Milton Malsor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Milton Malsor
Milton Malsor (Northamptonshire)
Milton Malsor

Milton Malsor shown within Northamptonshire
Population 713 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference SP7405954496
 - London 66 miles (106 km)
Parish Milton Malsor
District South Northamptonshire
Shire county Northamptonshire
Region East Midlands
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NORTHAMPTON
Postcode district NN7
Dialling code 01604
Police Northamptonshire
Fire Northamptonshire
Ambulance East Midlands
European Parliament East Midlands
UK Parliament Northampton South
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Coordinates: 52°10′00″N 0°55′00″W / 52.183333, -0.916667

Milton Malsor is an English village four miles south of Northampton, in the shire county of Northamptonshire (Northants). It is 2 miles (3 km) by road to the M1 London to Yorkshire motorway junction 15, 66 miles (106 km) north of London and 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Birmingham. The 2001 census showed there were 713 people living in the village, 344 male, 369 female, with average age 45.21 years. There were 302 dwellings, 280 of them with central heating and 218 being owner occupied. The next census, in 2011, is expected to show a 10% increase in people and houses. The surrounding South Northamptonshire district is rural and sparsely populated with just over 80,000 people in 2000[1].

New development within the village boundary is restricted to infill development only. A current housing development is nearing completion at Chestnut Close (14 houses). A smaller one has been proposed for Malzor Lane. Planning details can be access through the Parish Council website (see external links). Possible urban extensions to Northampton were being proposed in Autumn 2007 by the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit, a group formed by Northampton Borough Council, South Northamptonshire District Council and Daventry District Council. These proposals include extensions on land in the parish between the M1 motorway (north of the village), A43 by-pass (west), A508 trunk road (east) and the West Coast Main (railway) Line (south). A parkway station south of the village was also mentioned in the proposals but London Midland do not want any more stops on the line between London and Rugby via Northampton.

Church of the Holy Cross.

Contents

[edit] Geography and administration

Many fields around the village reflect England's history. The field known as 'the Leys' (opposite Milton House in Rectory Lane) shows clear signs of 18th century pre-enclosure and pre-British Agricultural Revolution farming in strips. The soil is predominantly sandy as one might expect since the area is the bed of an ancient river. Evidence of sand and clay extraction is all around, reflecting 19th and 20th century industrial and urban expansion. For example, the small industrial estate in Gayton Road is on an old clay quarry; the playing and football fields in Collingtree Road are on the sites of sand quarries - in the latter case mostly filled with clay spoil from the 1950s construction of the M1. The field between Towcester Road and the A43 Milton by-pass to the west of the village was also the site of a sand quarry in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1965 the driver of a mechanical digger spotted a shiny object in a newly exposed face. It turned out to be an early Bronze Age Cinerary Urn. The field between the village and the M1 on the north side of Collingtree Road is an area designated by Northamptonshire County Council for sand extraction. The site is in Milton Malsor parish but is called the 'Collingtree site' for some reason. It has so far not been developed probably due to its triangular shape and stranded location between the motorway along one edge, the railway line another and a road unsuited to heavy lorries on the third.

A stream runs northwest through the village, partly in a conduit but visible from Collingtree Road and Rectory Lane as it flows north through the field known as 'The Dip' after an old sheep dip the remains of which are still visible. In Spring 1998 this flooded, causing minor damage to some houses. The stream flows around Hunsbury Hill joining the River Nene at Upton west of Northampton. The Grand Union Canal and its Northampton arm, built in 1815 passes nearby. There is a marina just off the road to Gayton. There are 17 locks on the arm, taking the canal downhill into Northampton and to join the River Nene. It takes about two hours for a boat to travel through.

Flooding in 'The Dip' 1998.
Flooding in 'The Dip' 1998.

[edit] Political structure

The village has a Parish Council with nine members elected every four years (next election 2011). The Parish Council area extends to include the M1 in the north between junctions 15 and 15a; to the east the A508 Northampton to Milton Keynes main road; to the south part of the West Coast Main Line and to the west the A43 Northampton-Oxford trunk road. The local district council is South Northamptonshire where Milton is in Harpole and Grange ward together with the villages of Gayton, Rothersthorpe, Harpole and Kislingbury which elects two members. The Northamptonshire County Council division has one member (Conservative).

The Member of Parliament is currently Mr Brian Binley, Conservative, for the Northampton South Parliamentary Constituency. However, for the next (2008, 9 or 10) General Election there are boundary changes. The Boundary Commission originally put the village in the new parliamentary constituency of South Northamptonshire. However, as this seems to be inconvenient for election administration purposes, the Boundary Commission have now confirmed that Milton will now join fellow ward villages in South Northants Council's 'Harpole and Grange' ward in Daventry Parliimentary Constituency. Mr Tim Boswell is the current MP for Daventry but it is understood he will be standing down at the next General Election. Both Daventry and South Northamptonshire constituencies are considered 'safe' Conservative seats[2].

[edit] History

The first recorded mention of the village is in the days of William the Conquerer and the Domesday Book. This records that there were two Manors and two men held lands at Milton as part of their Baronies. These were William Peverel and Goisfrid Alselin.

Further details of the history of the village are covered by the Historical Society's site and various references quoted below and need not be repeated here. These include references for the name of the village, derived from the Malsores family. Only significant recent history will be noted here.

[edit] Present day

Milton Post Box.
Milton Post Box.

[edit] Facilities

The village has two pubs: The Greyhound in Towcester Road, which has a large restaurant, and The Compass in Green Street, a more traditional village pub also offering bar food. The Greyhound attracts large crowds in summer as it has a large garden area. Both establishments serve good quality real ale with periodic guest bitters.

Milton Parochial Primary School is located in Green Street and had 110 pupils in 2007, a large proportion of which were from the southern area of Northampton such as Hunsbury.[3] The village is in the catchment area of Campion Secondary School at Bugbrooke, about six miles away by road with the children bussed daily. It has a retirement care home for the elderly in Green Street called Holly House.

A shop and former post office and the modern village hall are both in the High Street opposite the green and War Memorial. The Northampton Hilton Hotel is approximately 1½ miles distant on Watering Lane in the neighbouring village of Collingtree, just off the A45 trunk road. There are several other hotels in the area along the A45 trunk road.

The village has two modest industrial estates; a larger one on Gayton Road adjacent to the A43, (but no direct access to that road). This is referred to locally as 'Gallifords' reflecting its ownership. A smaller one is adjacent to the M1 bridge along Collingtree Road and known as 'Maple Farm' alluding to its history. A mobile library visits the village every two weeks, the nearest local library being at Hunsbury, approximately two miles to the north. There are a few working farms in the parish including a free-range egg farm.

Children playing in the field in front of the church during snow on 29 January 2004.
Children playing in the field in front of the church during snow on 29 January 2004.

[edit] Village groups and societies

The village has an active number of social and other groups including a Women's Institute which meets monthly; a village football club, Milton FC, with its own village team which takes an active part in the Travis Perkins Northamptonshire Combination; indoor bowls, badminton groups both meet in the village hall; village historical society with regular meetings about local matters of esoteric and general interest; an art club meets at the village hall during school term time.

[edit] Notable buildings

War Memorial and Village Hall (behind) in snow on 29 January 2004.
War Memorial and Village Hall (behind) in snow on 29 January 2004.
The Old Rectory, Taken from the rear garden with permission 18 July 2007.
The Old Rectory, Taken from the rear garden with permission 18 July 2007.

Much of the village is in a conservation area (see map on the Parish Council website) with many traditional Northamptonshire stone cottages, a large number of which are thatched. There are around 30 listed buildings in the village, most, but not all, in the conservation area. Particular buildings of note, mostly listed by their street locations, are:

  • Rectory Lane: Milton House; Mortimers† (see note below). The house was originally owned by the Hospital of St John at the bottom of Bridge Street in Northampton and named after a family who lived there. For more history see the book by Rev Evans mentioned below; Milton Malsor Manor[4] James Harrington, the author of The Commonwealth of Oceana was a former occupant [5]; The Old Rectory†, now used as architects offices
  • Collingtree Road: Church of the Holy Cross (Church of England); The Grange
  • Green Street: Baptist Chapel; Milton Parochial Primary School; Welstead Farm House; The Old Bakehouse; The Compass Public House
  • Malzor Lane: Milton Manor (not to be confused with The Manor in Rectory Lane - see above)
  • High Street: Old Primitive Methodist Chapel, 1865, (now used as a private residence); War Memorial, Stockwell Farm House, ca. 1653 (private)
  • Towcester Road: The Greyhound Public House; The former Hope Brewery (now converted to offices)

† Note: Mortimers is a private house not visible from the road, but the front can be seen from the public footpath across the field known as the Leys in Rectory Lane. This also gives good views of Milton House. The Old Rectory is also private property visible at the side from Rectory Lane. The view shown is taken from the rear garden with permission. All public footpaths in the village are clearly marked by green fingerposts.

[edit] Transport

The county of Northants is at a north-south and east-west rail, motorway and fast road transport network. The Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line carries trains from Northampton to London Euston and runs through the parish just west of the village.

Typical travel times in minutes by road (peak times in italics) are: central London 75 (110), Birmingham 45 (60), Manchester 120 (175), Leicester 50 (65), Oxford 50 (60), Cambridge 85 (130), Milton Keynes 20 (30). Travel times (peak) by rail (from April 2008) by Govia London Midland - formerly Silverlink County - as well as Virgin Trains services in minutes are: from Northampton to Central London 55, to Birmingham 65; from Milton Keynes to Central London 40 and Manchester 120. Airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, and London Stansted as well as Birmingham Airport, Luton Airport and East Midlands are all within easy reach. The village has a bus service to Northampton, Towcester and Milton Keynes, though this is poor on Sundays and weekday evenings.

[edit] References

  1. ^ A Vision of Britain - extensive local statistical data. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  2. ^ UK Polling Report. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
  3. ^ Milton Malsor Parochial Primary School at Northamptonshire County Council website. Retrieved on 25 May 2008
  4. ^ The Manor in Rectory Lane. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
  5. ^ Milton Malsor Historical Society - History Trail. Retrieved on 2008-02-14.
  • 'The Story of Milton Malzor' [sic], Revd B Edward Evans, MA, Rector, ISBN 1 85598 026 6, first published 1924 as a subscribers edition by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co Ltd, 3 & 4 Paternoster Bldgs, London EC4. Facsimile reprint 1997 by MCB University Press Ltd, 60-62 Toller Lane, Bradford, West Yorks, BD8 9BY as a subscribers edition of 500 copies. The external link to the Manor in Rectory Lane has an electronic copy.
  • 'Swim Ginger' , Revd Malcolm Deacon, ISBN 0 9523188 2 2, recollections, 1940-2005, of a resident and United Reformed Church Minister.
  • 'Milton Malsor - History Revisited' , Alan Digby, an extensive pictorial history of the village in the 20th century by a resident born and bred in the village. Includes sections on World Wars I and II including some curious archives of the village Home Guard during 1939-45. Also contains a picture of the Milton Bronze Age Cinerary Urn uncovered in 1965 and referred to above.
  • Sundry papers referred to and published by the Historical Society - see reference above. Some of the publications referred to above are still (as at February 2008) available from the society.

[edit] External links

[edit] Image gallery

Recent images of the village

Close up of the Old Rectory, 19 July 2007

Stockwell Farmhouse, High Street

View of the Manor House from The Old Rectory, 2007

View of Mortimers from The Leys public footpath in 2007

Milton House from the field known as The Leys, 2007

Grange farmhouse in Collingtree Road, 2007

Baptist Chapel, Green Street, 2007

The Compass Public House (pub), Green Street, 2007

Rectory Lane in snow 2007 looking east with the Old Rectory on the left

Milton Parochial School - 19th and 21st century buildings all in use

The kissing gate stile across 'The Dip', Autumn 2006

The Greyhound Public House (pub) and restaurant, Towcester Road, from the garden, Summer 2007

Milton Malsor Manor House in Malzor Lane, 2007

Milton Manor House with restored cobbles at the main gate, 2008

Primitive Methodist Chapel, 1865, High Street, 2008

Side view of Mortimers from Rectory Lane, March 2008