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Mears Ashby, Northamptonshire

Historical Description

Mears Ashby, a village and a parish in Northamptonshire, 3½ miles from Castle Ashby station on the L. & N.W.R., 4 W from Wellingborough, and 7 NE from Northampton. There is a post and money order office under Northampton; telegraph office, Earls Barton. Acreage of parish, 1670; population, 431. The parish council, under the Local Government Act, 1894, consists of seven members. Mears Ashby Hall is a fine ancient mansion of stone standing amidst pleasant grounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough; gross value, £124 with residence. The church is a building of stone, partly Early English, partly Perpendicular, and partly in the Transition and Decorated styles. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyNorthamptonshire 
Ecclesiastical parishMears Ashby All Saints 
HundredHamfordshoe 
Poor Law unionWellingborough 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The register dates from the year 1670.

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

All Saints (parish church)

The church of All Saints is a substantial building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays with clerestory, aisles, south porch and a low embattled western tower with pinnacles containing a clock and 6 bells: the clerestory windows and the north aisle are Late Perpendicular, the tower Early English and the remainder of the church is in the Transition and Decorated styles: the chancel retains a piscina and credence: there is also a piscina at the east end of the south aisle: the whole of the church was restored in 1858, at a cost of about £1,700; during the restoration a fresco was discovered over the chancel arch, depicting the "Last Judgment": the Decorated east window and two others in the chancel are stained: one of the latter, erected in 1858, is a memorial to the Rev. William Stockdale, vicar from 1814; the other, placed in 1886, to Lieut. Eustace Hervey Stockdale, of the 68th Light Infantry, and son of Major Henry Minshull Stockdale esq.: there is a memorial window in the south aisle to Mrs. Newby and her son, the Rev. Henry Newby M.A. vicar here 1857-74; the latter is also commemorated by a lancet window in the tower, erected by the inhabitants of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, of which place Mr. Newby was also some time vicar: a new organ was presented in 1903 by H. M. Stockdale esq. and family in memory of the late Mrs. Stockdale, who had provided the previous organ in 1883: there are 250 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 Mears Ashby from the following:


Land and Property

Mears Ashby Hall was rebuilt in 1637 by Mr. Clendon, and in 1859 was enlarged, and in the course of the work materials of a much older fabric were found to have been used in rebuilding: it is a noble mansion of stone in the Elizabethan style, pleasantly situated and surrounded with lawns and commands a fine view of woodland scenery.

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.


Maps

Online maps of Mears Ashby are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Northamptonshire papers online:

DistrictWellingborough
CountyNorthamptonshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Postal districtNN6
Post TownNorthampton

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