Barnwell (St. Andrew)

BARNWELL (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Oundle, hundred of Polebrook, N. division of the county of Northampton, 2½ miles (S. by E.) from Oundle; containing 282 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1515a. 2r. 17p., and is bounded on the northwest by the Nene; on the east it is bounded by the county of Huntingdon, and the village is a little to the left of the road from Oundle to Thrapstone. Here also is a station of the Northampton and Peterborough railway. Stone for building and for the repair of roads is quarried, and a variety of fossils have been found. The living is a rectory, to which that of Barnwell All Saints was united in 1821, valued in the king's books at £17. 2. 1.; net income, £298; patron, Lady Montagu. The tithes of the two parishes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1830; there are 26 acres of glebe, and an excellent parsonage-house. The church is a fine specimen of the early and decorated English styles, with a tower and spire. There is a free school, founded in the 2nd of James I. by the Rev. Nicholas Latham, who also established an almshouse for 14 infirm men and women, bequeathing estates for these purposes, and for the relief of persons in distress. The income was augmented in 1824, by a bequest from Mr. William Bigley, of London, who also left an endowment for building a school-house, and educating and clothing 15 girls of Barnwell St. Andrew and Oundle. In the reign of Henry I. a baronial castle was erected here by Reginald le Moine, of which there are considerable remains, including the principal gateway.