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Rushden (St. Mary)

RUSHDEN (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Wellingborough, hundred of Higham-Ferrers, N. division of the county of Northampton, 1½ mile (S.) from Higham-Ferrers; containing 1311 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road from Bedford to Kettering, and comprises 3631a. 35p.; the substratum contains blue limestone, which is quarried for building and for the roads. The manufacture of shoes affords employment to about 200 persons: about 300 women and children are occupied in making pillow-lace, and a considerable trade is carried on in coal, timber, and corn, by means of the river Nene which flows through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 16. 3., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £193. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1778; the glebe altogether contains 400 acres of land, of inferior quality. The church is a large and handsome cruciform structure, partaking of the different styles of English architecture; the tower, a fine specimen of the later style, is surmounted by an elegant crocketed spire. The transepts are in the decorated style, and in the chancel are three early English stalls; there are some remains of screen-work, and some ancient stained glass. The General and Particular Baptists, and the Wesleyans, have places of worship. Daniel Whitby, a learned Scripture commentator, and writer on controversial divinity, was born here in 1637, during the incumbency of his father.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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