Kingsthorpe (St. John the Baptist)

KINGSTHORPE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Northampton, hundred of Spelhoe, S. division of the county of Northampton, 2 miles (N. by W.) from the town of Northampton; containing 1467 inhabitants. This was anciently a royal demesne, governed by a bailiff who had a common seal; and among the privileges possessed by the inhabitants, was exemption from toll. At present, a certain number of freeholders under the payment of a fixed annual rent to the grantee, hold the manor in trust for the town, and all manorial business is transacted in a small building called the Town-house, erected by Lady Prichard. On the west, the parish is bounded by the river Nene; and the roads from Northampton to Leicester and Market-Harborough branch off from the town or village, which is of considerable extent, and is situated close to the left bank of the river: the parish consists of 1830 acres. Here are extensive quarries of white freestone. The living is annexed, with that of Upton, to the rectory of St. Peter's, Northampton: the tithes were commuted for land in 1766. The church is partly Norman, and partly in the later English style. There is a place of worship for Baptists. Elizabeth Cooke and Margaret Freemaux, in 1753, assigned a small estate for the support of a school.