Upper Catesby is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the

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 ...

of Catesby, Northamptonshire, about southwest of

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

. The hamlet is about above sea level, at the top of a northwest-facing

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

. The population is included in the civil parish of

Hellidon Hellidon is a village and civil parish about south-west of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. The parish area is about . It lies – above sea level on the north face of an ironstone ridge, its highest point, at Windmill Hill, being so ...

Archaeology

In 1895 during the sinking of a shaft for Catesby Tunnel a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

cinerary urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

was found about south of Upper Catesby.

Village

The village's name means 'farm/settlement of Katr/Kati'. In 1389 Upper Catesby was recorded as ''Overcatsby''. It is a

shrunken village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, ...

. The modern hamlet has only a handful of 19th- and 20th-century houses, but is surrounded by numerous earthen features showing where cottages and the main village street had been. Most of the fields around the former village still have clear

ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an Archaeology, archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open field system, open-field system. It is a ...

marks from the ploughing of the medieval arable farming with an

open field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acr ...

divided into narrow strips.

Catesby House

Catesby House is a

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...

country house about west of Upper Catesby. It was built in 1863 and enlarged in 1894. It includes 16th-century

linenfold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

panelling said to come from Catesby Priory, and 17th-century panelling, doorcases and a stair with barley-sugar balusters, all from the previous 17th-century Catesby House that was in Lower Catesby.

Catesby Tunnel

Catesby Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel on the route of the former

Great Central Main Line The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension is a former main line railway in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899, built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), which had been renamed t ...

. It passes about west of Upper Catesby and about east of Catesby House. The tunnel's north portal is about northwest of the hamlet, and its south portal is about north of

Charwelton Charwelton is a village and civil parish about south of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population (including Fawsley) as 220. The villages name means ' River Cherwell farm/settlement'. The prese ...

, just inside the southern boundary of Catesby parish.

References

Sources

* * * {{Daventry District Deserted medieval villages in Northamptonshire Hamlets in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District