Croughton, Northamptonshire
| Croughton | |
| Northamptonshire | |
|---|---|
 All Saints' parish church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP544335 |
| Location: | 51°59’50"N, 1°12’33"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 992 (2011) |
| Post town: | Brackley |
| Postcode: | NN13 |
| Dialling code: | 01869 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Northamptonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Northamptonshire |
| Website: | Croughton Parish Council |
Croughton is a village in the very south of Northamptonshire, close by the border of Oxfordshire, marked by the Ockley Brook at the southern edge of the parish, and the River Cherwell further west beyond neighbouring Aynho. Croughton and Aynho are the southernmost villages in the county. The nearest place of any size is Brackley, about three miles to the north-east.
The village has a single pub, the Blackbird.
The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 992.
Name
No single pronunciation of the place-name predominates. Residents pronounce its first syllable to rhyme either with with "bough" or "though".
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the name as Creveltone and Criweltone. 12th-century versions include Crouelton, followed by Craulton and Crewelton in a pipe roll of 1198, and Croulton in an Assize Roll of 1202. It is derived from Old English. Crawil may mean "fork". Two streams flow either side of the village, converging just south-west of it and then joining Ockley Brook. Hence, "Croughton" may mean "town in the fork of a river".[1]
Archaeology
About a mile north of the village is the site of a Roman settlement.[2] It is a scheduled monument.[3]
Parish church
The oldest parts of the Church of England parish church of All Saints are 12th-century Norman. They include the arch of the west tower and the three-bay north arcade. The south arcade, also of three bays, is 13th-century Early English Gothic. In the 14th century new windows were inserted, the clerestory and north and south porches were added. The font was Romanesque but was re-cut in the 14th or 15th century. The pulpit is 17th-century. All Saints is a Grade I listed building.[4][5]
In the 14th century a series of murals was painted inside the church including numerous scenes from the life of Jesus and a Doom painting. The wall paintings were painted over during the Reformation in the 16th century, but were rediscovered in 1921 and restored in 1960.[6]
The west tower of All Saints has a ring of five bells. All were cast and hung by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough in 1923.[7]
In All Saints' churchyard southeast of the chancel are the base and broken shaft of a Mediæval stone cross.[8] An historic elm reputedly stood in the churchyard for 800 years. Its demise was in the early 1900s.
Croughton All Saints Primary School in the High Street is associated with the church.[9]
RAF Croughton
- Main article: RAF Croughton
RAF Croughton is partly in the parish, about two miles south-east of the village. It was a Royal Air Force training base and emergency landing field from 1939 until 1950, when it was transferred to the United States Air Force for use as a communications centre.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Croughton, Northamptonshire) |
References
- ↑ Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. p. Croughton ISBN 0198691033
- ↑ RCHME 1982, p. 38.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1013950: Roman settlement north east of Rowler (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 170.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1192503: Church of All Saints (Grade I listing)
- ↑ Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 171.
- ↑ Dawson, George (2 September 2017). "Croughton All Saints". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?DoveID=CROUGHTON.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1040540: Cross south west of the Church of All Saints (Grade II listing)
- ↑ Croughton All Saints CofE Primary School
- Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. ISBN 0198691033
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 1961; 1973 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3
- RCHME, ed (1982). "Croughton". An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire. 4 – Archaeological sites in South-West Northamptonshire. London: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. pp. 38–39. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol4/pp38-39.
- Whellan, Francis (1874). History, Topography, and Directory of Northamptonshire. London: Whittaker. p. 476. https://books.google.com/books?id=RQ45AQAAMAAJ&q=Robert+Friend+Croughton&pg=PA476.