Wootton, Northamptonshire

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.20066
longitude= -0.88569
official_name= Wootton
population = 2,015
(Nene Valley Ward)
shire_district= Northampton
shire_county = Northamptonshire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster= Northampton South
post_town= Northampton
postcode_district = NN4
postcode_area = NN
dial_code= 01604
os_grid_reference= SP762564
static_

static_image_caption= The former Northamptonshire Regiment's and Royal Pioneer Corps'
"Simpson Barracks" at the former
Hardingstone Workhouse building,
now new housing called Regency Place, Wootton, Northampton

Wootton, Northamptonshire is a village ca.convert|3|mi|km|0 south of Northampton town centre and now part of the Northampton Borough Council area.

The village backs on to a several modern housing estates including Wootton Fields and the area previously occupied by an army barracks. The development and loss of village character has occurred as the town expands south towards the M1 motorway near junction 15 and is next to the large housing estates of Wootton Fields, Grange Park and East Hunsbury.

The village is separated from Hardingstone by the Newport Pagnell Road the B526, formerly part of the A50 road. Part of the village is alongside the busy A45 dual carriageway from the M1 to Wellingborough which is seen and heard from that part of the village.

History

In the Domesday Book, Wootton is described as “Wetone”. It later became Weton, Wutton and then Witton, with the name Wootton not appearing till the 14th century. The names probably have the Saxon origin of "Wudutun" and mean settlement or farmstead in, or by, a wood, which may have been Salcey Forest.Except for the church, little of the village dates from earlier than Stuart times. Most of the stone houses are ca. late 17th or early 18th century. Many of these houses were originally thatched, as can be seen from the steep pitch of the roof

Many brick cottages are at least as old the stone houses, with those in Church Hill at least 1770's, as they are mentioned in the Enclosure Award of 1779. Wootton had its own brick works along Berry Lane. A nearby field was known as Clay Pit field as late as 1932, but even in 1899, it was known as the "Old" Brick Works and used for many years as an ash tip. The Department of the Environment listed Carey's Cottage in Berry Lane as 16th century.

The Northamptonshire Regiment and later Royal Pioneer Corps were stationed at the former Quebec Barracks, later renamed Simpson Barrackscite web|title = Simpson Barracks of the Royal Pioneer Corps|url = http://www.royalpioneercorps.co.uk/rpc/history_simpson.htm
accessdate = 2008-10-08] on a large site adjacent to the Newport Pagnell Road which include the old Hardingstone workhouse buildingcite web|title = Hardingstone Union Workhouse|url = http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Hardingstone/Hardingstone.shtml|accessdate = 2008-10-08] . The Barracks closed on 1 April, 1993 and the site is now used for a housing estate, including the old workhouse, many road names reflecting its military origin. During the war the corps had an ammunition dump hidden in woods at Yardley Chase, where signs still remain.

Governance

As a former village distinct from the town, it has its own Parish Council, unlike more recent 20th and 21st century suburbs of the town. The area has a Parish Councilcite web|title = Wootton and Hunsbury Parish Council|url = http://www.woottonpc.co.uk/|accessdate = 2008-09-25] which includes East Hunsbury a rural part of the parish before development in the 1980s.The village is in the Nene Valley two-member ward of Northampton Borough Council and in the Nene Valley single-member division of Northamptonshire County Council.

Demographics

The 2001 censuscite web|title = UK census 2001 - data for Nene Valley Ward which includes Collingtree and East Husburr|url = http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=797319&c=Hardingstone&d=16&e=15&g=473401&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1223056005500&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779
accessdate = 2008-10-03] showed there were 2,015 people living in the parish, 978 male, 1,037 female in 885 dwellings.

Facilities

CommunityThere a community centre; a recreation ground with Multi-use games area; a Working men's club; opticians and a medical centre

CommercialThe village has two pub/restaurants - "The Yeoman of Old England" in the centre of the old village. The second, “The Queen Eleanor” together with a Premier Inn hotel are both on Newport Pagnell road near the Queen Eleanor junction of Mereway and the A45. There is a village shop, butcher, chemist and a large *Wyevale Garden Centre in Newport Pagnell Road

ChurchThe parish church is dedicated to St George. A memorial in the south wall is to the wife of John Harris - the Lord of the Manor in the eighteenth century.

SchoolsThe village primary school is Wootton County founded in 1873.

A modern all-through Caroline Chisholm School for young people aged 4-19 is located on Wooldale Road.

References

External links

* [http://www.northampton.gov.uk Northampton Borough Council]
* [http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/ Northamptonshire County Council]
* [http://www.ccs.northants.sch.uk/ Caroline Chisholm School in Wooldale Road, Wootton]
* [http://www.pocketparks.com/locations/parkdetail.asp?action=d&did=5&id=52 Pocket park website]
* [http://www.prestonhedges.northants.sch.uk/ Preston Hedges Primary School, Wootton Hope Drive]