Arthingworth is a village located approximately a mile and a half off the A 508, and comprises approximately 250 people.
The village has existed for hundreds of years, with evidence of a Roman farmstead. There are 4 farms in and around the village, and indeed it has until recent times been entirely an agricultural community.
The Domesday Book (1086) gave the population as 20.
The earliest parts of St. Andrew's Church date back to the 12th century. The church was extensively renovated in the Victorian era.
The 1851 census showed that 257 people lived here, largely employed in agriculture or “in service”. 17 ladies were employed in the lace making trade.
By 1861 the population was 273. The rector was Henry Rokeby who lived at the manor house. Captain Charles Cust JP lived at Arthingworth Hall.
By this time the railway had arrived with Mr James King and 2 railway labourers. The line ceased to operate in August 1981, with trains having operated for 123 years.
The present Manor House appears to be the fourth building on the site, the first having been moated. Part of the moat, by the present Lodge House, is still apparent.
There were 3 farmhouses in the village itself – Glebe Farm (opposite the Bull’s Head), Church Farm and Home Farm.
Buildings that survive from the pre-1940s include the above 3 houses, Bosworth House, Old Rectory, Sunny Bank and a few other occupied buildings.
There was a village school from the early 18th century, initially on the site of what is now Forge Cottages, and, from 1899, in what is now the Village Hall.
From the few older dwellings still in use, Arthingworth appears to have been a fairly poor place in which to live (compare it to the substantial stone cottages in some of the surrounding villages). Apparently some cottages comprised mud walls and thatched roofs.
Pre-1940s housing is mainly concentrated in Sunny Bank in Kelmarsh Rd (where in the early 1920s one could rent a cottage in Sunny bank for 1 shilling a week), and in Long Row and Short Row which were off the lower end of Oxendon Rd. However much has been demolished since the Second World War.
One of Arthingworth’s only claims to fame was the Waterloo Run, when in 1866 the Pytchley hounds ran from the village to Keythorpe in Leicestershire, an 18 mile chase lasting 3 hours 34 minutes.
(with thanks and acknowledgements to “The Northamptonshire Village Book” by Northamptonshire Federation of Women’s Institutes)
A small group has been set up to look at the feasibility of revising the village history document, which has not been updated since the Millennium. The group would like to invite villagers, past and present, to look in their lofts, photo albums, scrapbooks etc for any old photographs, newspaper articles or documents, which may be of value to us. Interesting recollections would also be welcome.
Please contact the Newmans, the Turners or Sue Handy if you have any contributions or would like to join the group.
Please see separate page for queries received regarding family names and histories etc.
