Hardingstone, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Hardingstone, a parish in Northamptonshire, on the river Nen, the Grand Junction Canal, and the L. & N.W.R., 2 miles S by E from Northampton, but containing the Northampton station of the L. & N.W.R. It includes the hamlets of Cotton End, Far Cotton, and Delapre Abbey, and has a post and money order office under Northampton; telegraph office. Far Cotton. Acreage, 2964; population of the civil parish, 3016; of the ecclesiastical, 764. The abbey, which stands in a beautiful park of 346 acres, was founded in the reign of Stephen, and some portions of the original building still remain. A Queen Eleanor's cross, of three stones, octagonal, and on 8 steps, is near Delapre Abbey, and was built by Edward I., and restored in 1887. A circular camp, enclosing upwards of 4 acres, and supposed to have been formed by Sweyn, the father of King Canute, is on a commanding eminence to the SW of Eleanor's cross. A battle, commonly called the battle of Northampton, between Warwick the Kingmaker and Henry VI., was fought, in 1459, at Hardingstone Fields. There are paper-mills at Far Cotton, and wharfs and warehouses on the canal at Cotton End. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Peterborough; gross yearly value, £555 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Peterborough. The church is an ancient building of stone, in mixed styles. It was thoroughly restored in 1869, and it contains some interesting tombs and monuments. There is a Baptist chapel, and there are several useful charities. James Hervey, M.A., author of " Meditations among the Tombs," 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 | Hardingstone St. Edmund | |
| Hundred | Wymmersley | |
| Poor Law union | Hardingstone |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1562.
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. Edmund (parish church)
The church of St. Edmund is an ancient edifice of local stone, partly in the Early English style, and consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, north and south porches, south chapel and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing a clock and 5 bells: the chancel retains sedilia: the stained east window was erected 9th Feb. 1869, to the late Lieut.-General Sir Henry Frederick Bouverie G.S.B., G.C.M.G. who died 14 Nov. 1852, by the tenants and other inhabitants of the parish; the east window of the north aisle was erected by John Francis Mercer, in 1871, as a memorial to his parents, and there are other stained windows: the font was the gift of the architect, Mr. Palgrave: against the north wall of the chancel is a marble monument, with portrait busts in low relief, by Michael Rysbraeck, to Bartholomew Clarke, 1746, and Mary, his wife, 1768, and to Hitch Young esq. 1759: there are also here many tablets to the Bouverie family: on the south side of the chancel is the Harvey chapel, containing on the south a very narrow altar tomb, with recumbent effigy in freestone, to Sir Stephen Harvey K.B. 1630: the sides of the tomb are adorned with shields of arms and an inscription, and above it is a monumental tablet, with trophies: on the north side of the chapel is an ancient and curious marble monument, with effigies disposed in two tiers, to Stephen and Annie Harvey, and their three sons; the first tier is divided by two small Corinthian pillars into three canopied compartments; in the centre is the kneeling effigy of Stephen Harvey esq. merchant, ob. 1636; under the eastern arch a similar effigy of William Harvey esq. ob. 1633; and under the western arch a like effigy of Sir Francis Harvey kt. judge of the Common Pleas, ob. Aug. 1632; on the tier above these are the effigies of Stephen Harvey esq. ob. 1606, and Anne, his wife, ob. 1590 (parents of the above), kneeling before an altar: in the chancel are also various monuments of the 18th century to the Tate family: the church was thoroughly restored in 1869, under the direction of Mr. Palgrave, architect, of London, at a cost of £1,450, towards which the late General Bouverie contributed £1,100, the chancel being also restored entirely at his expense: the church has 320 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist chapel
The Baptist chapel, a plain edifice of red brick, was erected in 1857 at a cost of £170, and has 180 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Hardingstone from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hardingstone (St. Edmund))
- Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, 1914
Land and Property
Delapre Abbey is about half a mile south from Northampton, and stands in a well-wooded and undulating park of 346 acres; the abbey was founded in the reign of Stephen, by Simon de St. Liz the younger, Earl of Northampton, for nuns of the Cluniac order, and dedicated to St. Mary de la Pre or de Pratis; its revenues, in 26 Henry VIII. (1534) were valued at £119, and it was surrendered Dec. 16th, 30 Henry VIII. (1538): of the ancient structure, part of the dormitories and the principal entrance remain as when built, but the southern portion of the abbey has been much altered at different dates.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Hardingstone 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:
Poor Law
Hardingstone was the head of a Poor Law Union, which comprised the following places:- Brafield-on-the-Green, Castle Ashby, Cogenhoe, Collingtree, Courteenhall, Denton, Far Cotton, Great Houghton, Hackleton, Hardingstone, Horton, Little Houghton, Milton or Middleton Malsor, Piddington, Preston Deanery, Quinton, Roade, Rothersthorpe, Whiston, Wootton & Yardley Hastings.
The population of the union in 1911 was 12,302; area, 32,924 acres; rateable value in April, 1914, £83,847.
Workhouse
The union Workhouse was at Wootton and held 130 inmates.