Wappenham, Northamptonshire
Historical Description
Wappenham, a parish, with a village, and the hamlets of Astwell and Falcott, in Northamptonshire, 5 miles SW of Towcester. It has a station on the Northampton and Banbury Junction (L. & N.W.R.), and a post and money order office under Towcester; telegraph office, Helmdon. Acreage, 2312; population of the civil parish, 409; of the ecclesiastical, 509. There is a parish council consisting, of nine members. The manor belongs to the baronet family of Loder. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough; gross value, £431 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Peterborough. The church, a building of stone in mixed styles, consists of chancel, nave, aisles, N and S porches, vestry, and embattled western tower with four bells, and contains some ancient and interesting brasses. There is a Wesleyan chapel, and there are a few small charities. Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, foundress of the religious society bearing her name, was born in 1707 at Astwell Castle, a fine mediaeval structure still standing.
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 | Wappenham St. Mary | |
Hundred | Kings-Sutton | |
Poor Law union | Towcester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with the Northamptonshire Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts for Northamptonshire online.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Wappenham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wappenham (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northamptonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Wappenham 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: