Nether Heyford
| Nether Heyford | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Peter and St Paul, Nether Heyford | |
  Nether Heyford | |
| Nether Heyford shown within Northamptonshire | |
| Population | 1,637 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP659587 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NORTHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | NN7 |
| Dialling code | 01327 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Nether Heyford is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. The village is located close to the M1 motorway and the A5 and A45 roads, 6 miles (10 km) west of Northampton and 70 miles (113 km) northwest of London. The parish includes the smaller village of Upper Heyford, about half a mile to the north.
Facilities
It has one of the largest village greens in the country, two pubs (The Foresters Arms and The Olde Sun), two churches (one Anglican, one Baptist), a purpose-built youth club, park, village hall, hairdresser, butcher and a local shop. The extensive playing fields have a cricket club (Heyford CC), a football club (Heyford Athletic), tennis courts and a Bowls Club.
The Grand Union Canal passes through the village.
Governance
The village has its own parish council,[2] which consists of 11 members who are elected every four years.
Newspaper
The village newspaper called The Prattler is published monthly.[3]
Notable former residents
- Simon Thomas - Former Blue Peter presenter
- Alan Carr - Comedian and Entertainer. Played for Nether Heyford FC as a child
- Anil Kumble - Indian cricket legend lived in the village while playing for Northamptonshire CCC
- Andy Faulkner - Actor and voice artist in New Zealand. Grew up in the village
Notable buildings
The local church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul and parts are 13th century.[4] There is a monument to Sir Walter Mauntell (died 1467) and Sir Richard Morgan (died 1556).
The Bliss Charity Primary School has about 148 pupils. It was endowed with income from lands in the will of William Bliss, a wine merchant living in Southwark, who died in 1674. William had been born and brought up in Nether Heyford, later moving to London. In his will, William left £400 to the village, £100 for a schoolhouse and £300 to buy land, the rent from which would pay for the schoolmaster and upkeep of the school.
The former rectory is Gothic and ca.1870.[4]
The Manor House is early 18th century.[4]
Roman villas
The parish is the site of two Roman villas, firstly at Whitehall Farm[5] west of the village near the A5 road which closely follows the route of the Roman Road known as Watling Street which ran from London to Holyhead in North Wales. The nearest Roman towns were Lactodorum, modern name Towcester, about 8 miles (13 km) south, and Bannaventa at Whilton Lodge, near Norton about 3 miles (4.8 km) north. Excavations on the site in 2009 found eight 1,400-year-old skeletons in a burial ground. They could be German mercenaries hired by wealthy land owners to protect their property. Investigations are on-going.[6][7]
A second site east of the village in Horestone meadow was first discovered in 1699.[4] It had part of a fine floor mosaic, plaster wall fragments and various pottery. In 1821 the building was estimated to be around 100 feet long.
The area of west Northamptonshire is rich in Romano-British archaeology with another villa site and museum at Piddington. The villa site is on a hillside with panoramic view eastwards over the upper valley of the River Nene before it enters the town of Northampton. The whereabouts of the artefacts is not known.
Industrial History
By 1857 a small ironworks was established called Heyford Ironworks. It was on east of the west coast main railway on a piece of land bounded by the railway, the road to Upper Stowe (Furnace Lane) and the canal. It used ore from the Blisworth area mostly, but also for a short time local ore from a quarry on the other side of the raiway,a little to the south at Heyford Hills. The ore was possibly transported to the works by horse and cart or by an inclined tramway up to the railway where it would have been tipped into railway wagons for the very short trip to the works. The quarry was in operation from 1863 to 1868. The works closed in the early 1890s.[8]
On the other side of the railway on the north of Furnace Lane a second ironworks was opened in 1866. This was Stowe Ironworks. It closed shortly afterwards but was reconstructed in 1872 and in production from 1873 to 1876 and from 1890 to 1892. In the latter period steel was produced. The ore used came from the Gayton and Blisworth area, from Church Stowe (up until 1876) and possibly from other places. It was connected to the Church Stowe quarries by a standard gauge tramway using horses and from 1869 steam locomotives.This tramway also transported limestone from a quarry at Church Stowe which was used in the iron works and at lime kilns which were also on the site. The kilns were in operation more continuously than the ironworks and carried on until 1900.
In 1920 the site of Stowe Ironworks was purchased by a brick company and brick manufacture was carried on there until 1940. The clay used came from a claypit a short distance away and was brought by a narrow gauge tramway operated by two geared steam locomotives. The site of the works is now a small industrial estate. [9]
Transport
Bus services in Nether Heyford are provided by Stagecoach Midlands and Uno.
The West Coast Main Line passes to the south and west of the village. Until its closure in 1958, Weedon was the nearest station. The line runs through Stowe Hill tunnel under the A5, to the west.
References
- ↑ "Nether Heyford (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ↑ "Neither Heyford village website including details of the Parish Council". Retrieved 2008-11-20.
- ↑ The Prattler website
- 1 2 3 4 Pevsner, Nikolaus (1961). The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3.
- ↑ "Whitehall Farm Roman villa at Nether Heyford". Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ↑ "1,400 year old skeletons found in Northamptonshire". Retrieved 11 May 2009.
- ↑ "Archaeologists launch new dig on Roman site". Retrieved 13 May 2009.
- ↑ Tonks, Eric (1989). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands: Part III The Northampton Area. Cheltenham: Runpast. pp. 74–75. ISBN 1-870754-03-4.
- ↑ Tonks: Pages 81 to 89
External links
Media related to Nether Heyford at Wikimedia Commons