Whiston, Northamptonshire

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Whiston
Northamptonshire
Whiston Village - geograph.org.uk - 168623.jpg
Location
Grid reference: SP848606
Location: 52°14’15"N, 0°45’31"W
Data
Population: 51  (2001)
Post town: Northampton
Postcode: NN7
Dialling code: 01604
Local Government
Council: West Northamptonshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
South Northamptonshire

Whiston is a village in Northamptonshire. It is four miles due east of the county town, Northampton.

History

The name of the village derives from Old English and was first recorded as Hwiccingtune in 974, which means "the farmstead of the Hwicce tribe."[1]

In 1931 the parish had a population of 49.[2]

The Church

Whiston Church is the Church of St Mary the Virgin. The present building was built for Anthony Catesby in the early 16th century. It is on the hill, separated from the rest of the village, from where it is reached by a footpath. The tower was built first and the church was probably complete by 1534.[3]

Quarrying

Quarrying for iron ore and limestone was carried out at Whiston between 1914 and about 1922. The quarry was to the south-west of the village adjoining an earlier quarry at Cogenhoe. The quarrying must at first have been done by hand with the aid of explosives but a steam navvy and in 1915 a transporter machine was brought in. The ore was taken away by a steeply graded standard gauge railway leading to sidings at the London & North Western Railway's Northampton to Peterborough line. This was operated by a steam locomotive (a saddle tank engine built by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd.) The gradient was in favour of the loaded trains.

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References

  1. Mills, A.D. (1991). A Dictionary of English Place Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 356. ISBN 0-19-869156-4. 
  2. "Population statistics Whiston CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10286815/cube/TOT_POP. Retrieved 27 March 2023. 
  3. Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 1961; 1973 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3page 459