Kilsby 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 ...

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 situated a short distance south of the border with

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, approximately southeast of Rugby. The parish of Kilsby, which includes Barby Nortoft, was estimated to have a population of 1,268 in 2020.

History

Kilsby's name comes from

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

, literally meaning "child's dwelling", but "child" here probably means "young nobleman". Its church, St Faith's, may originally have been the daughter chapel of the neighbouring parish of Barby. The parish's eastern side is bounded by the old route of the Roman

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

, and the village itself is sited on the crossing of two former mediaeval drove-routes. One of the earliest armed confrontations of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

took place at Kilsby in August 1642: The

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

Captain Sir John Smith led a group of soldiers to disarm the villagers, after the news was heard that they were Parliamentarian supporters. The villagers put up resistance, and in the ensuing fight, several villagers were killed. Kilsby gives its name to the Kilsby Tunnel; a railway tunnel on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. The construction of the tunnel between 1835 and 1838 caused considerable disruption to the village, as more than 1,200 navvies lived in a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

on the edge of the village, using 200 horses and thirteen steam engines to construct it. The navvies were known for their heavy drinking in the local inns, and on one occasion, troops from the nearby Weedon barracks were called in to quell a

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

. The tunnel measures 1 mile 666 yards (2,216 m). "Kilsby Jones" is the name by which James Rhys Jones is usually known. He was a Welsh congregationalist minister and writer in Kilsby from 1840 to about 1850, when he moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. The village has grown moderately since the 1960s, with a mix of new housing developments and a degree of in-filling. It retains a historic core of attractive buildings including some fine examples of Northamptonshire rubble stone construction, and a number of thatched properties. A Conservation area was designated in the village in 2018, and many of the village's more attractive properties are listed for their historic interest.

Landmarks and amenities

Amenities in the village include an

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

"Good" rated primary school, two pubs, The Red Lion and The George and two churches -

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and URC. The Village also has a volunteer-run, community-owned shop in the car park of the Red Lion pub. This warm community spirit is also evident in a number of thriving community groups, including Womans Institute, Brownies, Girl Guides, as well as a good neighbour community support scheme born out of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and the Kilsby Kronicle village newspaper. The two 1830s ventilation shafts of the Kilsby Tunnel designed by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

are topped with circular crenelated turrets. These structures, visible from the A5 road, are

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 ...

Transport

The village is circa 10 minutes from both Long Buckby and Rugby stations, the latter offering direct services into London Euston in 49 minutes. Between 1881 and 1960, the village used to have a railway station Kilsby and Crick station but this was on the Northampton Loop about a mile (1.5 km) from the village. One of the village's more unusual claims to fame is that the A361 road terminates here at a junction with the A5. The A361 runs to

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

making it the longest 'three-digit' road in Britain. A consequence of these roads is that the majority of through traffic bypasses the heart of the village ensuring the main road through the village is relatively quiet.

Notable residents

Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 fo ...

briefly lived at 'Laurelcroft', 1 North Street, until 1949.''Rugby Advertiser'' Friday 23 December 1949, page 6

References

External links

Kilsby C.E. Primary SchoolKilsby village website

St Faith's Church websiteWest Northamptonshire Local History
website]
Kilsby Conservation Area
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire