Chelveston is a small village in

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area forming about one half of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northampto ...

. It is about east of

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated popu ...

and east of

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River ...

on the B645 (former A45 road) from Higham Ferrers to

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

. To the south is the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

of Caldecott and the settlement of Chelston Rise which together comprise the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Chelveston cum Caldecott. The population is now included in the

of Chelveston cum Caldecott.

History

The villages name means 'Ceolwulfs farm/settlement'. The last

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seignor ...

of Chelveston were the Disbrowe family, and the last lord, Lt. Col. Henry Edward Disbrowe Disbrowe-Wise CBE, who had inherited the title from his mother, sold off the last of the family's estate properties in Chelveston at auction in July 1919. Disbrowe-Wise moved to other family properties in South Derbyshire. The parish church is dedicated to St John the Baptist and is mostly 13th century. The north arcade is 1849-50 by Edmund Francis Law, a

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

architect.

Village Hall

Formerly the village's two room school with adjacent schoolmasters house, the school was closed in 1967 and was re-opened in 1972 as the Village Hall. In 2014 it was refurbished and extended with new toilets, shower and kitchen facilities.

Heritage assets

The following buildings and structures are listed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

as of special architectural or historic interest.National Heritage List for England (Historic England) *Poplar Farmhouse (Grade II) 17th century *Manor Farmhouse (Grade II) 18th century *Manor Farmhouse, Barn (Grade II) 18th century *Duchy Farmhouse (Grade II) 17th century *Church of St John The Baptist (Grade II*) 13th century *The Cottage (Grade II) 18th century

RAF Chelveston

Nearby is the former airfield of RAF Chelveston. A new memorial to the

305th Bombardment Group (Heavy) The 305th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 305th Air Mobility Wing. It is stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 305th Bombardment Gro ...

who operated out of the airfield, was unveiled in the centre of the village on 26 May 2007.

Demography

*In 1801 there were 266 persons *In 1831 there were 332 persons *In 1841 there were 288 persons *In 2011 there were 566 personsOffice for National Statistics, Census

Chelston Rise

Beyond Caldecott is a settlement of 50 houses which were formerly used by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

to house families working at nearby bases. The site is now owned by Area Estates Ltd. Some of the houses have been privately rented out and others sold privately. This community has been renamed Chelston Rise (from the old name for Chelveston).

Nearby Settlements

* Ringstead,

Keyston Keyston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bythorn and Keyston, in Cambridgeshire, England. Keyston lies approximately west of Huntingdon, near Molesworth. Keyston is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metro ...

, Stanwick,

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some . The population of Rushde ...

Thrapston Thrapston is a market town in North Northamptonshire, England. It was the headquarters of the former East Northamptonshire district, and at the time of the 2011 census, had a population of 6,239. The town's name means 'Farmstead or town of a ...

, Hargrave,

Irthlingborough Irthlingborough () is a town on the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England. It had a population of 8,900 at the 2011 census and was the smallest town in England to have had a Football League team, Rushden & Diamonds F.C., prior to the ...

Newton Bromswold Newton Bromswold is a village and civil parish about east of Rushden in North Northamptonshire, England, adjacent to the border with Bedfordshire. At the 2001 census the parish's population was 62 people in 27 households. The population r ...

Raunds Raunds is a market town in North Northamptonshire, England. It had a population of 9,379 at the 2021 census. Geography Raunds is situated north-east of Northampton. The town is on the southern edge of the Nene Valley and surrounded by ar ...

References

External links

Chelveston-cum-Caldecott Parish Council website
Villages in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub