Blakesley is a village in the

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. It contains the county town of Northampton, as wel ...

unitary authority area of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England. It is about west of

Towcester Towcester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district. Towcester is on ...

. It is about above sea level according to

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

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

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.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census it had a population of 492,National Ststistics, published 28 April 2004, accessed 2 April 2010
/ref> increasing to 508 at the 2011 census.

Facilities

Blakesley has a pub named the Bartholomew Arms, a primary school and its own village shop with a post office.
Blakesley Church of England Primary School
in the village is in the catchment area of

Sponne School Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, 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 ...

in Towcester.

Buildings

Blakesley Hall

The village was the location of Blakesley Hall, a 13th-century

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

. 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 English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

, 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 Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...

. Since 2006 it has formed part of the Lambfold

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

The Lambfold benefice
/ref> along with the parishes of

Adstone Adstone is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population at the 2001 census was 65. It remained than 100 at the 2011 census and was included in the civil parish of Tiffield. Adstone is situated approximately sou ...

Maidford Maidford is a civil and ecclesiastical parish in West Northamptonshire and the diocese of Peterborough situated about north-west of Towcester. The population at the 2011 census was 168. It was a centre of local Northamptonshire lace-making unti ...

Litchborough Litchborough is a historic village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 300 people,

and

Farthingstone Farthingstone is a village in West Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the major trunk routes of the M1 junction 16, M40 motorway, and A5 road, at the head of a valley and is south of Daventry and south west of Weedon Bec. Demograph ...

. There are memorials to Matthew Swetenham (D.1416), Bowbearer to Henry IV, 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 In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

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 of 1840.

Blakesley railway station

The station on the

Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) was a railway company in the southern Midlands of England, formed at the beginning of 1909 by the merger of three earlier companies: *the ''East and West Junction Railway'', *the ''E ...

(SMJ) served the village from 1873 to 1962. It was linked to nearby

Blakesley Hall Blakesley Hall, a grade II* listed building is a Tudor period, Tudor hall on Blakesley Road in Yardley, West Midlands, Yardley, Birmingham, England. It is one of the oldest buildings in Birmingham and is a typical example of Tudor architect ...

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 about 250 yards east of Green's Park Farm.

References

External links

Blakesley Village Website
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire