Charwelton
Encyclopedia
Charwelton is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Daventry
in Northamptonshire
, England. Its toponym
is derived from the River Cherwell
beside which the village stands.
The village is where the main road between Daventry and Banbury
, now the A361
, crosses the river.
of Charwelton to the Cistercian Biddlesden Abbey
in Buckinghamshire
. The Abbey retained the manor until it surrendered all its properties to the Crown
in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1538.
Charwelton Manor House contains much early 16th century panelling, an early 17th century fireplace and a late 17th century staircase. It is an ironstone
building of two storeys with a hipped roof. Its present facade of five bays
was added probably early in the 18th century.
of the Holy Trinity
is at Church Charwelton about 1 miles (1.6 km) south-east of the village. Its earliest features include the west windows of the south aisle, which are a stepped trio of lancet window
s from about 1300. Holy Trinity has both a south and a north aisle, and the latter has a Perpendicular Gothic three-bay arcade
. The west tower is also Decorated Gothic. The south porch is Perpendicular Gothic and the font
may be 15th century. The chancel
was largely rebuilt in 1901–04. Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed building.
Holy Trinity contains a series of monuments to the Andrewe or Andrewes family. Several family members who died late in the 15th or early in the 16th century are commemorated by monumental brasses. The largest are a pair 4 feet (1.2 m) long representing Thomas Andrewe (died 1496) and his wife. From the latter half of the 16th century are two carved stone memorials. A tomb-chest bears recumbent effigies of Sir Thomas Andrew (died 1564) and his two successive wives, while a well-carved relief in fine white stone commemorates Thomas Andrew (died 1590) and his family. The church interior also includes decoration by the artist Henry Bird
of Northampton.
The church tower has a ring
of five bells. Thomas I Newcombe, whose bell-foundry
may have been in Leicester
, cast the oldest bell in 1510. Hugh II Watts, who had foundries in Leicester and Bedford
, cast the tenor bell in 1630. Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester
cast the treble bell in 1716. John Taylor & Son of Loughborough
cast the two youngest bells in 1844.
Holy Trinity parish is part of the Benefice of Badby
with Newnham
and Charwelton with Fawsley and Preston Capes
, which was formed in 1991.
. It has two arches and one cutwater
and may be 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.
West of the manor house are the remains of a set of Medieval fish pond
s that were fed by the river. Just east of the trackbed of the former railway line is the mill mound where a windmill
would have stood.
The Great Central Main Line
from the north of England to London Marylebone was built through the parish in the 1890s and opened in March 1899. The line crossed the river between Charwelton and Church Charwelton. Charwelton railway station
was built just east of the packhorse bridge. Just south of the village were Charwelton Watertroughs
. An industrial railway
that brought ironstone
from quarries at Hellidon
to the main line at Charwelton station. British Rail
ways closed Charwelton station in March 1963 and the line in September 1966.
, the Fox and Hounds. It has also a village hall.
Charwelton BT Tower
is near the village.
Daventry
Daventry is a market town in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 22,367 .-Geography:The town is also the administrative centre of the larger Daventry district, which has a population of 71,838. The town is 77 miles north-northwest of London, 13.9 miles west of Northampton and 10.2...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England. Its toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is derived from the River Cherwell
River Cherwell
The River Cherwell is a river which flows through the Midlands of England. It is a major tributary of the River Thames.The general course of the River Cherwell is north to south and the 'straight-line' distance from its source to the Thames is about...
beside which the village stands.
The village is where the main road between Daventry and Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
, now the A361
A361 road
The A361 is a major road in England and at is the longest 3 digit A road in the UK. It runs south from Ilfracombe on the north Devon coast to Barnstaple, turning south-east to Tiverton then, after a break , north east from Taunton in Somerset through Street and Glastonbury, past Frome and then...
, crosses the river.
Manor
At the end of the 12th century William and Ralf de Cheinduit granted the manorManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Charwelton to the Cistercian Biddlesden Abbey
Biddlesden Abbey
Biddlesden was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1147 by Arnold de Bosco , steward to the Earl of Leicester. An abbot was deposed for now unknown reasons in 1192 and in the 14th to 15th centuries there was a long running dispute with the parish of Wappenham concerning the collection of tithes...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. The Abbey retained the manor until it surrendered all its properties to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in 1538.
Charwelton Manor House contains much early 16th century panelling, an early 17th century fireplace and a late 17th century staircase. It is an ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
building of two storeys with a hipped roof. Its present facade of five bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
was added probably early in the 18th century.
Parish church
The Church of England parish churchChurch 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 the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of the Holy Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
is at Church Charwelton about 1 miles (1.6 km) south-east of the village. Its earliest features include the west windows of the south aisle, which are a stepped trio of lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s from about 1300. Holy Trinity has both a south and a north aisle, and the latter has a Perpendicular Gothic three-bay arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
. The west tower is also Decorated Gothic. The south porch is Perpendicular Gothic and the font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
may be 15th century. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was largely rebuilt in 1901–04. Holy Trinity is a Grade I listed building.
Holy Trinity contains a series of monuments to the Andrewe or Andrewes family. Several family members who died late in the 15th or early in the 16th century are commemorated by monumental brasses. The largest are a pair 4 feet (1.2 m) long representing Thomas Andrewe (died 1496) and his wife. From the latter half of the 16th century are two carved stone memorials. A tomb-chest bears recumbent effigies of Sir Thomas Andrew (died 1564) and his two successive wives, while a well-carved relief in fine white stone commemorates Thomas Andrew (died 1590) and his family. The church interior also includes decoration by the artist Henry Bird
Henry Bird (artist)
thumb|220px|right|[[Conversion of St Paul]], a mural by Henry Bird painted in 1973, in [[Denton, Northamptonshire|St Margaret's Church, Denton]]Henry Bird was a British artist from Northampton who painted murals and female nudes. He went to the Royal College of Art and then designed sets at the...
of Northampton.
The church tower has a ring
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
of five bells. Thomas I Newcombe, whose bell-foundry
Bellfounding
Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in...
may have been in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, cast the oldest bell in 1510. Hugh II Watts, who had foundries in Leicester and Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, cast the tenor bell in 1630. Abraham I Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 produced over 5,000 bells. The business was founded by Abraham Rudhall and the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be...
cast the treble bell in 1716. John Taylor & Son of Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
cast the two youngest bells in 1844.
Holy Trinity parish is part of the Benefice of Badby
Badby
Badby is a village and a rural parish of about in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England.-Location:Badby is about south of Daventry, on the A361 Daventry to Banbury road. It is bisected west to east, at about above sea level, by the upper reaches of the River Nene...
with Newnham
Newnham, Northamptonshire
Newnham is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. The village is south of Daventry, west from Weedon Bec, west of junction 16 of the M1 motorway and west of Northampton. The A45 road runs a mile northwest of the village...
and Charwelton with Fawsley and Preston Capes
Preston Capes
Preston Capes is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. The population at the 2001 census was 188.-External links :*...
, which was formed in 1991.
Economic history
Charwelton's earliest surviving crossing over the river is a narrow packhorse bridgePackhorse bridge
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...
. It has two arches and one cutwater
Starling (architecture)
In architecture, a starling or, more commonly, cutwater is a defensive bulwark, usually built with pilings or bricks, surrounding the supports of a bridge or similar construction...
and may be 15th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.
West of the manor house are the remains of a set of Medieval fish pond
Fish pond
A fish pond, or fishpond, is a controlled pond, artificial lake, or reservoir that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, or is used for recreational fishing or for ornamental purposes...
s that were fed by the river. Just east of the trackbed of the former railway line is the mill mound where a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
would have stood.
The Great Central Main Line
Great Central Main Line
The Great Central Main Line , also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , is a former railway line which opened in 1899 linking Sheffield with Marylebone Station in London via Nottingham and Leicester.The GCML was the last main line railway built in...
from the north of England to London Marylebone was built through the parish in the 1890s and opened in March 1899. The line crossed the river between Charwelton and Church Charwelton. Charwelton railway station
Charwelton railway station
Charwelton railway station is a closed station on the former Great Central Railway main line, the last main line to be built from the North of England to London...
was built just east of the packhorse bridge. Just south of the village were Charwelton Watertroughs
Track pan
A track pan or water trough is a device to enable a steam railway locomotive to replenish its water supply while in motion...
. An industrial railway
Industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics or military site...
that brought ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
from quarries at Hellidon
Hellidon
Hellidon is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 180; it reached its highest population, 449, in 1861....
to the main line at Charwelton station. British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways closed Charwelton station in March 1963 and the line in September 1966.
Amenities
Charwelton has a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Fox and Hounds. It has also a village hall.
Charwelton BT Tower
Charwelton BT Tower
Charwelton BT Tower is a telecommunication tower built of reinforced concrete at Charwelton near Byfield, Northamptonshire, England. It is tall and one of the few British towers built of reinforced concrete. It is a landmark for miles around.-See also:...
is near the village.