Naseby, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Naseby, a village and a parish in Northamptonshire. The village stands on the highest land in the county, at or near the sources of the rivers Avon, Welland, and Nen, 4 miles WSW of Kelmarsh station on the Northampton and Market Harborough section of the L. & N.W.R., and 7 SW by S of Market Harborough; was once a market-town, and has a post office under Rugby; money order office, Welford; telegraph office, Thornby. An ancient market-cross, a plain stone column, stood adjacent to the churchyard, but was removed to the E entrance of the village, and a stone cross now stands on the old site. The parish comprises 3419 acres; population, 551. The property belongs chiefly to Viscount Clif-den, who owns the manor, and to the Hincks family. Naseby Woolley is a fine mansion of stone about 1½ mile NW from the village. The scene of the famous battle of Naseby in 1645, when Cromwell defeated Charles I. and Prince Rupert, lies on the N side of the village; has a square stone obelisk, erected in 1823 in commemoration of the battle, and commands a view over an expanse of country, with nearly 40 churches. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough; net value, £140 with residence. The church is a building of stone in the Early English style, comprises nave, aisles, and chancel; was thoroughly restored in 1860; has a tower and handsome spire, rebuilt in 1860; and contains in the tower a memorial window to the late Rev. J. Jones. There is a Wesleyan chapeL
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 | Naseby All Saints | |
Hundred | Guilsborough | |
Poor Law union | Brixworth |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1563.
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 building of stone in the Early Eriglish style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north and south porches, and an embattled western tower with crocketed spire containing a clock and 5 bells, dated 1633 and 1640, and bearing various inscriptions: in the south aisle is a fine Decorated piscina, and in the tower is a memorial window to the Rev. James Jones and in the chancel one to Edward Waring Ashby, who died at school, 5th December, 1872: the old copper ball, formerly surmounting a wooden staff or post on the top of the unfinished spire, and placed there about 1790 by George Ashby esq. was taken down on the restoration of the church and presented by the parish to Capt. G. A. Ashby, of this place; at his death it was purchased by R. B. Loder esq. of Maidwell, in whose garden it now stands; this relic was brought by Sir Gyles Alington from Boulogne, when that place was taken in 1544, and was first placed on the cupola of his house at Horseheath, Cambs; but on the dismantling of this building, it was purchased by Mr. Ashby; it will hold, it is said, 60 gallons: the church was thoroughly restored in 1860, when the tower was rebuilt and the spire completed; the weathercock on it is the highest thing in the county, being 760 feet above sea level; in 1891 an organ was presented by the inhabitants, as a memorial to Capt. Ashby, d. 1890: there are sittings for 400 persons.
Methodist
Wesleyan chapel
The Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1825, was restored in 1871, and seats 200 persons
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 Naseby from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Naseby (All Saints))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
Naseby Hall is a mansion of brick and stone, rebuilt in 1905, and about 1½ miles north-west from the village.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Naseby 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: