Evenley
| Evenley | |
| Northamptonshire | |
|---|---|
 St George, Evenley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP5834 |
| Location: | 52°0’22"N, 1°8’56"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 537 (2001) |
| Post town: | Brackley |
| Postcode: | NN13 |
| Dialling code: | 01280 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Northamptonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Northamptonshire |
| Website: | Evenley on-line |
Evenley is a village in Northamptonshire standing just over a mile south of Brackley. It is one of the most southerly of the county's villages, and one of its prettiest.
The parish is bounded by the River Great Ouse to the northeast, one of its tributaries to the north-west and on other sides by field boundaries. The parish's north-eastern boundary is also part of the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. Its south-eastern boundary is also part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire.
The A43 road passes through the western part of the parish and links the village with junction 10 of the M40 motorway 5 miles to the southwest.
Contents
Parish church
Evenley had a parish church by 1535, when the Augustinians' Huntingdon Priory held the rectory.[1]
The mediæval building was replaced in 1864-65 by the present parish church, St George's, designed by the Gothic Revival architect Henry Woodyer.[2]
Memorials salvaged from the old church were re-set in the present building, including a statue of Sir Creswell Levinz (died 1701).[3] It has lost its original setting, which was an architectural background with cherubs at his feet.[3] The churchyard includes a large memorial to the Pearne family that was erected before 1757.[3]
Three bells from the old building were also re-used. Henry I Bagley of Chacombe[4] cast the treble and another bell in 1632 and William Bagley cast a further bell in 1708.[5] In 1865 George Mears & Co of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry[4] cast two more bells including the present tenor,[5] completing the present ring of five. St. George's also has a Sanctus bell cast by an unidentified founder in about 1699.[5]
About the village
The village green is roughly square and is in the centre of the village. Evenley Cricket Club plays its home games here and claims it is one of the best wickets in the county The parish war memorial is on the edge of the south side of the green.
The village has one pub, the Red Lion, a village shop with post office, a village hall and a cricket club.[6]
Manor house
The old manor house is a 17th-century building of three bays.[3]
Evenley Hall
Evenley Hall is a Georgian building of five bays with Ionic columns.[3] It was built in about 1740 for Francis Bassett. It was much altered after being damaged by a fire in 1897. From 1941-2001 it was run as a children's home by the National Children's Home charity.[7]
Village flag
In 2014, Evenley Parish Council organised a competition to devise a village flag; this was at the same time that a county flag was being created for Northamptonshire.
The winning design plays on the name of the village and its traditions. It has a golden field, which was considered to be a colour representing Northamptonshire, but also representing the clearance of the woods to create the village in ancient times: the -ley element of the name taken to mean "clearing". The main charge is a green dragon being slain with St George's lance, as the parish church is St George's. At the hoist is a green strip (for the village green) bearing three cowslips; the Northamptonshire county flower.
References
- ↑ Page, Proby & Norris, 1926, pages 393-395
- ↑ Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 209
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 210
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Bell Founders". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/founders.php. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Evenley S George". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Evenley&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=EVENLEY. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
- ↑ Evenley Cricket Club
- ↑ Evenley - British Listed Buildings – Evenley Hall
- Page, W.H.; Proby, Granville (eds.); Norris, H.E. (1926). A History of the County of Huntingdon, Volume 1. Victoria County History. pp. 393–395.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1973) [1961]. Northamptonshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 209–210. ISBN 0-14-071022-1.
