,170. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of the bishop, a dean, the two archdeacons of Northampton and Leicester, six prebendaries, and four minor canons. The diocese, as originally constituted by Henry VIII., extended over Northamptonshire and Rutland, then taken out of Lincoln diocese, but it has recently been extended by the addition of Leicestershire, and now contains the archdeaconries of Northampton and Leicester, with 17 rural deaneries, and about 504 benefices. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter, is a cruciform structure of Norman and Gothic architecture, remarkable for its massiveness and for the magnificence of its western front, 156 feet broad, which is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic now remaining. It consists of a chancel built by Abbot Martin do Vecti in 1140; a nave semicircular at the eastern end, built by Abbot Benedict towards the close of the 12th century; side aisles built about the same period, but which have subsequently been carried out square; a great transept built by Abbot William de Vaudeville in 1160-1175, who also erected a portion of the central tower, 150 feet high, which rises from four arches in the centre of the edifice and forms a lantern. At the western end of the nave are smaller transepts, over one of which is a tower supported by angular buttresses and surmounted with pinnacles, while at either extremity of the western front is a turret 156 feet high, flanked at the angles by clustered shafts and pinnacles and crowned with spires. The whole of the fitting up of the choir, which is supposed to be the oldest part of the building, is in the style of the time of Edward III., and the woodwork is of oak richly ornamented. A new choir and altar screen were erected in 1830 of carved stone, and the latter ornamented with spiral turrets. There are few monuments, shrines, or chantry chapels, most of the tombs of the bishops having been battered by the Puritans; there are, however, two monuments of interest-the tomb of Queen Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII., and the marble slab over the doorway leading from the choir into the S. aisle, which marks the spot where the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was buried, previous to the removal of her remains to Westminster Abbey. On the wall immediately behind the western entrance hangs a portrait of old Scarlet the sexton, who buried the above named queens, with an appropriate epitaph commemorating the circumstance. On the western side of the cathedral is the Norman Abbey gateway, with some remains of the cloisters and ancient monastic buildings, having in the midst of them the tower gateway, leading to the bishop's palace, and from this court another gateway, built by Abbot Kirton in 1515, and rich in ornament, leading to the deanery and the ancient cemetery of the citizens, which adjoined the cathedral, but is now closed, a new burial ground having been formed, under the Extramural Burial Act, on the western side of the city. Besides the Cathedral there is a large parish church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and situated near the centre of the city. It is a stone structure, with a square tower surmounted by pinnacles, and containing a peal of six bells and a clock, with musical chimes every third hour, changing every day in the week. The interior contains a tomb by Flaxman, and an altar-piece, the "Transfiguration," painted by Sir R. Ker Porter. The living is a vicarage value £500, in the archdeaconry of Northampton and diocese of Peterborough, in the patronage of the bishop. There are chapels for Roman Catholics, General and Particular Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists. The Cathedral Grammar, or Chapter school, founded by Henry VIII., and situated within the minster precincts, has an income from endowment of £100, for the free education of 20 boys, who have a preference as candidates for five scholarships and a fellowship in St. John's College, Cambridge. Another school, founded by Thomas Deacon in 1721, has an endowment of £50 per annum, besides 6 acres of land and certain premises. There are also National and infant schools, the former attended by upwards of 500 children. The charities amount to above £1,000 a year, of which the town estate produces £380; one of the charities is under the direction of a self-elected body, called feoffees. The almshouses are designed to accommodate 50 poor persons, and 17 have been recently rebuilt. A hospital for lepers was founded here in the reign of King Stephen, and dedicated to St. Leonard, and another hospital in 1180 by Abbot Benedict, who dedicated it to St. Thomas-a-Becket, whose life he wrote. The Poor-law Union of Peterborough comprises 39 parishes or places, of which 19 are in the county of Northampton, a like number in that of Hunts, and one in that of Lincoln. It is also the seat of superintendent registry and new County Court districts. Among the eminent natives of the town were Abbot Benedict, mentioned above; Abbot John of Peterborough, an English historian of the 14th century; Bishop Chambers, the last Abbot; Gunton, the historian of the Cathedral; Sir John Hill, a popular writer of the 18th century; and Paley, the celebrated divine and moralist. The title of Earl of Peterborough, now extinct, was bestowed on the family of Mordaunt by Charles I., and was held by Charles the great Earl of Peterborough and Monmouth, in the reigns of Anne and George I. The market days are Wednesday for live stock, and Saturday for live and dead stock and general produce. Fairs are held on the 10th July and 2nd October, the former, which is held in the town, is chiefly for timber, horses, and cattle, and the latter, which is held on the Huntingdonshire side of the river, is for horses, beasts, sheep, timber, and general purposes."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]

Aynho

Aynho has a recorded existence back to the time of Edward the Confessor, although the spelling of the name has changed over the centuries. Nearly all the buildings in the old part of the village are of local limestone, and most were originally thatched. The oldest cottages in the village, formerly known as Pintle Row, are on Blacksmith's Hill. One has a 60ft well in the front garden, and is dated c.1500.

The Cartwright Arms, an old coaching inn, was named after the family who were the squires of the village from 1616 to the 1950s. The original manor was burnt down at the end of the Civil War by the Royalist troops vacating the premises under the command of the Compton brothers. The troops had occupied the house on the retreat from the battle of Edgehill and retained it most of the time until the end of the war. Charles I stayed the night there on his way to Oxford after the battle of Edgehill. Charles II paid the family compensation after his restoration to the throne, and Park House was restored in 1680.

The church of St Michael and All Angels is built of limestone and the tower is 14th century. Severe damage was caused to the church during the Civil War and the main body was demolished in 1723, then rebuilt in the Grecian style. Outside is the old preaching cross.

From the churchyard can be seen the old icehouse in the grounds of Aynho Park, which was used to store ice in the days before refrigeration. Lumps of ice cut from the canal would keep for up to two years when packed with straw in its depths.

The village hall was built in 1920 from stones taken from the ruined plaguehouse in Pesthouse Wood. Plague victims were once isolated there, and villagers would leave them food every day at the boundary fence. There are many other interesting buildings in the village, including the Jacobean grammar school and the almshouses built in 1822 with a bequest from John Baker, an Oxford glazier.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Bozeat

Bozeat can claim to be an ancient village as remains have been found of a Saxon burial ground. The parish church of St Mary dates back to 1130 and was probably built on the site of an earlier church.

Fortunately the church survived the Great Fire of Bozeat in 1729. A villager, Widow Keech, living in a row of cottages by the churchyard, is said to have been responsible for starting the fire. Rumour has it that she left her baking unattended in the hearth to gossip with her neighbours. Within a few hours, helped by a strong wind, many houses, farm crops and buildings were burnt to the ground.

In the 15th century there was a thriving weaving industry in Bozeat and the Weavers' Guild gave rich and beautiful gifts to the church. There were also many pillow lace workshops in the village. One was in Easton Lane, kept by James Nichols, who died in 1884. These lace schools lasted until the machine lace of Nottingham ruined the village trade.

Later Bozeat was known for its boot and shoe factories. Many British soldiers marched to war in 1914 in boots made in Bozeat. In the heyday of the shoe industry Bozeat could boast four shoe factories. The village revolved around the factories as these provided work for most of its inhabitants, the women having special working hours to enable them to provide meals for their children and menfolk. Shops, too, were either closed all day or open for limited hours when the shoe factories were shut for holidays. Until fairly recently, Bozeat was an incongruous mixture of factories and farming, there being twelve farms around the village, half of them with large milking herds. Today there are three farms with milking cows and only one small closing-room remains of the shoe industry.

Although not a 'son' of Bozeat, one young airman of the Second World War is remembered each year on Remembrance Sunday with great gratitude by the village. When his plane developed engine trouble, he instructed his crew to bale out. Then Lt John Ahern, aged 22 years, of the United States Air Force, crashed his plane beyond the village, in the fields of Red Gables farm. His life was lost, but lives and property in Bozeat were saved that day.

Faces and cottage interiors, unknown to the outside world but well remembered by Bozeat's older generation, were made immortal in the paintings of Charles Spencelayh RA. For many years he lived in a house in London Road. He painted many of the older folk and was well known in the village, where he helped many an aspiring artist.

During the 1960s Bozeat's population was almost doubled. Three new housing estates brought young families to rejuvenate village life. At first there was a feeling of 'us and them' but old Bozeat's strong village spirit prevailed and soon old and new merged to form today's lively and caring community.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Clipston

It was St Swithin's Day, the 15th of July 1880, a beautiful summer morning. As they busied themselves about their daily tasks, the villagers of Clipston had no idea of the calamity that was about to befall them. Halfway through the morning, the weather began to change. The wind increased from a breeze to a gale, the sky darkened and distant thunder rolled ever nearer. Then down came the rain in torrents. Hour after hour it rained, and the mown hay which lay in the fields was swept into the dykes and drains, completely blocking them. The brook could not contain the sudden increase in the flow of the water and before long, a swiftly rising tide was rushing along the village street.

A row of mud-walled dwellings were swept away by the swelling tide. The occupants had already fled their homes and no lives were lost. From the comparative safety of brick-built cottages, neighbours watched in terror from their bedroom windows, as doors were burst open and belongings were swept away by the surging water. Late in the day there was an abatement, and eventually the flood began to recede. The devastation revealed was heart-breaking, and the drying-out and mopping-up was a long and laborious process. Small wonder that this story was handed down from parent to child over many years.

In thinking of famous 'sons' of the village, mention must be made of Thomas Jarman (1776-1861), a composer of sacred music. His hymn tune, Lyngham, sometimes known as Nativity, has literally gone round the world. After her coronation in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II toured the Commonwealth. Turning on the radio to listen to a service she attended in Tonga, what a thrill it was to hear, O for a thousand tongues to sing, sung to Lyngham, Thomas Jarman's tune, composed in the village.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Cottesbrooke

Cottesbrooke is a village of 100 souls, and with kennels of the Pytchley Hunt close by, it is in the centre of hunting country.

In the 19th century, Cottesbrooke Hall had the honour of being occupied by the Empress of Austria, who regularly rode to hounds and brought about a certain amount of publicity to it when local 'Bay' Middleton piloted her for the season. The Hall is a beautifully kept 18th century building of good proportions, with gardens that give much pleasure to the public on the occasions when they are open for charity.

In medieval times there was a flourishing company of monks who occupied a cell, situated to the north-west of the village. Kayland's Cell (hence Calender Farm) was part of the order founded by St Norbert in Laon, France, in 1150. The order lasted in England until the Dissolution of the Monasteries and they were known as the 'White Canons'. The field next to Hinson's Meadow (where there is a spring known as the 'Monk's Well) has sometimes been known as St Norbert's field.

The church, situated in the village, dates from 1220. The interior has a three-tier pulpit and has been carefully restored. Some of the pews were originally from the Brixworth workhouse chapel. There is a squire's pew in the organ loft complete with a fire grate. Some destruction to the memorials occurred when Cromwell's army was in the vicinity, indeed cannon balls now in Northampton Museum were found in local fields.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Deene

One of the last remaining estate villages, belonging to Deene Park and inhabited by estate workers and old retainers. Deene Park estate has been owned since the 16th century by the Brudenell family, who are descendants of the Earls of Cardigan.

The church of St Peter was originally built in the 12th century, but was extensively restored in 1868 by Lady Adeline Cardigan in memory of her husband, James - 7th Earl of Cardigan, who was famous for his part in the Battle of Balaclava and the Charge of th Light Brigade.

The 7th Earl was probably the most colourful owner of the estate, and the house contains a collection of Crimean memorabilia, including his uniforms and medals. It also houses the stuffed head of the charger Ronald that he rode into battle. Lady Adeline, who lived at Deene until 1915, was remembered as being rather eccentric. She wished to be remembered as a beautiful woman, so when her husband died - although she was comparatively young and outlived him by 46 years - she had her own death mask made at the same time. She kept her coffin in the house and would lie in it and ask people how she looked. Her extravagance finally led to the arrival of the bailiffs, and the sale of many of her clothes, carriages and horses. She was often seen bicycling around the village wearing Lord Cardigan's regimental trousers.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)
 

Flore

Situated on the south facing slopes of the Nene valley, at the time of the Domesday Book Flore was already a well established village, with a manor and two mills. It is thought that it originated nearer to the Nene than the present village, since the church is in the south-west corner, and the field adjoining it has mounds which indicate the existence of houses. In any case the older part of the village lies on the southern side of the main road, once a turnpike.

Once a farming village, the community is now mainly composed of commuters. The proximity of the M1, A5, and A45 make Flore a popular village for those whose work involves travelling, and village facilities are good. There is a post office, a resident doctor with his own pharmacy, a vicar, two grocer/greengrocers, a newsagent, a hairdresser, a filling station and garage, and a regular bus service.

May Day is held on the second Saturday in May, in a festival dating from 1895. The children of the village primary school elect their Queen from amongst the girls in their last year, the rest of the 'leavers' act as Maids and Knights, and the infants' class provides two crown bearers, two page boys and two presenters of the Queen's bouquet.

For the Flower Festival, in the third week in June, the church and 19th century United Reformed chapel are decorated with beautiful displays of flowers, usually depicting a theme. August sees the village Flower Show, organised by the Garden Society, and in November comes the annual Feast Supper run by the church to celebrate All Saints Day.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

 

Fotheringhay

The first written mention of Fotheringhay was in 1060, and it is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086 as 'Fodringeia'.

After many different owners, the manor came into the possession of Edward III who gave it to his son Edmund Langley, the first Duke of York, and founder of that powerful house. He it was who founded the College whose chaplains and choristers were to pray for the souls of the founders and their families. Edmund's son Edward Langley continued the work until he was killed at Agincourt in 1415. His body was brought home and buried in the choir, although it was not finished until about 1430. To this private, collegiate church was added the parish church in the same style, begun in 1434. This is the only part which remains today.

Fotheringhay is most famous for the birth of Richard III at the castle in 1452, and for the trial and beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587. At the time of Richard's birth Fotheringhay had become one of the principal seats of his parents, Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville, Duke and Duchess of York, and he spent his first six years here. Members of the Richard III Society join villagers at the annual carol service, and have given a memorial window to the church and refurbished the chapel in memory of the House of York.

Mary Stuart was brought here in September 1586 after 18 years in captivity in different safe places and prisons in other parts of England. Her trial took place in the Great Hall of the castle on 14th and 15th of October, and she was beheaded on 8th February 1587.

The castle does not seem to have been used after Mary's death. It fell into ruins and was pulled down in 1635. The stones have been used to build many cottages and walls around the village.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Geddington

One of the treasures of this village is the Cross, built in 1294 as a memorial to Edward I's beloved Queen Eleanor. He built a cross at each resting place of her funeral procession from Nottinghamshire to London. Geddington Cross is one of the three surviving and is thought to be the best, both in architectural purity and preservation. The bridge is older than the Cross by 40 years, and travellers today may cross the River Ise the same way that Queen Eleanor's cortege crossed 700 years ago.

The church of St Mary Magdalene, which received the body of the Queen overnight, was then many centuries old. At the rear of the church was a medieval royal hunting palace. Nothing of this now remains except for some fragments of stone in the church, but it is possible that the steeply buttressed cottages in Wood Street originate from the same period. The name Wood Street emphasizes the reason for a palace in Geddington, for this was the heart of Rockingham Forest, and very popular with kings and courts of the Middle Ages.

Many old traditions are kept. In the churchyard lies the tomb of Samuel Lee, a ranger in Geddington Chase who died in 1789. In his will he left 100 pounds to be distributed by the churchwardens every Christmas Day. This continues even today.
 

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Holcot

The village stands in undulating countryside six miles north of Northampton, three miles to the east of Brixworth and in an area of natural beauty. The parish lands were originally drained by a small tributary of the Pitsford Brook, which was dammed in the 1950s to form the Pitsford Reservoir. This reservoir now covers a large area of the north-east of the parish, and ornithologists and naturalists come from many miles around to view the wildlife of this nature reserve.

The Church, dedicated to St Mary and All Saints, is in the middle of this small village and over recent years has been the object of fundraising to preserve and restore its 14th century wall paintings. In the churchyard, some 5 metres south of the church, there is a limestone cross probably 15th century. A map dated 1839, amongst the parish records, shows that the cross originally stood in the middle of the crossroads at the junction of the Brixworth and Moulton roads. The early years of the 19th century saw the establishment of the Wesleyan chapel in Holcot, and the Chapel itself was built in 1814.

Farming played a major part in village life. Most of the parish has been under cultivation at some time during the medieval period. Open field mixed farming was practised in Holcot until the common fields of the parish were enclosed by Act of Parliament of 1777. At the end of the 18th century it is documented in the Church records that there was a village shepherd who looked after all the village sheep; he was also responsible for dipping these sheep and used the wash pit in Holcot for this purpose. In recent years this wash pit has been cleaned and restored and is now a village pond and is attractive to both people and coots alike !

The wash pit naturally drains onto to nearby farmland, where a farmer has restored two medieval fishponds. These fishponds are also sourced by underground streams, and are now stocked with trout, and encourage a wide range of wildlife. However, in medieval times, these fishponds would have been stocked with carp and other fish by the villagers to help provide food for the winter. Fresh water for the village came from the Town Well, which is situated in main Street, just a few metres down the road from the Church. In the Church records, it is noted that in 1776 Edward West was paid the sum of 2 shillings for the work of cleaning the Well.

Holcot seems to have always had a caring community and the indications are that this trend will continue in this delightful village.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Holdenby

Holdenby, pronounced and sometimes spelt Holmby, is a small village situated in some of Northamptonshire's most picturesque countryside, with wonderful views east and west. It consists of small cottages, farms, and a well preserved stone built schoolroom (not now used for education). These buildings surround a village green where once children would play and celebrate May Day in true traditional style.

Alongside the village green are the grounds of Holdenby House, once the site of the palace of Holdenby which was built by Elizabeth I's chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. The original palace has been replaced by a 'modern' house of great beauty and dignity in Tudor style, incorporating parts of the old building. Now only two lonely gateways of the outer courtyard of Hatton's mansion remain - they stand in isolation in a field next to the present house.

Charles I was brought here as a prisoner of Parliament from Newark, and he stayed here for four months in 1647. His recreation was to play bowls at Boughton, and when crossing the long bridge at Brampton he used to meet some of his supporters, who gave him secret messages. This was reported by the then miller who lived at nearby Brampton Mill and sadly (legend has it) the mill never prospered from that day and fell into disuse. On the night of 2nd June 1647 Cornet Joyce came to take the King in the custody of the Army to London. When Charles asked for his warrant he pointed to the men behind him and the King observed wryly that it was a warrant that needed no spelling.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Nassington

There has been a village settlement here since ancient times. An important archaeological discovery was made in 1942, during the reopening of an old gravel pit. A mechanical scraper, removing the top-soil, uncovered parts of an old Anglo-Saxon cemetery. About 50 graves were found, with quite valuable grave goods such as spear heads, shield bosses, bronze drinking cups and jewellry. Some were taken by Oundle School, but some examples are in Peterborough museum.

The cemetery was rather near the river, and liable to flooding, so the settlement must gradually have moved higher up the hill, where the first Anglo-Saxon church was built, and around which the present village still clusters.

The Prebendal Manor House, 1230, is the oldest inhabited house in Northamptonshire, and stands over much of the old Anglo-Saxon site. Excavations of parts of the garden prove this, and the excavations are still going on. From these works it has been deduced that King Canute owned a royal manor here. It would have been a large wooden building with a single aisled timbered great hall. Some of the post holes of the foundations have been uncovered, determining its size. Near this settlement an old stone quarry has been excavated, from which the first church was built.

Within living memory there were seven pubs in Nassington, but four have now been converted into private dwelling houses. The Black Horse dates from 1674, though of course it has been altered and added to over the years.

Nassington was obviously a very close-knit community at the beginning of the 20th century, before agriculture became so mechanised. Most of the people used to work on the surrounding farms, but now most people have to commute, some as far away as London. There used to be a blacksmith's forge, a tailor's and clock-makers shops, a laundry and an undertaker's. These have all gone now, but there are still two general stores, one with a post office, a good butcher's, a glassware and china shop, and a bread and cake shop.

There is still a good community spirit in the village and many and varied organisations are flourishing. Nassington still manages to maintain its rural atmosphere.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Great Oakley

This is a small village situated approximately two miles from Corby, and five miles from Kettering. Much of Great Oakley has been in the ownership of the Brooke family for over five centuries, and the present lord of the manor is Hugh de Capell Brooke, who lives with his family in Great Oakley Hall, which was extensively renovated in th 1960s.

In the grounds of the Hall is St Michael's church, which was built of stone in the 13th century. The nave roof is built of Collyweston stone slates. Both the nave and the small tower, which houses three bells, were added to the church in th 16th and 17th centuries. The church register dates from 1718. Inside the church there are several monuments to the Brooke family, and the oak choir stalls are said to have come from the Cistercian abbey at Pipewell.

In the centre of the village is the village hall. This was erected in 1921 by Sir Arthur R. de Capell Brooke for the villagers to use for social activities. Next to the hall is the old vicarage, in the grounds of which there is a large grass mound. Rumour has it that a vicar once had this made so that he could feel nearer to Heaven !

A stream flows through the village called Harper's Brook, and this stream was once the boundary of Rockingham Forest. There is a well in the village called Monk's Well. This was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and at one time the villagers used it as their water supply. It can still be seen, and is situated in the grounds of Bridge Farm in Brooke Road.

Although in recent years extensive new housing estates have been built at the top end of the village, much of Great Oakley remains unchanged. A preservation order exists on all trees and stone houses in the village, and this will help to ensure that the character of Great Oakley remains for future generations.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Stoke Bruerne

In 1902 a young pupil at the village school wrote a description of her home :

"It is a very pretty village situated in South Northamptonshire with a population of 400. The Grand Junction Canal runs straight through the village, it is specially interesting because of its locks and the tunnel, the boats have to be taken through the tunnel by means of a steam tug which goes from 5 am in the morning till 9 pm at night every two hours. The Towcester and Olney Railway runs through the parish and has a station about half a mile from the village. The line is now only open for luggage as passengers did not pay."

"The chief occupations of the people are agricultural labourers and working in the Brick-field and on the Grand Junction Canal. We have a full post and telegraph office in the village, we have one delivery of letters and two going out posts. Ther is one public house, The Boat Inn. There is one blacksmith's shop and two shoemaker's shops and five grocer's shops. We have two woods in the village, The Plain Wood and Stoke Park woods. The only drawback in Stoke Bruerne is that we are so very short of clear pure water in the summer."

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Syresham

                                               "Take your seats for Syresham for Syresham's the place,
                                                Where they never never worry nor fall into disgrace,
                                                Where all the boys are brothers and all the girls are sweet,
                                                If you tumble down in Syresham, they'll set you on your feet."

This chorus of an old Syresham song typifies the sturdy, independant, warm hearted spirit of a people once dependant on the forests of South Northamptonshire for their livelihood. Agriculture no longer employs many people, as most are self-employed or travel to nearby towns.

At one time there were as many as 17 shops in the village, but now only one general store/post office and a butcher remain. Long gone is the large country store of King's, which boasted a fleet of lorries, vans, and motorcycles, serving all the surrounding villages. King's ales and stout were well known and much sought after, and half the village was employed on these premises. The highlight of the year was the annual outing to the sea when four coaches would set out at the crack of dawn.

The Jubilee Tree marks one entrance to the village. This was planted to celebrate Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897. A plaque in the Wesleyan chapel commemorates the death of a Syresham shoemaker, John Kurde, in 1557, who was burned at the stake for his religious beliefs.
 

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

Wicken

A typical Northamptonshire village, first mentioned in the Domesday Book. Between 1218 and 1282 it was divided into two parishes, named Wyke Dyve and Wyke Hamon, the brook running through the village being the boundary line.

There were two churches, St James's in Wyke Hamon and St John's in Wyke Dyve. The present St John's replaced a cedar wood church with a thatched roof. This was in Water Slade Lane, and is shown on a map of 1616. The work on St John's church was completed in 1770. The two parishes had been re-united in 1587 and called Wicken. Every year since then, on Ascension day, this has been celebrated, and there has never been a break in this tradition.

In the early 1800s Wicken Park was bought by Sir John Mordaunt, who sold it to Lord Penryhn in 1860. It is now a private school.

As well as the manor, there are four Tudor houses in the parish of Wicken. One was built by Sir John Mordaunt at Wicken Park, one is at Cross Tree Road, and one is next to the blacksmith's shop, probably built by the family farming Sparrow Lodge Farm. The one opposite the post office was firstly a hospital, then a prison, and for 150 years was the village bakehouse.

The village has changed a great deal, with new houses built and such places as the post office, bakehouse and the old forge becoming dwelling houses, but Wicken still retains the old-world atmosphere of a country village.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

"THEDDINGWORTH, a parish chiefly in the hundred of Gartree, county Leicester, but partly in the hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 4 miles N.E. of Welford, its post town, and 5 S.W. of Harborough. It is a station on the Rugby and Stamford branch of the London and North-Western railway. The village is situated on the river Welland, near the Grand Union canal. The parish includes the hundred of Hothorpe. The living is a vicarage* in the dioc, of Peterborough, value £137. The church, dedicated to All Saints, contains monuments to the Clark and Bathurst families. The parochial charities produce about £15 per annum, £5 of which go towards apprenticing poor children. Earl Spencer is lord of the manor."

"HOTHORPE, a hamlet in the parish of Theddingworth, hundred of Rothwell, county Northampton, 4 miles S.W. of Market-Harborough."

"THINGDON, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, county Northampton. See Finedon."

"THORPE-MANDEVILLE, a parish in the hundred of King's-Sutton, county Northampton, 6 miles N.E. of Banbury, its post town, and 7 N.W. of Brackley. Petty sessions are held here. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £350. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, contains monuments to the Pargiter and Humfrey families. There is a Sunday-school. W. Peareth, Esq., is lord of the manor."

"THURNING, a parish partly in the hundred of Polebrook, county Northampton, and partly in Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 5 miles S.E. of Oundle, its post town, and 13 N.W. of Huntingdon. The village is situated on a branch of the river Ouse. The land is partly in common, interspersed with wood. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £181, in the patronage of Emanuel College, Cambridge. The church is dedicated to St. James. The parochial charities produce about £1 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes. The Earl of Sandwich is lord of the manor."

"UPPER BENEFIELD, (and Lower Benefield) a parish in the hundred of Polebrook, in the county of Northampton, 3 miles to the W. of Oundle, its Union and post town. It lies on the confines of Rockingham Forest. Near the village are a number of singular cavities in the ground, called locally the "Swallows," through which the landfloods pass entirely away. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £531, in the patronage of J. W. Russell, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. George. There is a school with a small endowment, and other charities, amounting altogether to £43 per annum. The principal residence is Benefield Lodge, the seat of J. W. Russell, Esq., to whom the manor belongs.

"UPPER BODDINGTON, (and Lower Boddington) a parish in the hundred of Chipping Warden, in the county of Northampton, 9 miles to the S. W. of Daventry. It is situated on the borders of Warwickshire. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, of the value of £757, in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. There is a free school, endowed by R. Lamprey in 1758 and some other charities, the annual value of which is about £47.

"UPTON, a parish in the hundred of Nobottle-Grove, county Northampton, 2 miles W. of Northampton, its post town, and 10 from Daventry. The village is near the North-Western railway and the river Nene. There are some traces of a castle built by Simon de St. Liz. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of St. Peter, in the diocese of Peterborough. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. Upton Hall, the seat of the Tramwells since the reign of Henry VII., contains a hall painted by Artan, and several eminent portraits. Captain L. S. Vernon is lord of the manor."

"WAKERLY, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 7½ miles S.W. of Stamford, its post town, and 6 E. from Uppingham. The village is situated near the river Welland, which divides this county from that of Rutlandshire. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £100. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The parochial charities produce about £3 per annum. The Marquis of Exeter is lord of the manor and sole landowner."

"WEEDON-BECK, (or Weedon-on-thestreet), a parish and post town in the hundred of Fawsley, county Northampton, 4 miles S.E. from Daventry, and 8 from Northampton. It is a station on the North-Western railway, which here passes through a tunnel of 418 yards. The village is situated in a valley on the Grand Junction canal and the ancient way Watling Street, and near the source of the river Nene. It is divided into Upper and Lower Weedon, of which the latter is intersected by the Holyhead road, here joined by the Northampton and Daventry road. A nunnery was founded here by Werburgh, daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, in 680, which, being burnt by the Danes in the 9th century, was refounded by William the Conqueror as a cell to Bec Abbey. The parish contains the Royal Military Depot, having accommodation for 200,000 stand of arms, besides a great quantity of military stores. The building, which is situated above the village, consists of a centre with two detached wings, and on an eminence adjoining are barracks for 500 men. Between the two ranges of building is a cut communicating with the Grand Junction canal, and affording facility of conveyance to any part of the kingdom. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and in lace-making. Near Dodford Mill is "Gallows Furlong," where criminals were anciently executed. Courts leet are held occasionally, and a court baron annually. The population in 1861 was 2,189. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £300. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, was originally built before the Conquest, but was rebuilt in 1825. The parochial charities produce about £231 per annum, of which £101 go to Billing's free school. There are National and infant schools. The Independents and Wesleyans have chapels and Sunday-schools. The Provost and Fellows of Eton College are lords of the manor.

"WEEDON LOYS, a parish in the hundred of Greens-Norton, county Northampton, 6¼ miles S.W. of Towcester, its post town, and 8 from Brackley. It contains the hamlets of Milthorpe and Weston. St. Loy's mineral spring is in this parish. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £462, in the patronage of King's College, Cambridge. The church is dedicated to SS. Peter and Mary. The parochial charities produce about £15 per annum. There is a Church of England school at Milthorpe. The Baptists have a chapel. The Warden and Fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford, are lords of the manor."

"MILTHORPE, a hamlet in the parish of Weedon Loys, hundred of Greens Norton, county Northampton, 6 miles N.W. of Towcester. There is a Church school."

"WESTON, a hamlet in the parish of Weedon Loys, hundred of Green's-Norton, county Northampton, 6½ miles S.W. of Towcester. There is a chalybeate spring, formerly much esteemed."

"WESTON-BY-WELLAND, a parish in the hundred of Corby, county Northampton, 3½ miles N.E. of Market Harborough. The village is situated near the river Welland, and contains a small cotton factory. Stone is quarried. The living is a vicarage,* with that of Sutton-Basset united, in the diocese of Peterborough, joint value £270. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There is also a church in the adjoining village of Sutton. Bassett."

"WHITTERING, a parish in the liberty of Peterborough, county Northampton, 3 miles S.E. of Stamford, and 2 N.W. of Wansford. The land is principally arable, and belongs to the Marquis of Exeter, who is lord of the manor. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £112. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is of the 12th century."

"WINWICK IN GUILSBOROUGH, a parish in the hundred of Guilsborough, county Northampton, 9 miles N.E. of Daventry. The village is situated on the Grand Union canal, which passes through the parish. The land is divided between arable and pasture. At Winwick common is a meet for the Pytchley hounds. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Peterborough, value £500, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. There are parochial and Sunday schools for both sexes. The charities produce about £20 per annum. Sir James Langham is lord of the manor."

"WOODFORD IN HUXLOE, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, county Northampton, 2½ miles S.W. of Thrapstone, and 7 from Higham Ferrers. The village is situated on the road from Thrapston to Wellingborough, on the northern bank of the river Nene. The land is chiefly arable. In the neighbourhood are three tumuli, near which have been found Roman tiles, fragments of tesselated pavement, an urn, and two coins of the lower Empire inscribed Constantinopolis. The living is a rectory in two united medieties in the diocese of Peterborough, value £500. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is supposed to have been built about the 13th or 14th century. W. Bruce Stopford, Esq., of Drayton House, is lord of the manor."

"WYKE HAMON, formerly a parish, now a hamlet in the parish of Wicken, hundred of Cleley, county Northampton. The living is consolidated with that of Wicken."

"YARDLEY HASTINGS, a parish in the hundred of Wymersley, county Northampton, 8 miles S.E. of Northampton. It has remains of the old seat of the family of Hastings, Earls of Pembroke. The rectory was once held by Edward Lye, the Saxon scholar, who died here in 1769. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value with a portion of the rectory of Denton annexed, £356. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. The Independents have a chapel and school. There is also a National school. A fair is held on Whit-Monday. The Marquis of Northampton is lord of the manor."

Search the GENUKI Gazetteer. [Click the Gazetteer link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.] 
The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.

 

The GENUKI Church Database. [Click the Churches link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.]
This covers the whole of the UK and includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.

 

• The Vision of Britain site provides: A vision of Britain between 1801 and 2001. Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions. 
  - read the guide to searching places, units and locations 
  - check the sources on which this excellent site is based
• The downloadable PARLOC program is available from Dave & Chris Bennett's site.
• The Open Domesday project enables you to locates places (and their details) from the Domesday book.

 

GENUKI Gazetteer maintenance - Ireland

Basic information

All the Irish Civil Parishes and Townlands appear in the gazetteer, but for many we do not have an actual location. So as a starting point it uses the centre of the county when we have no location. Where we have a parish location we use that as a starting location for the townland. All very approximate but it helps guide reasearchers to the appropriate area and as we add locations it gets nearer and nearer to the real value. So most of this work is to achieve that. There is also other documentation describing how it is achieved.

• The status of each county section can be seen on the statistics page which helps identiy the amount of work required for each county.
• Details of the format of the source files and basic techniques are described in the Gazetteer maintenance page.
• Work already mostly done on developing the Irish counties is a useful adjunct.

Work required

The starting point for each county is to take a look at the Parishes column on the statistics page. If you hold the mouse over the numbers it explains what they represent. We want to get to the stage where there is just single number here where we've created a web page for each parish. If there is a name other than Phil Stringer in the Maintainers column then somebody is already working on this county.

In the end we want to get to the stage where there is nothing in the Approx column, and nothing in the No links column but it is easiest to do some of the tasks in a particular order.

Exact location for parish

In the Approx column, if there is a number marked Parishes with an approximate location this is the simplest one to resolve first. It is those parishes that had a location in our original data and location should be nearly right. Click the number for the names of the parishes, and click each name to see a page with links to online maps. Select This place shown on a Google map. Zoom the map appropriately and drag the icon to where you think the centre of that place is. You then have the correct value to go the csv file and can change the Approx field (column C)from Y to N. If you find the Google map does not take you to a place and ther is none nearby on the map, then perhaps then perhaps an error was made in the past. So use the instructions in the next step for finding the centre location of the parish.

Parishes where we need a location

These can be identified in the Parishes column, and are labelled Civil parishes for we don't yet have a location. Click the number and see the list of names. Click a name to take you to links to online maps, the ones in the south are much easier to do.

• North - the Irish Times site is your friend as it shows where they all are on a map. It is not always easy to relate this to the modern Google map as it does not show place names. But you need to open a Google map in another browser tab and pan it and move the marker to then centre of the area shown on the Irish Times. You then have the centre location of the parish.
• South - follow the link to the Irish Ordnance survey site. Use the search menu on the right, and select the county and then Historic parishes. That shows you a historic map of the parish along with its boundaries. Pan the map until the red cross is in the centre of the parish. Don't pan it again on subsequent clicks as it changes the location that you've just found!. I find it best then to go to the 'Preview map series' menu on the right and select 'Wind report' it changes to a modern map which is much easier to relate to the Google map. Zoom, without, panning so that you can see place names that you can relate to a Google map that you've open in another tab. So look at that the OS map with one eye and move the marker on the Google map to the same location. You then have the centre location of the parish.

Cut and paste the location (Lat/Lon) into column B in the csv file for that parish entry. Change the Approx field (column C) from Y to N. Now for all the townlands without a location in this parish, change the Approx field (column C) to P, and add the parish centre location to column B. This makes the most significant improvement to the gazetteer.

Places with no location at all

As updated versions of the csv file are updated the entries that need attention in the statistics file thankfully drop. At this point the Places with no location at all in the Approx column should now have disappeared. If not it is worth fixing these now as there will be very few left for this county. Sometimes you may see Market Town in column K with the name of a description in column L. Search the gazetteer for this place to read the description. It may tell you this is also a parish. If so copy column L into column L for the parish where it is missing and then you can probably just delete the duplicate Market Town entry. For others a Google search can help identify it and lead to a location.

Townlands with a parish centre location

We are now getting to the more tedious work, but once done it makes it much more useful for researchers. In the Approx column there is probably a significant number entitled Places with a parish location. This gives list of all the names which can be clicked to link to maps, such as Google centred on the parish centre, the value in that entry in the csv file. However going through this alphabetically can be slow and it isn't as easy to spot mistakes.

The easiest method I've found is to look in the csv file at all the entries in a parish, the smaller parishes being easier. Use the gazetteer to search for the entry for the parish and ask it to display all the places in the parish on a Google map. There will be townland names on the Google map which should match the ones you need to find. If none match then the parish location may be wrong! There do seem to townlands in other parishes with the same name as actual parishes. In the rare event that this has happened, then fix the parish centre location as described above. Drag and drop the marker on the map to find the location of the townlands and change the location field in the csv file and also change the Approx to N.

Start with the ones where we already have an approximate location as they show up reasonably easily to start with. Then compare the unknown townland names nearby on the Google map with the csv file. Where they match, drag and drop and you have another answer. Google does at times have two identical names close by. I tend to use the one in the larger font as that seems to be the older one. If both are the same size I drag to point mid-way between.

So what about the townlands that don't seem to be on the Google map? Well we can go to the Irish OS site and search for the townland and see where it is on the map. Be careful that the one you get is the one you want as there can be multiple townlands with the same name. Again a useful check is to look at adjacent ones on the map and see if they are in that parish in the cav file. The Irish OS technique can only be used for counties in the South as it doesn't have the countties and townlands in the search menu for the north. If it is a county in the North try the map provided by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. We haven't found a way to link into a location so you will need to zoom and pan to the parish location and then search for townland names. There does seem to be better coverage than Google, and it appears to have more accurate locations.

There will be some very small townlands that the Irish OS site doesn't have in the menu. If it is an island, then browse the Irish OS 6" historic map for the parish and pan and zoom across the wet areas. It is easy to find island names there. For tiny townlands that aren't islands, try a Google search as somebody may have described the location. Otherwise you are left with panning the historic 6".

There is also a technique that will find the townlands plotted on a Google map. Go to https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@?dg=dbrw&newdg=1 and put the place and county in the search bar. It normally finds it and shows a marker on a map with a rough outline of the townland. What you want is the location of the marker. So right click next to the marker and a menu will appear. Select What's here? and the lat/lon is placed in the search bar. I tend to compare that with other places in the parish to make sure it is nearby and so the right one.

In the larger parishes I find it useful to put in a framework of townlands, upload the csv file, and wait for the nightly update. Things are then clearer on the map the next day. There is less clutter and it is easier to finds ones that still need doing. You need to zoom in for Google to make some visible.

The remaining places with approximate locations

That ones that are left with approximate locations come from the CIA World Fact Book. Some will be duplicates of existing places, some geographic features and some places smaller than townlands. So take each one in the list, and select nearby places on a Google map.

• Look at nearby places marked on the map, and if a duplicate, remove it from the csv file.
• I look at all Cross Roads and tend to remove any that match the name of a nearby townland. If it is a new name check on the Irish OS map and zoom in when it usually becomes visible. You then know the exact location and can drag/drop the Google marker. It is also useful loohing at the historic 6" to see which parish it was in, and put that name in the Parish field. The CIA didn't always get the spelling right, so make any adjustments that are needed.
• If it is a named bridge, then I keep these setting the exact location, and filling in the Parish name.
• Then any small places I treat in a similar way.

It is during this phase that the towlands with parish boundaries running through them become visible as we have two or more markers at the same spot. Zoom in to make it clearer and perhaps drag one to the side to check the names and the parishes.

We only want the user to be presented with a single place at that location. We don't multiple gazetteer entries for any of these as we are trying to specify where they are, not to document an administrative hierarchy. But we can do our best to tell the user that it is in multiple parishes. So for the first entry for the townland put the names of the parishes it lies in, in the parish field separating the names with a colon ':' character (without quotes). Then delete the entries from the other parishes. We then have a single place listing all the parishes it is in.

Gotchas

There do seem to be some parishes split across counties. If you find one, get in touch with Phil as he has devised a technique to handle it but has not yet implemented it.

 

The Post Office's Postcode Finder

 

The Post Office no longer supports their postcode finder tool. Instead they advise: for the most up-to-date address and postcode details, please use your preferred mapping service such as Google Maps or Apple Maps, or use a search engine.

 

• The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.
• A Gazetteer of British Place Names provided by the Association of British Counties. This comprehensive place-name index for Britain lists more than 50,000 places and gives the Ordnance Survey grid reference, the ancient or geographical County, and current local government information for each place name. There is comprehensive coverage of alternative spellings (including Welsh and Gaelic versions) and detailed notes specifically aimed at historians and genealogists. Appendices relate present day registration districts to local government areas and list those places which lay in a different "registration county" to their ancient County in the 19th century.
• The GB1900  Project - a crowd-sourced historical gazetteer based on the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain
• GENUKI Church Database provides an online Parish Locator covering the whole of the UK. This includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.
• UK Placename Finder from Popular Archaeology includes details of 160,000 UK places.
• The archived copy of the BBC Domesday Project Reloaded website provides a method of searching the contents of the original BBC Domesday Gazetteer disk - a huge crowd-sourced description of the UK, dating from 1986 - by using the TNA Discovery Catalogue's results filtering facility.

Some historical gazetteers:

Lewis, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of England. 4 vols. London: S. Lewis and Co., 1831

Southall, Humphrey; Aucott, Paula; Fleet, Christopher; Pert, Tom; Stoner, Michael. GB1900: engaging the public in very large scale gazetteer construction from the Ordnance Survey “County Series” 1:10,560 mapping of Great Britain. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2017), p. 7-28. [PDF]

Wilson, John M. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Six Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Fullerton, 1870

The National Gazetteer: A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands. Virtue and Co., London (1868) 3 vols. [Full text - vol 1 (A-E), vol. 2 (F-M), vol. 3 (N-Z)]

Gazetteer of the British Isles. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew and Sons, Ltd., 1966.