Fawsley, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Fawsley, a village and parish in Northamptonshire. The parish lies 4 miles S from Daventry, and 5- WSW from Weedon station on the L. & N.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Daventry. Acreage, 1888; population, 61. The manor has belonged since the time of Henry III. to the family of Knightley. Fawsley Park, the seat of that family, stands in a charming situation amid an extensive park, is an ancient edifice, in various styles of architecture, and includes a magnificent apartment 54 feet long, 24 wide, and 43 high, with an open timber roof. The parish had for-'-merly a market. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough; gross value, £90 with residence. Patron— Lord Knightley. The church is good and interesting, and contains monuments of the Knightleys. Bishop Wilkins was -a. native.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Northamptonshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Fawsley St. Mary | |
Hundred | Fawsley | |
Poor Law union | Daventry |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1588.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with the Northamptonshire Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts for Northamptonshire online.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is a building of stone, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of three bays, aisles, south porch and a western tower containing 4 bells: the pews are of old oak, quaintly carved: in the church are a large number of memorials to the Knightley family, lords of this manor since the reign of Henry V. and barons Knightley in 1892: these include a very perfect brass with effigies of a knight in armour and his lady; at their feet is a long admonitory inscription in Latin, and below are figures of six daughters; at the head and foot are shields of arms, and inclosing the whole is a marginal legend to Sir Edwarde Knyghtleye kt. ob. 1542, and Ursula (de Vere), his wife, ob. 1557: there is also another brass, in excellent preservation, of a knight in armour, covered with a surcoat bearing the arms of Knightley and over his bead a heart, from which spring three inscribed scrolls; there are shields of arms at the corners of the slab and below the effigy is an inscription to Thomas Knightley esq., second son of Richard Knightley, ob. 1516, and his wife Johanna (Burneby): on the south side of the nave is an altar tomb, with fine recumbent effigies of Sir Richard Knightley kt. ob. 1534, and Joan (Skennard or Skinnerton), his wife, ob. 1539; the effigy of the knight is in armour with emblazoned surcoat and collar of SS.; the lady is partly clad in ermine and has pedimental head dress: there are other memorials to Sir Valentine Knightley kt. ob. 1566, and Anne (Ferrers), his wife, ob. 1554; Sir Richard Knightley kt. ob. 1615: his first wife, Mary (Fermor), ob. 1573; and Lady Elizabeth Seymour, his second wife, ob. 1602; besides three knights and many more representatives of this ancient and distinguished family down to the present time-: the stained east window, erected by his tenants, 1866, is a memorial to Sir Charles Knightley bart. who died 30 Aug. 1864, and Selina Mary (Hervey), his wife, d. 27 July, 1856: there are 100 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Fawsley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Fawsley (St. Mary))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
Fawsley Park is the seat of Knightley family; the mansion comprises a centre and two wings, forming three sides of a quadrangle, and is near the church in a beautiful park of 300 acres, well wooded and stocked with deer, and containing two ornamental lakes of 13 acres; in the park are ruins of a former hall and the remains of ancient Roman entrenchments.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Fawsley are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Northamptonshire papers online: