Easton Neston (parish)
| Easton Neston Parish | |
 Easton Neston east elevation on 12 July 1987, on charity Open Gardens evant with the nearby Silverstone British Grand Prix in full swing and full earshot |
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  Easton Neston Parish |
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| Population | 74 (est.2010)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | SP704493 |
| – London | 66 miles (106 km) |
| Civil parish | Easton Neston |
| District | South Northamptonshire |
| Shire county | Northamptonshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TOWCESTER |
| Postcode district | NN12 |
| Dialling code | 01327 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | South Northamptonshire |
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Coordinates: 52°09′N 0°58′W / 52.15°N 0.96°W
Easton Neston is situated in South Northamptonshire, England. Though the village of Easton Neston which was inhabited until around 1500 is now gone, the parish retains the name.[2] At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish remained less than 100 and was included in the town of Towcester.
The rural civil parish has a population of about 70 and about 1,800 acres (730 ha) of mainly farmland and woods around the South Northamptonshire communities of Easton Neston House, and the hamlets of Hulcote and Showsley.[3]
The ecclesiastical parish of Easton Neston is much larger, with a population of approximately 1200.[4]
Location
The parish is adjacent to the north-east side of Towcester. Showsley can accessed by a left turn off the A43 road between Northampton and Towcester about half a mile south of the Tiffield and Blisworth junctions. Alternatively, it can be approached in the other direction from Shutlanger. Hulcote can be accessed by the second left turn of the A43 past the turn for Showsley. This turn follows the route of the old A43 prior to the construction of the Towcester by-pass. The old route itself was built west of the old road which followed the line of the "Old Road Spinney" marked on Ordnance Survey maps. Immediately after turning make a sharp left turn towards Hulcote which is about half a mile at the end of a cul-de-sac. The Easton Neston House and Estate are private property and may be periodically open to the public.
Buildings
Estate
Easton Neston House was built for Sir William Fermor (later Lord Lemstor) in 1685-1695 and remodelled by Nicholas Hawksmoor, 1700-1702.[5] It was built on the site of Easton Nestone village, the main Oxford to Northampton road being re-routed to the west. The grounds also have 18th century Stables and a Temple dated 1641. There are Entrance Lodges on the old Towcester Road north-west and south-west of the house of about 1822. There is a public footpath runs from the north-west lodge east to Hulcote.
The Parish Church of St Mary[6] is on the south side of Easton Neston estate and in the Church of England's Diocese of Peterborough.[3] Its origins are 13th century and it has box pews.[5] There are several monuments to the Fermor-Hesketh family from the main house including Sir Richard Fermor (d.1552).
Visitors to St Mary's are welcome on occasional Heritage Open Days.
In January 2011, the BBC were due to record a service from the church as part of a documentary on Easton Neston.[6]
Towcester Racecourse is in the southern part of the estate.
Showsley
In Showsley there are the remains of a 12th century Cistercian Priory (known as "Sewardsley" Priory).[7] The area was explored by Channel 4's archaeological television programme Time Team in 2007 and the episode about the dig first screened on 27 January 2008.[8] The dig found the priory church, about 90 feet by 20 feet in size; and the cloister, measuring about 45 feet square. There were some striking floor tiles decorated with images of a dog and others with a flower; and large amounts of pottery. The team also looked at what was thought to have been an antiquarian garden feature. This was found to be actually graves, complete with the remains of the people who had been buried there. Two were of particular interest. These had not been cut together but were finished off together, suggesting that their occupants were connected in some way.
Railway
Part of the trackbed of the dismantled Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR)[9] runs east to west between Showsley and north of Hulcote towards the site of Towcester Station, now the site of a Tesco supermarket. The line ran from Towcester to Stoke Bruerne and then east to join the West Coast Main Line and then into Bedfordshire.
See also
References
- ↑ SNC (2010). South Northamptonshire Council Year Book 2010-2011. Towcester NN12 7FA. p. 39.
- ↑ History of St Mary's Easton Neston. Friends of St Mary's. 2008.
- 1 2 Easton Neston Parish Website
- ↑ 2011 Census
- 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1961). The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 200–205. ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3.
- 1 2 Parish Church of St Mary with 2011 service times and map of how to reach it. Accessed 2 January 2011
- ↑ British History Online: The Priory of Sewardsley or Sewersley, in the parish of Easton Neston - accessed 2 January 2011
- ↑ Channel 4's Time Tean exploring the Showsley Priory site in 2007
- ↑ "Stratford upon Avon and Midland Junction Railway". Retrieved 2 January 2011.