Tiffield 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 ...

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, north of

Towcester Towcester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district. Towcester is on ...

between the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Bulawayo ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

to its west and the

A43 road The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands and northern South East England, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kette ...

to its east. The village's name origin is dubious. It has been suggested that the primary component of this obscure name could be 'meeting place', '

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

' or '

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

/swarm'. "Field" meant a piece of open land and the whole name could mean open land with or near to a meeting place.

Governance

Tiffield is part of the district of

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 ...

Demographics

The 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

shows 370 residents, 185 each male and female, living in 142 dwellings. The population at the 2011 census included

Adstone Adstone is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population at the 2001 census was 65. It remained than 100 at the 2011 census and was included in the civil parish of Tiffield. Adstone is situated approximately sou ...

but had fallen to 362.

Facilities

The

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

is one of the smallest in the country, with just 46 pupils in the 2007–08 academic year. It is

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, ...

Voluntary Aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

and has two classrooms. The old

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

school building, used for KS2 and a 1960s mobile classroom for KS1, was to be demolished in summer 2008 and replaced by a modern classroom behind the Victorian building. Most pupils who leave the school progress to

Sponne School Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, is the oldest secondary school in Northamptonshire, and one of the oldest in the country. Part of the school was originally Towcester Grammar School, until grammar schools were abolished in ...

in Towcester. There is a church dedicated to St John the Baptist and a pub, The George. It also has a

pocket park A pocket park (also known as a parkette, mini-park, vest-pocket park or vesty park) is a small park accessible to the general public. While the locations, elements, and uses of pocket parks vary considerably, the common defining characteristic of ...

and a playing field, Claydon's Field, which was opened in 1979 after eight years of fundraising by villagers. The village has one main road, which runs from the St. John's turning on the A43 to the village of Gayton. Two 1960s roads exist: Pigeon Hill at the southern end of the village and Meadow Rise at the northern end. The village is approximately ½ mile long. It is linked directly to Gayton and

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in West London, west Greater London, London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came fr ...

by road. Tiffield Pocket Park was declared a Local

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in 2008. The Pocket Park land was originally part of the Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway, which was closed in the 1960s. It now is a linear trail connecting several footpaths and rights of way. Three orchid species are found within the Pocket Park and may be seen flowering between April and June (depending on the season).

The Gateway School

The Gateway school teaches more than 50 pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. It moved from its old building in Raeburn Road, Northampton in May 2008 which cost £6.4m of government funding. The official opening ceremony was attended by HRH The

Duchess of Gloucester Duchess of Gloucester is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Gloucester. There have been five titles referring to Gloucester since the 14th century. The current duchess is Birgitt ...

. The site was occupied by an

approved school An approved school was a type of residential institution in the United Kingdom to which young people could be sent by a court, usually for committing offences but sometimes because they were deemed to be beyond parental control. They were model ...

many years ago and, before that the Northampton Society's Reformatory School for Boys which opened on 21 January 1856.

Iron industry

There was an iron works next to the railway to the south of the village. It lasted from 1875 to 1882. It operated the Siemens Direct Process using ore from a nearby quarry at Hulcote but the local ore was found to be unsuitable for that process. The quarry continued in operation until 1920, as did a newer quarry started closer to Tiffield in 1908.

References

External links

{{commons category
Tiffield Parish CouncilTiffield Primary School's website
Villages in Northamptonshire