- Charwelton
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Coordinates: 52°11′42″N 1°13′08″W / 52.195°N 1.219°W
Charwelton 
Charwelton
Charwelton shown within NorthamptonshirePopulation 185 (2001 Census)[1] OS grid reference SP5355 District Daventry Shire county Northamptonshire Region East Midlands Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town Daventry Postcode district NN11 Dialling code 01327 Police Northamptonshire Fire Northamptonshire Ambulance East Midlands EU Parliament East Midlands UK Parliament Daventry Website Charwelton Village List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire Charwelton is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. Its toponym is derived from the River Cherwell beside which the village stands.
The village is where the main road between Daventry and Banbury, now the A361, crosses the river.
Contents
Manor
At the end of the 12th century William and Ralf de Cheinduit granted the manor of Charwelton to the Cistercian Biddlesden Abbey in Buckinghamshire.[2] The Abbey retained the manor until it surrendered all its properties to the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538.[2]
Charwelton Manor House contains much early 16th century panelling, an early 17th century fireplace and a late 17th century staircase.[3] It is an ironstone building of two storeys with a hipped roof.[3] Its present facade of five bays was added probably early in the 18th century.[3]
Parish church
The Church of England parish church of the Holy Trinity is at Church Charwelton about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the village. Its earliest features include the west windows of the south aisle, which are a stepped trio of lancet windows from about 1300.[4] Holy Trinity has both a south and a north aisle, and the latter has a Perpendicular Gothic three-bay arcade.[4] The west tower is also Decorated Gothic.[4] The south porch is Perpendicular Gothic and the font may be 15th century. The chancel was largely rebuilt in 1901–04.[4] Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed building.[5]
Holy Trinity contains a series of monuments to the Andrewe or Andrewes family. Several family members who died late in the 15th or early in the 16th century are commemorated by monumental brasses. The largest are a pair 4 feet (1.2 m) long representing Thomas Andrewe (died 1496) and his wife.[4] From the latter half of the 16th century are two carved stone memorials. A tomb-chest bears recumbent effigies of Sir Thomas Andrew (died 1564) and his two successive wives, while a well-carved relief in fine white stone commemorates Thomas Andrew (died 1590) and his family.[4] The church interior also includes decoration by the artist Henry Bird of Northampton.[6]
The church tower has a ring of five bells.[7] Thomas I Newcombe, whose bell-foundry may have been in Leicester,[8] cast the oldest bell in 1510.[7] Hugh II Watts, who had foundries in Leicester and Bedford,[8] cast the tenor bell in 1630.[7] Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester[8] cast the treble bell in 1716.[7] John Taylor & Son of Loughborough cast the two youngest bells in 1844.[7]
Holy Trinity parish is part of the Benefice of Badby with Newnham and Charwelton with Fawsley and Preston Capes,[9] which was formed in 1991.
Economic history
Charwelton's earliest surviving crossing over the river is a narrow packhorse bridge.[4] It has two arches and one cutwater[4] and may be 15th century.[10] It is a Grade II* listed building.[10]
West of the manor house are the remains of a set of Medieval fish ponds that were fed by the river. Just east of the trackbed of the former railway line is the mill mound where a windmill would have stood.
The Great Central Main Line from the north of England to London Marylebone was built through the parish in the 1890s and opened in March 1899. The line crossed the river between Charwelton and Church Charwelton. Charwelton railway station was built just east of the packhorse bridge. Just south of the village were Charwelton Watertroughs. An industrial railway that brought ironstone from quarries at Hellidon to the main line at Charwelton station. British Railways closed Charwelton station in March 1963 and the line in September 1966.
Amenities
Charwelton has a public house, the Fox and Hounds. It has also a village hall.[11]
Charwelton BT Tower is near the village.
References
- ^ "Area selected: South Northamptonshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790474. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ a b Page, 1905, pages 365–369
- ^ a b c Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 148
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 147
- ^ "Church of the Holy Trinity". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1370027. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. 29 April 2000.
- ^ a b c d e "Charwelton Holy Trinity". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Charwelton&DoveID=CHARWELTON. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ a b c "Bell Founders". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/founders.php. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ Archbishops' Council (2011). "Benefice of Badby with Newham (sic) and Charwelton with Fawsley etc". A Church Near You. Church of England. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice.php?B=28/010BH. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Packhorse Bridge over the River Cherwell". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1075316. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ "Village Hall". Charwelton Village. http://charweltonvillagehall.co.uk/villageHall.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
Sources
- Page, W.H., ed (1905). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 1. Victoria County History. Archibald Constable & Co. pp. 365–369.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1973) [1961]. Northamptonshire. The Buildings of England (revised ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 148–149. ISBN 0 14 071022 1.
External links
- Map sources for Charwelton
Categories:- Villages in Northamptonshire
- Civil parishes in Northamptonshire
- Northamptonshire geography stubs
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