NASSINGTON & YARWELL The Northamptonshire villages of Yarwell and Nassington offer a variety of natural beauty combined with historic landmarks, buildings and stories. Nassington Nassington & Yarwell NASSINGTON Nassington lies six miles from the town of Oundle and is famous for its picturesque grouping of quintessentially English houses and church, which are built of the local mellow grey limestone. Remains of Roman occupation and early iron workings have been found at Nassington. The Saxons also lived in or near to the village. For information about public transport to Nassington and Yarwell please contact Traveline on 0870 608 2608. Church of St Mary and All Saints Car parking within both villages is limited. When parking - Nassington please take into consideration local access needs. If you wish to report any problems with any of the routes shown in this leaflet, please contact Rights of Way, Northamptonshire County Council, Riverside House, Yarwell Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX. Tel: 01604 654465. YARWELL The small, beautiful village of Yarwell is located a short This information can be made available distance west of the banks of the influential River Nene. It is in other languages and formats upon not exactly clear what the source of the name Yarwell is, request, such as large print, Braille, though many believe it means 'spring by the fishing pools'. audio cassette and floppy disk. Contact River Nene - Yarwell The history of the village is dominated by agriculture though Rights of Way. stone masonry played a significant part in the 1700 and 1800s, utilizing the natural limestone outcrops in the region. For information about places to visit in Nassington and Yarwell as well as the surrounding area please contact the Tourist Information Centre in Oundle on 01832 274333. VISIT NORTHAMPTONSHIRE This leaflet was published by Northamptonshire County Council with assistance from the www.rightsofwaynorthamptonshire.org.uk Countryside Agency, Daventry District Council and Peter Storm. Copyright © NCC 2004. NASSINGTON YARWELL A nglo Saxon Cemetery Church of St Mary Magdalene 7 Within the boundaries of the village of Nassington is the site The church dates from the 13th Century. The building of an Anglo Saxon Cemetery. Discovered in 1942 during the originally had north and south aisles but after a particularly re-opening of old gravel workings, this important heavy fall of snow and much rain in April 1782, the walls archaeological discovery was excavated by boys of Oundle and roof of the aisles became unsafe. As the nave and School with supervision from Mr. G. Wyman-Abbott. chancel provided more than enough room to contain the Unfortunately much of the site had been destroyed inhabitants, the aisles with their porches were removed and inadvertently and looted before archeologists could the arcades walled up. excavate or record the site. Despite this the excavation Nassington report shows that the site contained a relatively large and important Anglo-Saxon cemetery that served what appears 9 to have been a wealthy farming community. It also Station Fire suggested that there was a warrior element as shields and In October 1912 the Nassington Railway Station that spears were also found. connected Nassington to the Blisworth to Peterborough Branch line suffered a devastating fire which completely (Source: Nick Paw - Anglo Saxon cemetery; Nassington) destroyed one side of the station. Had it not been for the prompt arrival of Colonel Proby's private steam fire engine from Elton Hall, it is likely that the whole of the building 2 Church of St Mary and All Saints would have been reduced to ashes. Standing on higher ground in the west of the village the church of St Mary shows in it’s fabric examples of all the Nassington, like many Northamptonshire villages, is no The Church of St Mary Magdalene - Yarwell successive architectural periods from Anglo-Saxon to longer served by rail. The site of the former railway station Perpendicular. is on the north east outskirts of the village. The overall dimensions of the church and chancel in particular are very small for a church of the 13th Century. The Church now consists of an early English west tower Prebendal Manor House 3 topped by a decorated stone spire, an aisled nave whose This 13th Century manor house is perhaps the earliest In the chancel is the tomb of Humphrey Bellamy. It is main wall over the medieval arcades are probably late surviving manor house in the country. It is built on the site thought that the tale of Dick Whittington is based on his Saxon, and an aisle-less chancel of the Perpendicular of a royal manor which belonged to King Canute. life. As a boy he came, destitute and ill to Yarwell whilst period. walking to London to find his uncle a rich merchant. He was Early in the 12th Century, Henry I granted the Bishop of fed and cared for by the villagers and vowed never to forget Norman workmanship can be clearly seen in the tower arch Lincoln episcopal jurisdiction of the manor and church of their kindness. In later years he became prosperous and at while the North doorway is of the period from Norman to Nassington. The term prebend describes a holding his death in 1715 he was returned to Yarwell to be buried. early English. belonging to the church, which in the Middle Ages, often He endowed a charity to aid the local poor. awarded manors to members of the clergy for services they Inside, the church contains some fine remains of early wall had rendered either to the church, paintings. the Crown or the Pope. Sundial Cottage Thus the manor of Nassington became a prebend. Sundial Cottage was once the village's bakery. It was The hall of the house retains its original doorway built in the 17th Century. Inside the building there at the north end. The two storied south range, are to be found two early Victorian large baking which projects to the west, probably contained ovens. offices on the ground floor and living Yarwell Mill 6 accommodation above. In the garden there is a Situated to the south of the village, heading out fine 16th Century dovecote. towards Sibson, is Yarwell Mill. Seated on the Admission to the house is restricted to specific River Nene the site is famous for its still water days between the months of June and August. and river coarse fishing. 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