Cogenhoe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cogenhoe (pronounced Cook-know) is a village in the English midland county of Northamptonshire. It overlooks the valley of the River Nene and is some five miles east of the county town, Northampton. It has a football club known as Cogenhoe United F.C.

Cogenhoe is situated on high ground overlooking the Nene Valley. It has grown into a large village with many amenities. There are village groups and clubs, including football and cricket clubs plus one of the best bowls clubs in the county.

[edit] History

People have lived at Cogenhoe for at least 4,000 years, one of the early settlements lying to the east of the village. Later on the Celts lived here.

In the Roman period, a corn-drying kiln was built in the centre of the village and a villa estate developed out of an Iron Age settlement. The Saxons lived to the west of St Peters church and it was they who would have built its predecessor, probably from timber. After the Norman Conquest, the village was moved on to the steep slope where it remained until development took place along Church Street, probably in the 16th or 17th centuries. Station Road (the main road running through the village) began to evolve with the construction of houses built from bricks made in the Cogenhoe brickyard in the 19th century.

More recently (20th century), acres of orchards and open fields were replaced by housing; this is now known as Orchard Way, Glebe Road and St Peters Way.

From the mid-19th to the mid 20th centuries the village became dominated by the manufacture of boots and shoes. During the 1950s, the major employer was a local coach firm, York brothers. Cogenhoe is now largely a commuter village with most people working in Northampton or further a field due to its excellent road links with the A45 and M1.