Easton Neston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Easton Neston |
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 Easton Neston House |
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 Easton Neston
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| Population | 74 (est.2010) |
| OS grid reference | SP704493 |
| • London | 66 miles (106 km) |
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| Unitary authority |
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| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | TOWCESTER |
| Postcode district | NN12 |
| Dialling code | 01327 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament |
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Easton Neston is a small area in southern Northamptonshire, England. It's not a village anymore, but the name still refers to this area. Around the year 1500, the original village of Easton Neston disappeared.
In 2011, fewer than 100 people lived in the civil parish of Easton Neston. This small population is now counted as part of the nearby town of Towcester. The name "Easton Neston" likely means "Eadstan's farm" or "Aethelstan's farm."
This rural area covers about 1,800 acres. It is mostly farmland and woods. It includes Easton Neston House and two small settlements called Hulcote and Showsley. The church area, known as the ecclesiastical parish, is much larger. It has about 1,200 people living in it.
Contents
Finding Easton Neston's Location
The Easton Neston area is right next to the northeast side of Towcester. You can reach Showsley by turning left off the A43 road. This road runs between Northampton and Towcester. The turn is about half a mile south of the Tiffield and Blisworth junctions. You can also get there from Shutlanger.
To find Hulcote, take the second left turn off the A43 after the Showsley turn. This road used to be the old A43 before the Towcester bypass was built. After turning, make a sharp left towards Hulcote. It's about half a mile down a dead-end road. The Easton Neston House and its grounds are private. However, they sometimes open to the public.
Important Buildings and History
Easton Neston Estate
Easton Neston House was built for Sir William Fermor. He later became Lord Leominster. The house was constructed between 1685 and 1695. It was later updated by Nicholas Hawksmoor from 1700 to 1702. The house was built where the old Easton Neston village used to be. The main road from Oxford to Northampton was moved to the west because of this.
The estate also has stables from the 1700s and a Temple built in 1641. There are also Entrance Lodges from around 1822. These are located on the old Towcester Road, northwest and southwest of the house. A public footpath runs from the northwest lodge east towards Hulcote.
The Parish Church of St Mary is on the south side of the Easton Neston estate. It belongs to the Church of England's Diocese of Peterborough. The church dates back to the 1200s and has special old-fashioned seats called box pews. Inside, you can see several memorials to the Fermor-Hesketh family. They used to live in the main house. One memorial is for Sir Richard Fermor, who passed away in 1552.
Sometimes, St Mary's Church welcomes visitors during special Heritage Open Days. In January 2011, the BBC planned to record a church service there. This was part of a TV show about Easton Neston. Towcester Racecourse is also located in the southern part of the estate.
Showsley's Ancient Priory
In Showsley, you can find the remains of a Cistercian Priory from the 1100s. It was known as Sewardsley Priory. The TV show Time Team explored this area in 2007. The episode about their findings first aired on January 27, 2008. You can watch it on the Time Team Channel on YouTube. The episode is called “The Naughty Nuns of Northamptonshire.”
The team found the priory church, which was about 90 feet long and 20 feet wide. They also found the cloister, a square area about 45 feet on each side. They discovered cool floor tiles with pictures of dogs and flowers. Lots of pottery was also found. The team also looked at what people thought was an old garden decoration. It turned out to be graves with human remains! Two graves were very interesting. They were not dug at the same time but were finished together. This suggests the people buried there were connected in some way.
Old Railway Lines
Part of an old railway track runs through the area. This was once the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR). It runs from east to west between Showsley and north of Hulcote. It goes towards where Towcester Station used to be. That spot is now a Tesco supermarket.
The railway line went from Towcester to Stoke Bruerne. Then it went east, crossing over the West Coast Main Line and into Bedfordshire. The line opened in 1891. It connected to another line from Blisworth to Towcester. This connection was just north of the roundabout where the A5 and A43 roads meet near Towcester.
Past Industries in Easton Neston
Easton Neston wasn't always just farms. In the 1870s, there were quarries near Showsley and Shutlanger. These quarries dug for either iron ore or limestone. They were small, and the stone was carried away by horses and carts.
A bigger iron ore mining operation started north of Hulcote in 1873. A special railway branch was built to carry the ore away. This branch joined the line from Blisworth to Towcester, south of Tiffield. An ironworks was built at this junction. It melted the Hulcote ore from 1875 to 1882, when the works closed. The quarries at Hulcote kept working, with some breaks, until 1920.
The first Hulcote iron ore quarries were on the east side of the Northampton to Towcester road. They were on both sides of the small road to Showsley. A clay pit was dug nearby on the west side of the main road. A brickworks was built next to it to make bricks from the clay. Railway sidings were added to serve these works. The brickworks and claypit operated until about 1900.
When the S and MJR railway was built in 1891, it ran next to the quarries and brickworks. The old railway branch was no longer needed. The ore and bricks were then carried by the new line. A new iron ore quarry started on the west side of the main road around 1908. It was used until the other Hulcote quarries closed in 1920. Another iron ore quarry operated near Round Spinney at Showsley. It was there by 1909 and closed between 1913 and 1920.
Workers dug the quarries by hand. Explosives were used in the westernmost iron quarry. From 1914, two steam machines helped remove the top layer of earth in that western quarry. Small, narrow railways connected the claypit to the brickworks. They also connected the iron ore quarries to the railway sidings. Horses operated these small railways. After 1908, steam locomotives were used.
The old claypit is still there today, filled with water. You can still see parts of the old quarries, railways, and tramways. However, some areas have been turned back into farmland. Some remains were also covered up when the A43 road was made wider and moved. Trees now hide some of the old structures. You can see the remains of a bridge where a tramway used to run. It's on the small road to Showsley, where the road makes a sharp left turn if you are traveling east.
