Wolfhampcote

Wolfhampcote is an abandoned village and civil parish in the English counties of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, which it straddles. ["An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North-West Northamptonshire", (1981) HMSO, ISBN 0 11 700900 8]

The old village of Wolfhampcote is located west of the A45 road near Braunston in Northamptonshire, and can be reached by a track from the main A45 road, or by a lane from Flecknoe. The village was abandoned sometime in the late 14th century. Local legend suggests that the village was wiped out by the Black Death brought in by refugees from London, but there is no evidence to support this. It is much more likely that a few cottages still remained after the great plague and after struggling to maintain their land the villagers drifted off to more prosperous places leaving the Lord of the Manor to clear the land for sheep grazing as best he could.

Today the only remains of the village are a cottage, a farmhouse, and the old vicarage, located some distance away. The most notable surviving feature of the village is the church of St Peter, which stands apparently in the middle of nowhere in a field. The church has been restored on several occasions, most recently in the 1970s by an organisation called the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church is today managed by The Churches Conservation Trust and is used only once or twice a year.

The area around the old village is rich in industrial archaeology. The remains of the original route of the Oxford Canal, which was abandoned in the 1830s, can be traced through the area. There are also the remains of two abandoned railway lines, the first being the old Weedon to Leamington Spa railway, which closed in 1963, and the second being the Great Central Railway, which closed in 1966. The former passes quite close to the church.

The parish

The old village gives its name to a civil parish in Rugby Borough, which includes the nearby villages of Flecknoe and Sawbridge. In 2001, the parish had a population of 263. Flecknoe is the largest settlement in the parish.

External links

* [http://www.bigfarm.co.uk/wolfhampcote.htm A detailed article about Wolfhampcote]
* [http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/frontpage.asp The Churches Conservation Trust website]
* [http://www.bigfarm.co.uk More information and photos of Wolfhampcote]

References