Hardwick, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Hardwick, a village and a parish in Northamptonshire, on the river Nen, 3 miles WNW from Wellingborough stations on the L. & N.W.R. and M.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Wellingborough. Acreage, 12 69; population, 90. A house here, occupied by the Sharman family, was formerly an abode of Rnights Templars. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; net yearly value, £178. The church is an ancient building of stone in the Early English style, with a tower, and contains several ancient monuments.
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 | Hardwick St. Leonard | |
Hundred | Orlingbury | |
Poor Law union | Wellingborough |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register or burials dates from the year 1559 and of baptisms and marriages from 1561.
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. Leonard (parish church)
The church of St. Leonard is an ancient building of stone chiefly in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, south aisle, north porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 8 tubular, bells, but the old pre-Reformation bell still stands in the tower: the pulpit is of Derbyshire spar, inlaid with mosaic work on a base of Caen stone: the eagle lectern is of carved oak, and there is an Early English font: in the south wall of the chancel is a quaint monument of alabaster, with effigies in brass, and inscription to Sir Francis Nicolls bart. 1641; in the pavement in the nave are four inscribed brasses to Anne, wife of Francis Nicolls, 1591; William Nicholls, 1574; Edward Bagshawe, 1620; and Henry Bagshawe, 1621: the church was thoroughly restored in 1866, at a cost of £1,400, when it was new roofed, the south aisle and porch rebuilt, the interior seated with oak, and other additions made: there are 140 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Hardwick from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hardwick (St. Leonard))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
The Manor House is said to have once been a Preceptory of the Knights Templars, and bears a stone in the front stating that it was restored and enlarged in 1775; in the old state room is a carved oak coat of arms belonging to the Nicholls family, who once occupied the house.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Hardwick 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: