Collyweston is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

North Northamptonshire North 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. The council is based in Corby, the district's la ...

, about three miles southwest of

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber ...

, on the road (the A43) to

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 514.

Geography

The village is on the southern side of the Welland valley east of

Tixover Tixover is a small village and civil parish in Rutland. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 174, falling to 163 at the 2011 census. The village's name means 'ridge with young goats'. The second element derives from either th ...

. The

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river Source (river), rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally nort ...

, at the point nearby to the northwest, is the boundary between

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

and Northamptonshire.

Ketton and Collyweston railway station Ketton and Collyweston railway station is a former station serving the villages of Ketton, Geeston, Aldgate and Collyweston, Rutland. It is located in Geeston adjacent to a level crossing on the Ketton to Collyweston road. It is under half a m ...

was closed in 1966. Collyweston is currently served by buses on the Stamford–to–

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

''via''

Duddington Duddington is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Duddington-with-Fineshade, in the North Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is by the junction of the A47 and A43 roads, an ...

route. The

Jurassic Way The Jurassic Way is a designated and signed long-distance footpath that connects the Oxfordshire town of Banbury with the Lincolnshire town of Stamford in England. It largely follows an ancient ridgeway traversing Britain; most of its route i ...

and

Hereward Way The Hereward Way is a long-distance footpath in England that links the Viking Way at Oakham with the Peddars Way at Knettishall Heath, near Thetford. The path takes its name from Hereward the Wake, the 11th-century rebel leader who fought ...

pass through the village to the north, crossing the Welland at Collyweston Bridge, near Geeston. The

A47 road The A47 is a major trunk road in England linking Birmingham to Lowestoft, Suffolk, maintained and operated by National Highways. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114 road, B4114. From Peterborough ...

passes through the parish to the south, with Collyweston Great Wood to the south. The road from the A47, continuing in a straight line to the village is called Kingscliffe Road.

Nature reserve

The local Wildlife Trust has a fifteen-acre nature reserve at

Collyweston Quarries The Collyweston Quarries are a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest located near the village of Collyweston in Northamptonshire, England. They are known for producing the distinctive Collyweston stone slate, a traditional Roofing slate ...

where

Lincolnshire limestone The Lincolnshire Limestone Formation is a geological formation in England, part of the Inferior Oolite Group of the ( Bajocian) Middle Jurassic strata of eastern England. It was formed around 170 million years ago, in a shallow, warm sea on the ...

was quarried, to the north of the A43. This has the

pyramidal orchid ''Anacamptis pyramidalis'', the pyramidal orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus '' Anacamptis'' of the family Orchidaceae. The scientific name ''Anacamptis'' derives from Greek ανακάμτειν 'anakamptein' meaning ' ...

, common dodder,

greater knapweed ''Centaurea scabiosa'', or greater knapweed, is a perennial plant of the genus ''Centaurea''. It is native to Europe and bears purple flower heads. Greater knapweed is found growing in dry grasslands, hedgerows and cliffs on lime-rich soil. Upri ...

common rock-rose ''Helianthemum nummularium'' (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is borde ...

, common bird's foot trefoil, and

clustered bellflower ''Campanula glomerata'', known by the common names clustered bellflower or Dane's blood, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Campanula'', belonging to the family Campanulaceae. It is the county flower of Rutland, England. Etymology T ...

. Birds found there include the

European green woodpecker The European green woodpecker (''Picus viridis''), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent ...

and

glowworm Glowworm or glow-worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They include the European common glow-worm and other members of the Lampyridae, but bioluminescence al ...

s are found there in the summer. There is also an

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

at Collyweston Great Wood.

History

The village's name means 'West farm/settlement'.

Colin Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), Thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

is a pet-form of

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

who held the manor in the 13th century. An alternative name for the village may be "Colyns Weston", in 1396. A pub on Main Road is called 'The Collyweston Slater', owned by Everards Brewery. New houses have been built down a road called 'Collyns Way'. The parish church is St Andrew's, a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building.

John Stokesley John Stokesley (8 September 1475 – 8 September 1539) was an English clergyman who was Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII. Life Stokesley was born at Collyweston in Northamptonshire, and became a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford ...

(1475–1539), an English clergyman who was Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII was born in Collyweston. In the late sixteenth century, the place gave its name to the manner of wearing the

mandilion A mandilion or mandelion is a loose men's hip-length pullover coat or jacket, open down the sides, worn in England in late sixteenth century. It was fashionable to wear the mandilion ''colly-westonward'' or ''Colley-Weston-ward'', that is, rotat ...

'Colley-Weston-ward' for unknown reasons.

Collyweston Palace

Collyweston Palace was the home, in later life, of

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first House of Tudor, Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin o ...

(1443–1509), the mother of Henry VII. In 1498, though still married, she made a vow of chastity and chose to live at Collyweston. The household of Margaret Beaufort at Collyweston, her chapel, and New Year's Day festivities at Collyweston with Princess Cecily were described for

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley (1476/1480/14813 December 1553/1556), (notes to Parliamentary records show this as 25 November 1556) was an England, English peerage, peer and translator, Lord of Morley Saint Botolph, Morley, Hingham, Norfolk, H ...

, who had served Margaret Beaufort as a teenager. New furnishings for Lady Margaret Beaufort's apartments at Collyweston were embroidered with her heraldic badges of roses and the portcullis by Sebastian Mussheka in 1498, and she donated textiles and vestments to the parish church at Collyweston, including a then old-fashioned green damask

cope A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to exte ...

(1489–1541) came to Collyweston in 1503 on her way to join her husband

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James I ...

. One of her attendants, Elizabeth Zouche married

Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare Gerard FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1487 – 12 December 1534; Irish: ''Gearóid Óg Mac Gearailt'', meaning "Young Gerald FitzGerald"), was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history. In 1513 he inherited the title of Earl of Kildar ...

(1487–1534) at the palace, and six Spanish dancers performed a

morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folklore, English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A ban ...

. In 1506, a priest,

, was brought before Lady Margaret Beaufort's manor court charged with the crime of baptising a cat as part of a charm to find treasure. An inventory of Margaret Beaufort's wardrobe at Collyweston was made after her death in 1509. She had 20 fur-edged black gowns – some with trains, and some without them, a style known as "round". Anthony Dryland, the bailie and keeper of Collyweston, was a member of the household of

Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset (c. 15 June 1519 – 23 July 1536) was the son of Henry VIII of England and his mistress Elizabeth Blount, and the only child born out of wedlock whom Henry acknowledged. He was the younger ...

, and the Duke lived at Collyweston from 1531 to 1536. Henry VIII gave the palace to Anne Boleyn in 1536. In 1550, Edward VI granted the manor to his sister Elizabeth I, Elizabeth. In 1566, the palace was extensively repaired for Elizabeth I. New windows for the Queen's lodging were glazed with the royal arms and badges. A new timber banqueting house was built. Elizabeth I came to Collyweston on her progress on 29 June. According to Dominique Bourgoing, on 25 September 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, travelled past the ''chasteau Collunwaston'' on her way to Fotheringhay Castle, Fotheringhay. Charles I of England, Charles I granted the manor to a Scottish courtier of James VI and I, Patrick Maule. The building was dismantled in about 1640, leaving little trace. In 2023, its location was confirmed using ground-penetrating radar to find the main cluster of buildings, and the footings of walls were unearthed.

"Collywest"

The term '' (or '', or '') is a derivative of Collyweston that may be used to describe anything a bit crooked, awry, wobbly, or generally disordered, or meaning opposite, wrong way, or contrary. It has been suggested that when slate had been quarried in Collyweston, the good-quality, even pieces were sold, leaving the crooked poorer-quality pieces to use for the village's houses, making for very disordered rooftops. In the northern US, the term 'galley-west' is widely held by US dictionaries to be a derivative of 'collywest'.

References

External links

Collyweston Quarries Nature Reserve

Parish Council

Collyweston Palace
Collyweston Historical Society
Collyweston Palace
Royal Palaces by Simon Thurley {{authority control Civil parishes in Northamptonshire Villages in Northamptonshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Tudor royal palaces in England