Blakesley is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the South Northamptonshire

South Northamptonshire

South Northamptonshire is a local government district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council is based in Towcester.The district is rural and sparsely populated with just over 79,293 people in 2000 and 91,000 in 2008, a 14.8% increase. The largest town in the district is Brackley, which has a...

 district of Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, England. It is about = 5 miles (8 km) west of Towcester. It is about 1400 feet (426.7 m) above sea level according to Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

. North-west of Blakesley, and now contiguous with it, is the hamlet of 'Quinbury End'.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census it had a population of 492, (2010 estimate 529) 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

Sponne School

Sponne is the oldest secondary school in Northamptonshire, and one of the oldest in the country.Part of the school was originally Towcester Grammar School, until Grammar schools were abolished in Northamptonshire...

 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"). 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.

Blakesley Hall

The village was the location of Blakesley Hall

Blakesley Hall (Northamptonshire)

Blakesley Hall was a 13th century manor house situated near the village of Blakesley in Northamptonshire, England.It was demolished in 1957-58.-History:...

, a 13th century Manor House

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

. 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

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

 along with the parishes of Adstone

Adstone

Adstone is a village in Northamptonshire, England. It is known as Atenestone in the Domesday Book.-Notable buildings:The Parish church, dedicated to All Saints is of Norman origin, ca.13th century. It was heavily restored in both 1843, when the chancel was added and again in 1896...

, Maidford

Maidford

Maidford is a civil and eccesiastical parish in South Northamptonshire and the diocese of Peterborough situated about north-west of Towcester. The population is 179...

, Litchborough

Litchborough

Litchborough is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 300 people. It is about north-west of Towcester....

 and Farthingstone

Farthingstone

Farthingstone is a village in the district of Daventry in the county of Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the major trunk routes of the M1 junction 16, M40 motorway, and A5 road, in secluded location at the head of a picturesque valley....

. There are memorials to Matthew Swetenham (D.1416), Bowbearer to Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

, and also William Wattes (d.1614).

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

Honour of Grafton

The Honour of Grafton is a collection of manors in the south east of Northamptonshire, England. The Honour is historic, dating back at least as far as 1542 when a bill for its management was before parliament....

 of 1840.

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

Woodend, Northamptonshire

Woodend is a small village in the district of South Northamptonshire in the English county of Northamptonshire.It is west of the town of Towcester and was a hamlet in the parish of Blakesley until 1866, when it became a parish in its own right...

about 250 yards east of Green's Park Farm.

External links

• Blakesley Village Website