Great Brington
| Great Brington | |
| Northamptonshire | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP665650 |
| Location: | 52°16’45"N, 1°1’35"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Northampton |
| Postcode: | NN7 |
| Dialling code: | 01604 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Northamptonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Daventry |
Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire. The 2011 Census recorded Great and Little Brington togather as having a population of about 200.
The parish church is St Mary the Virgin.
The village's name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'.[1]
In 1508, John Spencer from Wormleighton in Warwickshire purchased the estate of Althorp outside Great Brington with its moated house and several hundred acres of farmland.[2] He had grazed sheep here from the 1480s. In 1508, impressed by the quality of the land, he eventually bought it and rebuilt the house.[3] In 1511 he made further purchases to acquire much of the surrounding countryside, including the villages of Little Brington and Great Brington as well their parish church, from Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset.[2]
Just outside the village is Althorp House, the home of the Spencer family where Diana, Princess of Wales grew up. Several members of the Spencer family are buried at Great Brington church, including Diana's father the 8th Earl Spencer, who died in 1992.[4] The death of Princess Diana had an effect on the village – the pub was renamed, from The Fox and Hounds to the Althorp Coaching Inn, and the post office gained currency exchange facilities following the large increase in tourism to the area.
The Macmillan Way long distance footpath passes through Great Brington.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Brington) |
- BBC feature on Great Brington church
- Great Brington Parish Church
- Great Brington Store and Post Office
References
- ↑ "Key to English Place-names". http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Northamptonshire/Brington.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 H. Gawthorne/S. Mattingly/G. W. Shaeffer/M. Avery/B. Thomas/R. Barnard/M. Young, Revd. N. V. Knibbs/R. Horne: "The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Great Brington. 800 Years of English History", published as "Brington Church: A Popular History" in 1989 and printed by Peerless Press.
- ↑ Sir John Spencer 1455–1522 "Sir John Spencer » Spencer of Althorp". http://www.spencerofalthorp.com/heritage/unique-family/sir_john_spencer. (access date 20 July 2013)
- ↑ "Diana Remembered: Althorp". 1997. http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/diana/althorp.html.
