www.southnorthants.gov.uk Explore Heritage in South

1 Contents Welcome to the rich Welcome 2 Ancient News heritage of South Ancient News 3 The character of South Northants is bound up under the Romans and in the 9th century, was Historic Routes 4 Northamptonshire in its ancient past. Notably its geology, which established as the boundary between Alfred’s relates almost entirely to the Jurassic period, Anglo-Saxon and the Danish-ruled Working Classes 6 This rural and sparsely populated landscape has around 150 million years ago. This is apparent areas in the north east under . You remained largely unchanged for centuries. Miles Architecturally Appealing 7 in the locally quarried ironstone and pale can see a wide range of Roman artefacts at of rolling green countryside, woodland and quiet sandstone (akin to Cotswold stone), which has former Wesleyan Chapel, Piddington Roman Divine Dwellings 12 country lanes are interspersed with peaceful been used to build our towns and villages. Villa Museum, which houses pieces discovered during a 25 year excavation of a Roman villa. Royal Connections 14 villages and the two unspoilt market towns of and . The Iron Age is evident at a number of sites. Military Might 16 Rainsborough Camp hill fort near Charlton The area has a rich history that spans the clearly shows a rampart and ditch thought Market Towns 18 millennia. Its social, cultural and industrial to have been built in the 5th century BC and heritage is reflected in the many things there are to The Berry in is an example of a rare defensive ringwork. see and do here - 1,800 listed buildings, many built from the distinctive local limestone and ironstone; The Romans had a big impact on the region, over 50 conservation villages; dozens of ancient building (the A5), which churches; the Grand Union and canals; and passes through Towcester, or Lactodorum, the popular visitor attractions of Ashby the oldest town in Northamptonshire. Some Gardens, the Iron Trunk Aqueduct at Cosgrove, believe that Boudicca fought her last battle circuit, Canal Museum, against the Romans around AD60 at Cuttle Mill, just south of Towcester on Watling Sulgrave Manor and . Street, marking the end of British resistance to Roman rule. It remained an important route

2 3 Historic Routes

Bringing together people, agricultural aqueduct, horse tunnel and ornamental bridge and Sulgrave. The station is now a car tyre and part of the old produce and industrial materials, many at Cosgrove; Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum; shop. A well-known feature of the town was Jurassic Way, which routes, ancient and modern, pass through and Tunnel. Further details are the 19 metre high, 233 metre long Brackley ran from the Humber to the Avon. , which sits at the available in the guide, ‘Canals in South Viaduct. It was demolished in 1978. It enters the district at Thorpe Mandeville, heart of . Over the centuries, the Northamptonshire’. coming out onto the Culworth/Weston Road, horse, chariot, stagecoach, canals, railways Drovers’ Routes emerging at Lodge and crossing the and roads have all had an impact on the local Railways These originated in the 13th century as A5 at Fosters Booth. Passing through Weedon landscape and way of life. The first mainline railway through green lanes between settlements that were Lois, Oxford Lane brought meat from Leicester to the University. Linking and the north west, Watling Northamptonshire was the London to used by merchants, travellers and pilgrims. Birmingham line (now the West Coast They developed as routes for driving cattle Street has been an important trading route Drovers lanes are identifiable by their wide since Roman times. Dissecting the A5 is the Mainline), which opened in 1838. Blisworth and sheep following the introduction of root was the connection for . It vegetables such as turnips and swedes, which verges, which accommodated the cattle and A43, originally a trading route between the inns that sprang up along the way, such as the busy towns of Oxford and Northampton and became a hugely popular stopping off point, meant that cattle could be overwintered. with a hotel and pleasure gardens built Previously, only the breeding stock was kept Three Conies at Thorpe Mandeville and the beyond. Sections of the long distance walking three storey farmhouse (formerly the Magpie routes, the Midshires Way, Knightley Way, specifically for passengers. and the rest slaughtered and the meat salted down for winter. Now, in the spring, livestock Inn), at the junction of the Culworth Road , Macmillan Way and Jurassic Way The Great Western Railway line from Oxford and the turn to Sulgrave on Lane. also pass through the area. could be driven from Wales to markets in to Banbury opened in 1850, later becoming London to feed the growing population. Opposite is evidence of a former ‘stance’, part of the Great Western’s mainline to a rectangular field that would have been Canals Birmingham. Today it serves the Chiltern line, South Northamptonshire is riddled with used to hold the cattle. Bordering Welsh Around 17 miles of the London to Birmingham with a station at King’s Sutton. Near Aynho old drover routes. The South Wales route Lane near Greatworth is a large meadow flows through the district, Wharf, you can see the original station (1850), from the Lampeter area passed through called the Gallows Field where cattle thieves from Cosgrove to , as does a built to Brunel’s design for small stations. It Chipping Norton, Adderbury and Aynho, on to would have been hung. The routes declined short stretch of the near Aynho. closed in 1964 and is no longer accessible to Croughton, where the cattle would have been with the arrival of the railway and changing Although today they provide a tranquil haven the public. watered, then to a large inn at Barley Mow on agricultural methods in the 19th century. for boaters and walkers, in the past, canals the A43, beyond to and the Essex played a hugely Brackley and Towcester markets. The North Wales route from Anglesey important role were once both served by came via Birmingham, arriving on Welsh Lane, in the area’s the railway but both lines between Middleton Cheney and Culworth, industrial were lost to Beeching going on to , , Biddlesden development. in the 1960s. Brackley and Buckingham. Sitting at the crossroads of Some things Central station serviced Banbury Lane and Welsh Lane, Culworth once of note along the Great Central Main had a thriving market and fair. the canals are Line, which continued the iron trunk north through Helmdon Banbury Lane was one of the earliest routes

4 5 Working Classes Architecturally Appealing

Although a largely agricultural area, over the making, clock-making, baking and hosiery The area has a rich architectural history centuries, people have been employed in a at Middleton Cheney. Another important that spans all the main architectural styles - variety of industries. Heavy industry included source of employment was ‘outworking’ Elizabethan, Jacobean, Baroque, Palladian, ironstone and limestone quarries, ironworks, for the booming shoe and boot industries Georgian and Victorian. Its stately homes furnaces and brickworks. By creating a means of Northampton. At Harpole, a number of and buildings are connected with the famous of transport for materials, the arrival of the houses were extended to accommodate architects of their day, including , canal and railway had a direct impact on local stitching shops and football boots were still , William Kent, Sir John communities, generating jobs and wealth. being made there in the 1940s. Soane, Sir George Gilbert Scott and landscape Related industries sprang up in nearby villages gardeners, Humphry Repton and Capability such as Nether Heyford, whose industrial Reading Rooms Brown. The area is also rich in vernacular past is evident in the name of one of its These were often funded by local architecture, notably the many cottages and streets – Furnace Lane. Meanwhile, the area’s philanthropists during the 19th and early buildings made from local ironstone and agricultural past was once visible in its many 20th century for use by local working men. sandstone, good examples of which can be windmills. Today most are lost or converted to With the cost of newspapers relatively high, seen at , Blisworth and Culworth. dwellings but you can catch glimpses of them it was a place to read newspapers and at Blakesley, Silverstone and . periodicals for free, or for a small Aynhoe Park, Aynho subscription. The development of libraries The Grade I listed 17th century Palladian Lace-making was an important industry and the education system led to their mansion was built in 1615 by the Cartwright during the 19th century, particularly at decline in the 20th century. Many have family, who remained there for 300 years, , and , disappeared, or been turned into homes but giving their name to the Cartwright Hotel where skilled lace-makers sold lace to royalty in some villages they continue to be used as and Restaurant opposite. It is associated and gentry. Long Row in Pury End was a row of community facilities, including Blakesley, with architect, Sir John Soane, while the 13 lace workers’ cottages and in Potterspury, , Croughton and Helmdon. Sulgrave park was laid out in the 18th century by the Duke of Grafton built ‘Factory Row’ as lace Reading Room has been converted into a . Adjacent is the church of cottages. Later they became a match factory. successful not-for-profit community shop. Saint Michael, largely rebuilt in the early 18th Among other places, lace is also known to have century in the style. It still been made in Brackley, Croughton, Eydon and contains its Georgian box pews and pulpit. Greens Norton. Other occupations included ladder making at The house was built by Henry Compton in Nether Heyford; weaving, plush making and 1574 to celebrate the coronation of Queen the Bagley Bell Foundry at Chacombe (Bell Elizabeth I, who was to visit in 1600. A front Cottage is thought to occupy the original façade was added by Inigo Jones in 1624. site); pottery at Potterspury (dating back On the suggestion of William III, who visited to the 12th century); and tanning, glove- in 1695, four great avenues were planted, 6 7 mainly of Elm. Two were removed and a third Hunt House, Paulerspury broken up with clumps of trees by Capability Completed in 1702, this Grade I listed The Grade II listed Hunt House on the High Brown in the 1760s. Henry Compton’s son building is acknowledged as one of England’s Street was built around 1840. Formerly a was created the Earl of Northampton. The finest country houses. Believed to have been farmhouse and headquarters of the Grafton castle recently passed to Earl Compton, the designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, it is an Hunt, today it is home to the Rolls-Royce son of the 7th Marquess. Although the house excellent example of the English Baroque style. Enthusiasts’ Club. Although not open to the is not open to the public, you can visit Castle It was built for Sir William Fermor, who was public, you can sometimes see a collection of Ashby Gardens year round, a feature of which related by marriage to Hawksmoor’s friend and vintage Rolls-Royces in the . is the unique Orangery in the Italian Gardens, boss, Sir Christopher Wren. It remained in the designed by architect, Matthew Digby Wyatt in Fermor-Hesketh family for nearly 500 years Wakefield Lodge, Potterspury the 19th century. until it was sold by Lord Hesketh, in 2004. Wakefield Lodge stands in Whittlewood Today it is owned by fashion designer, Leon , previously a royal park with a hunting Courteenhall Max, who hired architect, Ptolemy Dean, to lodge since the time of Henry II. The former Little known architect Samuel Saxon was oversee a restoration programme. The house house is supposed to have been built by revealing historic features such as the lake, commissioned to build Courteenhall by Sir is not open to the public. However, the 13th Mr Cleypole, ranger of fishponds and a 17th century vegetable William Wake in 1791. The Grade II listed park century church of St Mary at Easton Neston is and son in law to Oliver Cromwell. In 1712 garden. The house is not open to the public was designed by Humphry Repton. Still lived open for evening service on the first Saturday Queen Anne granted the Duke of Grafton, but you can see the gardens and on in by the same family, the Grade II* listed of the month. Lord Warden of the forest, with charge of the selected open days, or on private tours. neo-classical house has altered little over Deer. In 1748, Charles Second Duke of Grafton the years. Of note on the estate is the 17th Edgcote Hall built Wakefield Lodge to a design by the , century School House, the mid 18th century The house, which can be seen if you walk architect William Kent. The landscape around Palladian style stables and the church of Stoke Bruerne along the Edgcote Battlefield trail, featured it was created by Capability Brown and the Built by Robert Crane in the late 1620s, St Peter and St Paul. Although not open to as Netherfield House in the BBC’s 1995 present house remains much the same now. Stoke Park was the first English house to the public, occasionally the estate is open production of Pride and Prejudice, starring The Grafton family retained the house until be designed in the classical Palladian style. for events. Colin Firth. The Grade I listed 1920 when the house and estate were sold. The Pavilions, part of a linking was built between 1747 and 1752 for London and a terraced 17th century garden, are all merchant, Richard Chauncey, by architect, Steane Park that remain of the original house, which William Jones. Adjacent is the 13th century The original house was built by Sir Reginald was destroyed by fire. Forming two wings, Church of St James, which features four Bray, who was associated with the building the Pavilions are generally attributed to monuments to the Chauncey family by Flemish of Henry VII’s chapel at Westminster Abbey. Inigo Jones and are of great architectural sculptor, Rysbrack. The house is not open to His daughter, Temperance, married Sir importance. The west Pavilion was a library the public. Thomas Crewe, speaker of the House of and the east Pavilion, the chapel. Located Commons, who rebuilt the chapel of St Peter near Stoke Bruerne, they are set in 100 in 1620 in memory of his wife. The house acres of parkland and are open to the public passed through the line to Henry Duke of in August. Kent and then to the Spencer family, who sold it in 1890. Privately purchased in 1990, the forgotten gardenshave been restored,

8 9 Eydon House is a Grade I listed Palladian Sulgrave Manor house built in the 1790s for the Reverend One of the jewels in South Northamptonshire’s Francis Annesley by architect, James Lewis. Sir Gilbert Scott Famous for many notable public buildings, crown is Sulgrave Manor. Ancestral home of the first From 1927 it was owned by Nancy Lancaster, monuments and churches of the Victorian President of the United States, George Washington, sister of Nancy Astor, the first woman member age, including the Albert Memorial in who was a descendant of Lawrence Washington, of parliament. The Grade II* listed Menagerie Hyde Park, Martyrs’ Memorial on St Giles, at Horton is all that remains of Horton House, a wool merchant who built the house in 1539. Today Oxford and the Midland Grand Hotel at which was demolished in 1936. It was built the manor and grounds are open to the public. St Pancras Station in London, Scott also as a centrepiece for the private zoo of the Among other things, Sulgrave has the largest UK left his mark on South Northamptonshire. second Earl of Halifax in the mid 18th century, Designed in 1834, Towcester Workhouse collection of George Washington memorabilia and a designed reputedly by the astronomer, accommodated 200 people. Today the separate exhibition on his life and career in the US. Thomas Wright. It was converted into a private building is divided into private apartments. A brass monument to Lawrence Washington country house by architectural historian, village is associated with and his wife Amie and a 17th century pew used Gervase Jackson-Stops in the 20th century. some of the architect’s earliest works, The Grade II* listed, 17th century Weston Hall by the Washington family, can be seen at the including the red brick rectory built for his was remodelled in the Tudor style in the 19th village’s medieval church of St James. father. His grandson, the architect Sir Giles century. It was home to literary figures Gilbert Scott (responsible for Battersea Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell and her brother, Power Station), created the design for the Sacheverell, who are buried in the churchyard famous red ‘K6’ telephone box in 1935 to opposite the church of St Peter and St Mary in commemorate King George . Henry Moore designed Edith’s V’s Silver Jubilee. An example tomb. None of these houses are open to the is situated on Wappenham public. village green. Hulcote Model Village This tiny hamlet on the edge of Towcester was built in the early 1800s for the 3rd Earl of Pomfret as the estate village for Easton Neston. Its striking red brick cottages are situated on two sides of a large green. They have an unusual brick pattern work and pointed gothic windows. Dated 1816, the former red brick school is now a parish room.

10 11 Laurence de Paveley and his wife. In Preston corner of the church. Notice the ornate stone Deanery, the 1000 year old, Grade II* listed that is shaped liked a man. Divine Dwellings church of St Peter and St Paul is managed by the Churches Conservation Trust. Evidence St Lawrence, Towcester Known as the county of Squires and Jones (friend of the then rector, William of Viking influence includes a carved snake Built from ironstone quarried from Spires, Northamptonshire is blessed Buckley). The interior was restored in 1865 by with protruding tongue and fan tailed birds on Forest, the church dates from Sir George Gilbert Scott. the chancel arch. Following the Reformation, around 1200. The eastern part of the chancel with hundreds of ancient churches. it fell into ruin and was largely demolished, is in the Decorated style, while building on being used as a dog kennel and pigeon house! the tower and aisles started in the reign of The 12th century St John the Baptist at At Paulerspury it is rumoured that Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh stayed with The tiny 13th century church of St Botolph Edward IV and was completed under Richard Blisworth has a tomb of Roger Wake (friend local lords of the manor, the Throckmortons. in Slapton, is known for its magnificent III. One of its many treasures is an impressive and supporter of Richard III) in full armour, medieval wall paintings. On the south porch monument to Archdeacon William Sponne, with his wife, Elizabeth Catesby. The 12th Raleigh married Sir Arthur Throckmorton’s sister Bess, so perhaps the rumour is true! are two scratch, or mass dials that were used the town’s first benefactor and rector from century All Saints at Croughton has an Effigies of Sir Arthur and his wife can be to mark the times of services. St Peter’s and 1422 to 1448. important series of 14th century wall paintings St Mary’s at Weedon Lois dates from circa and 15th century pews. Nearby is All Saints seen in the 13th century St James, as can two rare, 14th century wooden figures of Sir 1100. Originally, the Grade II* listed building CE Primary School. Founded in 1843, it is the was the church for the priory linked to the Did you know? only thatched school in the county still in use Benedictine abbey of St Lucien in Normandy. today. A redundant Grade II* listed building According to legend, St Rumbold was a child Fish ponds said to be from an 11th century prodigy born near King’s Sutton in 662. He under the care of the Churches Conservation priory can be seen in Church Close. Built in Trust, St Bartholomew’s is situated in the only lived for three days but supposedly spoke 1791, the Baptist Chapel at Weston is one of at length about Christianity, foretelling his deserted village of . Dating from the the oldest Baptist Chapels in the country and 12th century, it was largely rebuilt in the early own death and his wish for his body to lie in a classic example of a Baptist meeting house. Brackley before being buried in Buckingham. 17th century. The church, a medieval dovecot The Grade II listed building has an adjoining and a farm is all that remains of the original 19th century school room. The discovery of medicinal springs at Astrop village. near King’s Sutton in the 17th and 18th St Peter’s, Brackley centuries, led to the rise of the area’s fortunes. At St Mary Magdalene Church in Helmdon, The oldest part of the church is Norman (south Public balls, cards and other events attracted a stained glass window of a stone mason is doorway and eastern arches), although most people from far and wide until its decline evidence of the village’s once famous quarries. of it was built in the 13th century. There are in the early 19th century. There is no public In King’s Sutton, St Peter and St Paul has one traces of a ‘scratch’ sundial in the wall to the access to the well, which is now in poor of the area’s most prominent spires, rising 198 condition. west of the south door and the faces of a man feet over the Cherwell Valley. The rood screen and a dog can be seen in the carved leaves is by Sir George Gilbert Scott and the Saxon In the 17th century, Bugbrooke was a above the doorway of the west tower. Legend centre of Quakerism. In 1967 the Jesus font is said to be associated with St Rumbold. has it that it represents a priest who was All Saints at Middleton Cheney also has a Fellowship was founded here by Noel Stanton, buried alive for quarrelling with Lord Neville pastor of the Baptist Chapel at Bugbrooke. distinctive spire but is better known for its but not before his faithful dog jumped into the beautiful stained glass windows designed by In 1976 the organisation took over Heyford grave before it was filled in. You can find the Hill Fruit Farm and then nearby Novelty Farm. pre-Raphaelites, William Morris and Burne grave in the old churchyard by the north west 12 13 © National Portrait Gallery, London Gallery, © National Portrait London Gallery, © National Portrait London Gallery, © National Portrait London Gallery, © National Portrait London Gallery, © National Portrait

Left to right: Edward IV, Henry VIII, Ann Boleyn, Charles I, Elizabeth I, Prince Rupert Count Palatinate, Anne Princess of Royal Connections Denmark, James I of England and VI of Scotland, Henry III, William Shakespeare. Below right: .

Aynho Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker) had connections to the village through his between , Silverstone and Syresham. For one night only, following the battle of under Robin of Redesdale and those of King patron the Earl of . All that’s left Scatterings of woodland also exist around the nearby Edgehill in 1642, Aynho became Edward IV, under the Earl of Pembroke, who of the manor is a Grade II* listed limestone villages of Whittlebury and Potterspury. the capital of royalist England, confirmed was marching to join the King at Nottingham. building next to the church of St Mary the when a proclamation was issued by King Pembroke’s army was beaten. He was captured Virgin. Originally 16th century, it is thought to Charles I, ‘From our Court at Aynho’. The and executed the following day. Soon after, have been a gatehouse range to the manor. following year, the Earl of Essex established the King was taken prisoner, leaving Warwick the headquarters of his parliamentary forces in control of the country but not for long; he King’s Sutton was defeated and killed two years later. You in the village. After the battle of Cropredy Rumour has it that Lady Jane Grey, great- can join The Battlefields Trust on an annual Bridge in 1644, royalist forces were garrisoned granddaughter of Henry VII, known as The walk of the battlefield on the Sunday closest there again, fleeing and setting fire to Aynho Nine Days Queen, lived for a number of years to the anniversary. You can also follow the at Grey Court in King’s Sutton. house in 1645 after the King surrendered at Battlefield Walk, starting in Chipping Warden Newark. and ending at Upper Wardington. In certain Middleton Cheney years, the battle is commemorated with a In May 1643, a large group of Parliamentary Alderton lively re-enactment. The village’s royal connections date back to soldiers were reported to be at Culworth, preparing to attack nearby Banbury. The the Norman Conquest, after which a ringwork governor of Banbury garrison, the Third Earl castle became a stronghold of Robert Count The village’s royal connections couldn’t be of Northampton, drew his forces towards of Mortain, the half brother of William the more illustrious. The name says it all, ‘Regis’ Bodicote meeting about 1200 soldiers. Conqueror. In 1605, Queen being a royal designation. Originally called Eventually the troops met in the ‘Town Field’ stayed at Alderton Manor (later demolished), Grafton Woodville, its royal heritage was at Middleton Cheney (near Moors Drive) and followed by King James I in 1608. Today the sealed with the marriage of Elizabeth the Parliamentarians were routed by the Earl’s Mount, a scheduled ancient monument, is Woodville to Edward IV in 1464. Their forces. Legend has it that ‘Kings Stile’ road is open to the public. Also a scheduled ancient grandson was Henry VIII, who spent most of named after Kings Charles I who reputedly monument is a flat topped mound (once a the summers of his reign at the manor, stayed at Middleton Cheney after the Battle of motte) close to the site of the original manor controversially, entertaining both Anne Cropredy Bridge. house. Boleyn and the papal legate at the time of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Henry Whittlewood Forest Battle of Edgcote designated the village ‘Regis’. Under Elizabeth Once a royal hunting forest, popular with During the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of I, the manor welcomed many of her favourites, King John, Richard I, Henry III and Edward Edgcote (or Danesmoor), took place near including William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Robert I for stag and deer hunting. Today, most of Culworth and Eydon on 26 July 1469. The Dudley the Earl of Leicester and Robert what remains of this can battle was between the rebel forces of Richard Devereux, the Earl of Essex. Even Shakespeare be seen at Hazelborough and Bucknell Woods

14 15 Military Might

Due to its strategically important location in 2011 there were given Grade II listed status. Many aircraft crashed in the area. A plaque at the centre of the country, many aerodromes The base is closed to the public but it possible Woodend commemorates eleven US airmen Did you know? were built in Northamptonshire during to see the Fighter Pens on selected days during who were killed when a B17 Flying Fortress World War Two. Four RAF airfields were the year. crashed nearby in 1944. The formation of • The Birth of Radar monument near operational in South Northamptonshire, at B17s was on its way from Snetterton Heath , celebrates the moment Chipping Warden, Croughton, Hinton-in-the- Former RAF Silverstone is a world class in Norfolk to carry out a mock bombing in February 1935 when it was shown Hedges and Silverstone. Mainly they trained motorsport venue that among other things, raid on Rugby. A memorial plaque at for the first time in Britain that British and Commonwealth airman to fly hosts the British F1 Grand Prix. Formula One Warden Hill Covert, near Chipping Warden, bouncing radio waves off an aircraft Blenheims, Bostons, Hampdens, Mosquitos plays a huge role in South Northamptonshire. commemorates a Vickers Wellington Mark III could allow them to be detected. and Wellingtons but they also acted as Recognised as ‘Motorsport Valley’, not only of 12 Operational Training Unit that crashed Called the ‘ Experiment’, emergency airfields, provided bases for leaflet is the area home to the circuit but also to in 1943. the test took place in a field near drops over enemy and occupied territories and many of F1’s top racing teams and associated Litchborough, within a few miles of the carried out glider training. With thousands businesses. The airfield was leased from the BBC broadcasting station at Daventry. of service personnel billeted throughout the by the Royal Automobile Club With an oscilloscope, radio receiver district, it would have been buzzing with (RAC) in 1948 to hold the first Grand Prix. In and trace recorder set up in an old activity. You can get a taste of what it must have 1951, it was taken over by the British Racing ambulance, a Handley Page Heyford been like at Stoke Bruerne’s annual ‘Village Drivers Club. Its military heritage survives in bomber was tracked for nine miles. At War’ festival, where you’ll see wartime re- a memorial to those who served during World enactors, enjoy 1940s singing and dancing and War Two in number 17 Operational Training • The Elephant Walk at is experience the authentic sounds of the blitz. Unit at RAF Silverstone and nearby RAF named after the Elephant Pond where Turweston. Hinton-in-the-Hedges is now a circus elephants, who worked in the RAF Croughton is the only airfield in the civilian airfield and Chipping Warden is home forest felling trees during World War district still in operation as a military base. to industrial units. Two, came to cool off at the end of the Built in 1938, it was called Brackley Landing day. Ground, then RAF Brackley in 1940, becoming RAF Croughton in 1941. During the war, it came • The communications base at under nearby Upper Heyford’s 16 Operational Greatworth was a transmitter site for Training Unit, training Commonwealth pilots Bletchley Park, continuing in service for night flying. In 1942, it also became a during the Cold War. It closed in 1988 Glider Training School. In 1950 it was taken and the buildings now form part of a over by the United States Airforce as a business park. communications centre, which it remains today. In 1941, a number of fighter pens were built here, providing protection from bombing. Only three of these rare pens survive today. In 16 17 Market Towns

Brackley with William the Conqueror). In the 16th the former North End Chapel. In 1897 the Located on the Oxford to Northampton road, century, it became the chapel to the school, building was purchased by Victor James Brackley became a prosperous . which it remains today, making it the oldest Ashby to house his motor works. It was here Originally, it may have taken its name from school chapel still in use in England. that his son produced the pioneering ‘Short Bracca, who is thought to have built a village Stephen and Matilda. It was still in use as a Ashby’ motor car that was exhibited at the here in the 6th or 7th centuries. However, Built in 1707 by the Duke of Bridgewater, castle until at least 1399. Recently renovated Motor Show at White City in 1922. evidence suggests that the town can trace the design of the Town Hall may have been with a timeline of key historic dates, this its history back to the iron age and influenced by Christopher Wren, whose scheduled ancient monument and the the Romans. To stop warring factions, protégé, Christopher Kempster, designed adjacent Water Meadows are a popular place the county hall in Abingdon, which is similar Richard I named Brackley as one of five to walk. Towcester Racecourse official sites for tournaments and in 1215, in style. Originally, the ground floor was Being a keen horsewoman, in 1876, the barons may have met in the town open, although now it is enclosed to form During the Civil War, Prince Rupert’s Royalist Elizabeth Empress of Austria rented before sealing the Magna Carta at another room. Brackley’s town’s fortunes army over-wintered here but Towcester’s from the Fermor- Runnymede – possibly drafting parts of the had dwindled during the Tudor period but heyday was the golden age of coaching in the Hesketh family to enjoy the local hunting. document in Brackley. Now Magdalen College rose to prominence again in the 18th and 18th and 19th centuries, when it became an Out of this grew the idea of a racecourse School, The Hospital of St James and St John 19th centuries when it became an important important staging post for coaches travelling on the estate, with the first race meeting was founded circa 1150 to provide stopping off post for stage coaches. between London and . The Saracen’s held on Easter Monday 1876. Thereafter, accommodation for poor travellers. In 1484, Head was one of over 20 coaching inns that meetings were held on Easter Monday it was acquired by William Waynflete, Bishop Towcester did a thriving business along Watling Street. and in 1928, under the first Lord Hesketh, of (founder of Magdalen The town’s rich history dates back 2000 years It is described in Pickwick Papers by Charles Towcester officially became a racecourse. College and Magdalen College School, to the Iron Age. Fortified under the Romans, Dickens who was a regular guest. Towcester The impressive stone entrance gate was Oxford) as a retreat from Oxford in times it was known as Lactodorum. Various Roman was also an important centre for the wool originally an entrance for the Easton of plague. By 1548, remains have been found over the years, trade from the medieval period until the Neston estate. The course holds about after the dissolution including a bath house under the church of 20th century. This industrial heritage is 18 National Hunt of the monasteries, St Lawrence. In the 9th century, Towcester evident still in former wool warehouses; the meetings each the hospital had became a border zone between the Saxons in Post Office, which was funded by the Flesher year. Overlooking become a grammar Wessex and the Vikings in the east. The town family; and the HSBC bank, formally the site Towcester and school. Adjacent is centre’s distinctive burgage plots date from of a private bank set up by wool merchant, the countryside, St John’s Chapel, this period. They can still be identified today John Jenkinson. Towcester Mill at the end it is one of the founded in 1150 as you walk along the alleyways between the of Chantry Lane dates from 1794, although most (possibly founded by shops. You can also see them from the top of milling ceased after the Second World War. picturesque Robert de Beaumont, – originally a motte and bailey Opposite is the 19th century mill house. courses in the first Earl of castle believed to have been built during the the country. Leicester who arrived civil war of the 12th century between King Situated at number 186 Watling Street is

18 19 www.southnorthants.gov.uk

For information about things to see and do in South Northamptonshire, pick up a copy of our Visitor, Food and Drink, Family, or Canal guide, available at venues throughout the district, or go to www.southnorthants.gov.uk/tourism. This guide has been produced by South Northamptonshire Council (SNC) as one of a number of initiatives to encourage tourism in the district, with the active participation of the businesses mentioned. Every care has been taken by SNC to ensure that all the information contained in this document is accurate and up to date at the time of printing and that all relevant establishments have been included. No responsibility or liability can be taken by the Council for any errors or omissions, or for any inconvenience caused after the guide has gone to press. Please send comments, corrections, or recommendations for other businesses that might be suitable to include in a future edition of this guide to: Strategic Planning and the Economy, South Northamptonshire Council, The Forum, Moat Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 6AD, [email protected], www.southnorthants.gov.uk.

South Northamptonshire Council reserves all editorial rights. May 2015/All rights reserved. This guide has been produced on behalf of SNC by Redworks PR and Marketing, www.redworks.co.uk and Downes Design. Thanks to Bruce Smith, expert on drover’s routes and local historian from Syresham. Selected photographs with kind permission of Castle Ashby Gardens, National Portrait Gallery, National Trust, Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum, Stoke Park Pavilions, Sulgrave Manor and Visit Britain. Photographers: Ian Cave, Adrian Colwell, Simon Murdoch, Bill Needham and James Rudd.

South Northamptonshire Council, The Forum, Moat Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 6AD [email protected] www.southnorthants.gov.uk