Silverstone
| Silverstone | |
| Northamptonshire | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP670440 |
| Location: | 52°5’24"N, 1°1’26"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,989 (2001) |
| Post town: | Towcester |
| Postcode: | NN12 |
| Dialling code: | 01327 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Northamptonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Northamptonshire South |
| Website: | Silverstone Village |
Silverstone is a village in Northamptonshire, world-famous for the Silverstone Circuit, the Formula 1 motor racing venue and home of the British Grand Prix.
The village is to be found about 4 miles from Towcester on the old route of the A43, The A43 now bypasses to the southeast of the village, between the village and the race circuit. The expansion of Northamptonshire villages in response to new town development in Northampton itself has affected Silverstone as much as others, as has the development of the circuit and its accompanying industry.
History
The village is listed in the Domesday Book.
In the Middle Ages, the village trade was primarily in timber from the surrounding Whittlewood Forest through the use of coppicing. Linnell Brothers still operate a woodyard to this day.
On the north side of the parish churchyard are the remains of mediæval fish ponds.
Parish church
The Parish Church is St Michael's, a Victorian Gothic Revival church built in 1884, though it stands on earlier foundations.
Silverstone had a chapel by 1200.[1] In about 1780 the mediæval building was replaced by a Georgian one, which was enlarged by the addition of a chancel in 1841 and a north aisle and vestry in 1852.[1] The entire church was demolished[1] in the 1880s and replaced by the present St Michael's, designed in the Gothic Revival style by JP St Aubyn and completed in 1884.[2]
Facilities
The village has one public house, the White Horse Inn.
About half a mile south of the village is the Silverstone Circuit, a former Royal Air Force Second World War bomber base and now the traditional home of the British Grand Prix, a Formula One race that attracts more than 300,000 visitors each year.
Silverstone University Technical College opened at the circuit in September 2013.
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a British motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side. The Northamptonshire towns of Towcester (5 miles) and Brackley (7 miles) and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham (6 miles) are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes.
Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948. The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Silverstone) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "St Michael, Silverstone". A Church Near You. The Church of England. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/silverstone-st-michael0/. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ↑ Pevsner & Cherry, 1973, page 404
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1973). The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 404.