King's Sutton

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King's Sutton
Northamptonshire

King's Sutton's central crossroads and village green
Location
Grid reference: SP4936
Location: 52°1’23"N, 1°16’34"W
Data
Population: 2,112  (2011[1])
Post town: Banbury
Postcode: OX17
Dialling code: 01295
Local Government
Council: West Northamptonshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Daventry
Website: King’s Sutton Parish Council

King's Sutton is a village and parish in southern Northamptonshire, adjacent to the border with Oxfordshire. It lies in the valley of the River Cherwell, about four miles south-east of Banbury, Oxfordshire.

The parish includes the hamlets of Astrop contiguous with eastern end of King's Sutton and Upper Astrop about a mile north-east, in the same area as the shrunken villages of Great and Little Purston.

History

Early history

The village toponym means the King's south estate.[2]

Blacklands, in the parish half a mile north of the village, is the site of a Roman town.[3][4] Coins from the 4th century AD have been recovered from the site.[5]

The infant Saint Rumwold (or Rumwald, Rumbold or Rumbald) is said to have lived and died at King′s Sutton in 662. Rumwold is said to have lived for only three days but professed his faith continuously during his life.

The Civil War

The Civil War helped develop Banbury’s then arms industry. The Royalist garrison was constantly at work early in 1645 digging saltpetre in King's Sutton and making gunpowder out of it in a house specially built near Banbury. Just over 10 years earlier a government saltpetreman had operated at Banbury for a year, having moved there from the then small market town of Coventry, before moving on to Hook Norton a short while afterwards. King's Sutton was a local centre for saltpetre excavation and digging at the time.[6]

Parish church

The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saints Peter and Paul are the Norman font[5] and largely Norman chancel. The north aisle was added in the 13th century and the south aisle early in the 14th century.[5] The bell tower and most of the windows are Decorated Gothic. The spire was added to the tower probably late in the 14th century, raising the steeple to a height of 198 ft.[7] Sir Nikolaus Pevsner considered it "one of the finest, if not the finest, spire in this county of spires".[7] The south porch, north aisle, west window and very fine east window of the chancel are Perpendicular Gothic.[7]

SS Peter & Paul parish is now part of a single Church of England benefice with the adjacent parish of Newbottle and Charlton.[8]

Other notable buildings

The Court House was built in about 1500, partly of stone and partly timber-framed.[5] It was altered in the 16th and 18th centuries.[5]

The manor house was built in the middle of the 17th century.[5]

Astrop House

Astrop house is a Grade-II* listed country manor about a mile north-east of the village. It is constructed of limestone ashlar in two storeys with a 8-bay frontage [9][10]

It was built c.1740 for Sir John Willes, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1837.[11] Sir John Soane added wings for the Revd William Shippen Willes, which were extended in the 19th century and demolished in 1961.[12] William Wilkinson added the Keeper's lodge, pheasantry and a cottage in 1868.[13] Lancelot "Capability" Brown laid out the grounds.[14]

Astrop was the site of a famous Spa[12] discovered in the 17th century. All that now remains is a small well known as St Rumbald's Well, south of the house in a valley.

Transport

The Oxford and Rugby Railway between Oxford and Banbury was built between 1845 and 1850, passing through the west of King's Sutton parish between the village and the River Cherwell. The Great Western Railway had taken the line over by the time it opened, and in 1872 the GWR opened King's Sutton railway station for the village.[15] Trains to London Marylebone, Birmingham Snow Hill and Oxford now serve the station.

King's Sutton railway station was upgraded and regained its footbridge in 2009. When the footbridge was erected, both a new shelter was added and the fencing was improved amongst other things.

Heritage Trust

King's Sutton Heritage Trust Fund was formed in December 2005 with a Mission Statement which reads 'To promote, protect and enhance the history, facilities, structures, and amenities of the village of King's Sutton and the surrounding area for the benefit of its inhabitants.[16]

Amenities

A picture of farmland outside the village of King's Sutton in Northamptonshire.

King's Sutton has two public houses: The Butchers Arms, and The White Horse.

There is a lawn tennis club.[17]

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125217&c=Kings+Sutton&d=16&e=62&g=6452378&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1467727104934&enc=1. Retrieved 5 July 2016. 
  2. King′s Sutton Heritage Trust Site
  3. Deegan & Foard, 2008, pages 118-119
  4. Council for British Archaeology: South Midlands Region: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire & Oxfordshire
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 279
  6. Crossley, 1972, pages 49-71
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 278
  8. Archbishops' Council (2010). "St Peter & St Paul, King's Sutton". A Church Near You. Church of England. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/king-sutton-st-peter-st-paul/. Retrieved 25 March 2011. 
  9. "Astrop House, King's Sutton". British Listed Buildings. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-423234-astrop-house-kings-sutton-northamptonshi. Retrieved 12 April 2013. 
  10. [1] Picture of house
  11. Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 95
  12. 12.0 12.1 Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 96
  13. Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 529
  14. Stroud, Dorothy (1975). Capability Brown. Faber & Faber. p. 216. ISBN 9780571102679. 
  15. Compton, 1976, page 117
  16. King's Sutton Heritage Trust
  17. King's Sutton Lawn Tennis Club

Further reading

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about King's Sutton)