Little Brington is a village in Brington 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

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 ...

, England. It has one little school that currently holds around 50 children. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'.

Little Brington church

Little Brington church is notable for having a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

but no

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer Vice-Admiral Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, KG, CB, PC (14 April 1798 – 27 December 1857), styled The Honourable Frederick Spencer until 1845, was a British naval commander, courtier, and Whig politician. He initially served in the Ro ...

(1798–1857) built the church of St John as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

and a memorial to his first wife, the former Elizabeth Georgina Poyntz whom he had married in 1830. The church consisted of a chancel, nave and tower with a tall spire and was built in the local brown ironstone of the area. In the 19th century and early in the 20th services were held on a regular basis. The Earl had provided the church for the convenience of villagers from Little Brington and

Nobottle Nobottle is a hamlet in West Northamptonshire in England. The population is included in the civil parish of Brington. It borders the Althorp estate, which owns much of the property. Nobottle used to have a 600yd rifle range (the only one in N ...

, who found it difficult to attend St. Mary's in

Great Brington Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin church is the parish church. The village's name means 'Farm/settlement con ...

(almost 1 mile distant). St John's could seat approximately 150 people and was licensed for baptisms and marriages; funerals and burials were held in Great Brington St Mary's. By the 1940s, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair, mainly because of a leaking roof. The main body of the church was demolished after the war in 1947. At the request of the Air Ministry, however, the distinctive tower with its octagonal spire was spared. It had become a landmark to navigators and likely serves the same purpose today. The spire, at , can be seen for many miles in every direction and is invariably a mystery to passersby; the narrow entrance to the circular staircase within the tower has been sealed up to deter vandals.

Persons of note

The Australian cricket umpire

Ted Wykes Edgar Frederick Wykes, OAM, (born 28 April 1921 in Little Brington, Northamptonshire, England) was an Australian cricket Test match umpire. His family emigrated from the UK to Australia in 1925 as assisted immigrants. He was a cricket player ...

was born in Little Brington in 1921.

References

External links

Great Brington Parish
* Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub