Great Harrowden 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 ...

, with a population (including Hardwick) at the 2011 census of 161. The village is located near the A509 road running between

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- ...

and

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

. The village formed part of the

Orlingbury Orlingbury is a village and civil parish in the England, English county of Northamptonshire. They are home to a mediocre football team, the Orlingbury Mongs. It is between the towns of Kettering and Wellingborough. Administratively it forms par ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

and the Borough of Wellingborough. Since 2021 it has been within

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. The village's name means 'heathen

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

hill' from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''hearg''. Nearby settlements include

Little Harrowden Little Harrowden is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. The village is nearly north-west of Wellingborough, off the A509 road. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 892. T ...

, Isham and

Finedon Finedon is a town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, with a population at the 2021 census of 4,552. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as Tingdene) was a large royal manor, previously held by ...

Church

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of All Saints dates back to Norman times and is a Grade II*

listed building 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, Hi ...

. It is famous for its medieval Doom painting above the chancel arch. The painting is not sophisticated but is considered to be one of the best and most complete Dooms remaining in England.https://5churches.co.uk/the-churches/great-harrowden/history/ The church is mainly made of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

apart from the tower, which is

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

. The tower was rebuilt in 1822; there was formerly a spire, but this collapsed in the 18th century. The church contains some 17th-century plate (

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

: 1695;

paten A paten or diskos is a small plate used for the celebration of the Eucharist (as in a mass). It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Wes ...

: 1698) and a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

to William Harrowden.

Great Harrowden Hall

In the 15th century the manors of Great and Little Harrowden were held by Sir William Vaux, killed at the

Battle of Tewkesbury The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England. King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival Hou ...

in 1471. There has been a house on the site since then, which

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

and

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

are both known to have visited. The Vaux family were created barons by Henry VIII in 1523. On the death of the fifth Lord Vaux in 1662 the title fell into abeyance and the estates were inherited by Nicholas Knollys, who was still claiming the title Earl of Banbury when he died in 1674. Thomas Watson-Wentworth bought the estate from the Knollys family in 1695 and built the present Hall between 1716 and 1719 for use as a Dower House. His son Thomas Wentworth (died 1750) who had become the 6th

Lord Rockingham Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Honourable Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1739, Viscount Higham between 1739 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750, and the Marquess of R ...

, was created

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family ...

in 1746. In 1782 Harrowden was inherited by William, Earl Fitzwilliam of Milton, and it descended in the Fitzwilliam family. Towards the end of the nineteenth century it housed a small girls’ boarding school; the Hawaiian princess, Victoria Kaiulani was educated there between 1889 and 1892. In 1895 it was sold to the seventh Lord Vaux, a descendant of the earlier owners. In 1975 the hall was acquired by Wellingborough Golf Club to be its new clubhouse after it had been rescued from demolition by A. James Macdonald-Buchanan,

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

for 1972. An 18-hole championship golf course has been created in the park. The Hall is Grade I listed and contains a landscape park of about to the north and east of the hall. In addition to the golf course, the park contains some unaltered early formal gardens, surrounded by brick walls and fine iron gates with several statues by the Dutch sculptor John van Nost. The grounds also contain a chapel built by the 7th Baron Vaux in 1905 – being a copy of the school at

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 had a population of 8,82 ...

and three groups of lead statuary.

Gallery

File:Kaiulani age 17 at Great Harrowden Hall.jpg, Princess Victoria Kaiulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne, educated at Great Harrowden Hall Image:MedPaintings.JPG, The medieval

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

picture in All Saints' Church

References

External links

Wellingborough Golf ClubGreat Harrowden Church Website
{{authority control Great Harrowden North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire

Church

Great Harrowden Hall

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links