Boddington, Northamptonshire

Boddington is a civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 700. The parish includes the villages of Upper Boddington and Lower Boddington. Upper Boddington is the larger of the two villages, situated on a hill close to the boundary between Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, with Lower Boddington on the southern slope of the hill. The nearby Boddington reservoir is home to the Banbury sailing club and is a popular fishing destination in the local area.

Places of worship

There are two places of worship in the parish, an Anglican Church, the oldest building in the village, parts of which are pre 15th century, and a Methodist chapel dating from 1865. Both are located in the village of Upper Boddington.

Village History

Recently, there has been some interest amongst locals concerning the history of the parish. Boddington was almost certainly founded in Anglo-Saxon times. The spelling of Boddington has changed over centuries. In the Domesday book it is given as "Botendon". A survey of Northamptonshire from the 1100s gives the name as "Bottelendon". The Calendar of Close Rolls from 1244 states the name as "Budinton". Documents from 1358, 1396 and 1428 give the names as "Botyngdon", "Botyndoun" and "Botyngdon" respectively. Some nineteenth-century maps name the parish Bodington, with only one "d". Ideas concerning the origin of the name vary greatly.

The two villages of Upper and Lower Boddington may have been separate in their early history, but were officially merged into a single parish by an Act of Parliament in 1758.

The population of the village can be traced back through the national censuses as far back as 1801. In the 1800s, the population appears to have fluctuated considerably, rising from 476 in 1801 to 926 in 1851, then declining to 487 by 1901. The 2001 census gives the population of the parish as 700.

In 1870, following the passing of the first Education Act, the Rev. Edward Sale began an effort to build a local school. Boddington C of E Primary school was build on church land at a cost of £718. The school remains in use today, with recent extension work providing it with modern sports and I.T. facilities.

During the First World War, the parish was host to Belgian refugees, and during World War II, a bomber crashed into "The Manor House", severely damaging the upper storey of the building. The house has only recently been re-roofed.

The parish contains many old, listed buildings. There has been some interest in which house is the oldest in the village. Some of the more recent books on the village claim that "Cherry Tree House" is the oldest. However, there is no real evidence to support this claim. Many of the older residents of the village in particular contest the claim, as it is based on a rumour started relatively recently by a family who owned the house before it was renovated. Indeed, architecturally, the house appears to be approximately the same age as "Stoneleigh Farm", situated opposite it. Both houses are undeniably very old, at least over 350 years, but are probably not the oldest houses in the village. A candidate with more hard evidence is "Ye Olde Cottage", which until recently still had some wattle and daub walls. The name is also an indication of the house's age.Due to the difficulty of gathering evidence about a house's exact age, however, it is likely that the real identity of the oldest house in the village will never be known.

Facilities And Events

The parish has a number of community facilities and businesses, mostly located in Upper Boddington. The Church, and the Methodist Chapel, the Village Stores shop and Post Office, the Plough Inn, a New Village Hall, and a highly regarded Primary school. Recently opened is the new Village Garage, specialising in classic cars as well general car repairs and MOT testing. Also situated within the garage facility is a photographic studio called Imexa, and a web design company called Gate4.

The Boddington Reservoir is a popular location for local and competition fishing, and is nearing the completion of a large number of purpose built fishing platforms. It is also host to the Banbury Sailing Club.

Local activities range from darts and skittles leagues at the Plough Inn, badminton matches and annual quizzes at the Village Hall, a 6-a-side football team playing in Napton and a classic car get-together every first Sunday of the month at the Village Garage.

Sources

The Parish of Boddington: History, Information and Directory. Tenth Edition July 2004.

Local Residents