Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire

Kings Cliffe

The village in the early 1950s
Kings Cliffe
 Kings Cliffe shown within Northamptonshire
Population 1,137 (2001 Census)
OS grid referenceTL0097
DistrictEast Northamptonshire
Shire countyNorthamptonshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Peterborough
Postcode district PE8
Dialling code 01780
Police Northamptonshire
Fire Northamptonshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentCorby
WebsiteKing's Cliffe Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Northamptonshire

Coordinates: 52°33′58″N 0°31′08″W / 52.566°N 0.519°W / 52.566; -0.519

Kings Cliffe (variously spelt King's Cliffe, King's Cliff, Kings Cliff, Kingscliffe) is a village and civil parish on Willow Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Corby in East Northamptonshire. The parish adjoins the county boundary with the City of Peterborough and the village is about 12 miles (19 km) west of the city centre. The village is not far from the boundary with Lincolnshire and about 6 miles (10 km) south of Stamford.

Population

The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 1,137 people.[1]

The 1871 Census recorded a parish population of 1259.[2] The 1891 Census recorded the parish population as having fallen to 1,082, occupying 262 "inhabited houses"[3]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of All Saints has a central tower that is Norman, with late 13th century upper parts and broach spire.[4] The nave has a Decorated Gothic west window and there are north and south aisles with 14th century arcades.[4] The font is also 14th century.[4] Later features are the Perpendicular Gothic clerestory, roof and remodelling of the north and south arches supporting the tower.[4] Inside the church is a monument erected in 1623 to the Thorpe family, whose descendant John Thorpe (1565–1655) was a notable Elizabethan and Jacobean architect.[5]

Economic and social history

Hall Yard Farmhouse was built in 1603.[6] Inside the house, Dr Law's Music Room has an 18th-century Georgian coved ceiling with decoration in the style of Robert Adam. Law's Chapel, also 18th century, is nearby.[6]

Parts of Kings Cliffe Manor House are early 17th century.[5]

Kings Cliffe is unusual in having three sets of almshouses. The John Thorpe Almshouses were built in 1668, the Widows' Almshouses in 1749 and the Spinsters' Almshouses in 1754.[5] The Widows' and Spinsters' almshouses were part of a set of charities founded by Rev. Dr William Law (1686–1761) and his disciple, Mrs Elizabeth Hutcheson.[5] A house dating from about 1700 was made a Schoolmaster's House in 1745, and next to it the Boys' School was built in 1748.[5] From 1752 the Schoolmaster's House became Law's Library, which housed Law's religious books and lent them to people of King's Cliffe and neighbouring towns.[5]

King's Cliffe railway station was on a branch line that ran between Seaton and Wansford. The London and North Western Railway opened it in 1879 and British Railways closed it in 1966.

RAF Kings Cliffe was opened in 1942 and returned to agricultural use in 1959. It was about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the village.

King's Cliffe church

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "King's Cliffe CP: Parish headcounts". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Index to population tables, England and Wales, 1871, Page 664". Online Historical Population Reports.
  3. ↑ "Population. Administrative counties, England and Wales. Vol. I, 1891 Page 263". Online Historical Population Reports.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 276.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 277.
  6. 1 2 Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 278.

Further reading

External links

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