Blakesley

Blakesley


South door to the Blakesley Parish Church
Blakesley

 Blakesley shown within Northamptonshire
Population 492 [1]
(2010 estimate 529[2])
OS grid reference SP625502
    - London  70 miles (113 km) 
District South Northamptonshire
Shire county Northamptonshire
Region East Midlands
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Towcester
Postcode district NN12 8
Dialling code 01327
Police Northamptonshire
Fire Northamptonshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK Parliament Daventry
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Blakesley is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. It is about = 5 miles (8 km) west of Towcester. It is about 1,400 feet (430 m) above sea level according to Ordnance Survey. North-west of Blakesley, and now contiguous with it, is the hamlet of 'Quinbury End'.

Contents

Demographics

According to the 2001 census it had a population of 492,[1] (2010 estimate 529[2]) 240 male, 252 female in 196 households.

Facilities

Blakesley Church of England Primary School in the village is in the catchment area of Sponne School in Towcester.

History

The name is believed to have come from an Old English place-name meaning "Blaecwulf's wood or clearing" (or "black wolf's wood/clearing").[3] Over time the name contracted to the present form. The name of the brook running through the village, the Black Ouse, was derived from the name of the village, and not the other way round as sometimes claimed.

Buildings

Blakesley Hall

The village was the location of Blakesley Hall, a 13th century Manor House. It was owned by Charles William Bartholomew, but demolished in 1957-58.

Parish Church

The parish church, built in the style of the Early English Period, dates from the late 13th century, the first parish priest having been recorded as a certain William of Melchbourne, who took office in 1275. The church is dedicated to St Mary. Since 2006 it has formed part of the Lambfold benefice[4] along with the parishes of Adstone, Maidford, Litchborough and Farthingstone. There are memorials to Matthew Swetenham (D.1416), Bowbearer to Henry IV, and also William Wattes (d.1614).[5]

Other buildings

The church building itself forms the centre of a number of obviously ecclesiastical buildings probably related to a religious community. South-east of the church is a house dated 1689. Glebe farm, west of the church has a Perpendicular doorway and part of a Perpendicular window. The Sycamores, south of the church is dated 1670. Kendall House is 18th century and a former Inn. Seawell farm is part of the Grafton Estate of 1840.[5]

Blakesley railway station

The station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) served the village of from 1873 to 1962. It was linked to nearby Blakesley Hall by a miniature railway which ran from a terminal adjacent to the station. Nothing remains of the building.

Barrow

There is a Barrow at Woodend about 250 yards east of Green's Park Farm.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b National Ststistics, published 28 April 2004, accessed 2 April 2010
  2. ^ a b SNC (2010). South Northamptonshire Council Year Book 2010-2011. Towcester NN12 7FA. pp. 39. 
  3. ^ University of Nottingham - guide to English place names
  4. ^ The Lambfold benefice
  5. ^ a b c Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1961). The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 106–7. ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3. 

External links