Braunston

Braunston
Braunston
	All Saints' Church and Braunston Manor
	Braunston Location within Northamptonshire
Population	1,759 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SP5366
Civil parish	Braunston;
Unitary authority	West Northamptonshire ;
Ceremonial county	Northamptonshire ;
Region	East Midlands ;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DAVENTRY
Postcode district	NN11
Dialling code	01788
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Daventry ;
	List of places UK England Northamptonshire 52°17′31″N1°12′32″W / 52.292°N 1.209°W

Last updated September 04, 2024

Braunston is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759.^[1] Braunston is situated just off the A45 main road and lies between the towns of Daventry and Rugby. Braunston is a hilltop village, most famous for its canal junction between the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union Canal, and associated marina.

Description

The villages name means 'Brant's farm/settlement'.^[2]

The main village of Braunston is situated on a hill above the road and the canals, and formerly had a windmill, the building of which still stands but without any sails. The village contains several pubs (The Boathouse, The Admiral Nelson, The Plough, and The Wheatsheaf), a selection of shops - excellent butchers, hairdressers and village stores incorporating the post office, a fish and chip shop, car servicing garage and a primary school. The Braunston Manor Hotel has now closed with the main house reverting to residential use and the outhouse buildings redeveloped for a housing development. In 1374, the manor itself was the subject of one of a number of property disputes involving the landowning Corbet family.

Braunston's main claims to fame are its canal and church.

Church

All Saints' Church Braunston has overlooked the village and the villagers for over 10 centuries and the canals and the boat people for over 300 years.

Otherwise known as the "Cathedral of the Canals", it has existed since the early 13th century. However, the land on which is stands has been sacred for longer still, as it was used as an ancient tumulus for the local farmsteads as early as the 10th century, although little evidence to this time is available.

Although the original Norman structure was nearly demolished when the site was polluted by several murders in 1290, the church was later rebuilt in the 14th century. The second incarnation of the church served the area for over 400 years, until the site was demolished, with authority from Rev. Alfred Butler Clough in 1848, due to dilapidation of the structure.^[3]

The third incarnation of the church cost £6,800, money raised primarily through donations and aided by grants from the Church Building Society and the Peterborough Diocesan Society. Notable contributors to the funds also include Her Majesty the Queen Dowager and the Oxford Canal Company.^[4]

In outline the new church was similar to its mediaeval predecessor in having no north chancel. The body of the church was made wider to provide accommodation for the enlarged population which had followed the coming of the canals. The new church had the number of seats increased from 363 to 732. Despite the overwhelming impression of space and light the interior design of the church was rather austere. The biggest change made was in the appearance of the chancel itself which was transformed by redecoration. This was the work of the leading High Church designer, William Butterfield, architect of Rugby School.^[5]

Today the church still provides regular services to the area, and often allows visitors to tour the ancient grounds, on non-service days. Several relics have been kept by the church since its original incarnation, such as:

A sculpture, almost certainly in memory of William, Fourth Baron Ros, who died on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1352. The De Ros family held the Braunston Manor from 1200 to 1508.
The Church Chest, which once housed the Parish Records dating from 1538 and now deposited in the County Records Office in Northampton.
The Norman Font, the only remaining part of the first church on the site.
The Piscina, a stone basin used for draining water used in the Mass pre-Reformation.
The Head of the Churchyard Cross, possibly fourteenth century which has on the four sides the remains of carvings of the Crucifixion, the Madonna and Child, a robed ecclesiastic and a warrior.^[3]

Canals

The canal alongside Braunston is a junction between the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union Canal, which was once an important part of the national transport system. Many former boating families have links to Braunston, the churchyard in the village having many graves of boatmen and women.

The village thrived for over 150 years on the canal trade^[6] - carrying goods from the Midlands to London. Now it is a centre for leisure activities and boasts by far and away the busiest stretch of canal anywhere in the country.^{[ citation needed ]}

The unique triangular junction between the two canals has two bridges made at Horseley Ironworks carrying the towpath over the canal. This was not the original meeting point of the Grand Junction and Oxford Canals: the junction was moved in the course of improvements to the Oxford Canal in the 1830s, prior to which the junction was near where the marina is today, and where a third Horseley Ironworks bridge can be seen.

The canals are no longer used for carrying freight, but are now used mostly by pleasure boats. Braunston has a marina filled with these pleasure boats and is usually quite busy.

From the marina, six locks carry the Grand Union Canal up to Braunston Tunnel, some 2,049 yards (1,874 m) long.

Railways

Despite its small size, Braunston was once served by two railway stations, both now closed. The first, Braunston London Road was on the former LNWR Weedon to Leamington Spa branch line, via Daventry, was located near the marina and closed in September 1958. A couple of miles north-west of Braunston was Braunston and Willoughby station on the former Great Central Main Line, which served Braunston and the village of Willoughby, which it was closer to. This was the last main line to be constructed from the north of England to London and opened in March 1899. Braunston and Willoughby station closed in April 1957 and the line itself in September 1966. To the south of the station was the 13-arch Willoughby viaduct crossing the River Leam: the viaduct was demolished about 1980.

Braunston Primary School

Braunston C.E. Primary School is located in the middle of the village. It is a one form entry school. It has one class for each age group from Reception to Year 6, with the capacity for 30 children in each class. The curriculum is divided up into stages according to age: Foundation Stage – The Reception Class, Key Stage 1 - Years 1 and 2, Key Stage 2 - Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.^[7]

Nearby settlements

Nearby is the small hamlet of Little Braunston. Also close to the village are the three lost settlements of Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff, Braunstonbury and Wolfhampcote.^[8]

Twin village

The village is twinned with Quincy-Voisins in France.

Related Research Articles

The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter stretching for 137 miles (220 km) with 166 locks from London. The Birmingham line has a number of short branches to places including Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover, and Northampton. The Leicester line has two short arms of its own, to Market Harborough and Welford.

The Oxford Canal is a 78-mile (126 km) narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thames at Oxford, and links with the Grand Union Canal, which it is combined with for 5 miles (8 km) between to the villages of Braunston and Napton-on-the-Hill.

Napton on the Hill is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District of Warwickshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2021 census was 1,416.

Daventry is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census, Daventry had a population of 28,123.

The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry. It then heads to Northampton and Wellingborough before running north of Rushden and Higham Ferrers and terminating at its junction with the A14 in Thrapston.

The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford, thus shortening the journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crick, Northamptonshire</span> Human settlement in England

Crick is a village in West Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the border with Warwickshire, six miles east of Rugby and 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Northampton. The villages of Crick and West Haddon were by-passed by the A428 main road from Rugby to Northampton when the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) was built in 1996. The terminal is a short distance east of junction 18 of the M1 motorway, which is next to Crick. Crick's population in the 2001 census was 1,460, increasing to 1,886 at the 2011 census.

Barby is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,336. Barby is located right off the M45 motorway a short spur from the M1 motorway to the A45 Trunk Road.

Whilton Locks is the name of a flight of seven locks on the Grand Union Canal near Daventry, in the county of Northamptonshire, England. They are also referred to as Buckby Lock Flight.

The Warwickshire ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit around the West Midlands area of England. The ring is formed from the Coventry Canal, the Oxford Canal, the Grand Union Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It is a popular route with tourists due to its circular route and mixture of urban and rural landscapes.

Willoughby is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The village is about 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of Daventry in neighbouring Northamptonshire and the eastern boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary.

Wolfhampcote is an abandoned village and civil parish in the English counties of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, which it straddles.

Thorpe Mandeville is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire. The hamlet of Lower Thorpe is just north of the village.

Welton is a village and civil parish in the county of Northamptonshire, England. The village is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of the nearest town Daventry. It is 13 miles (21 km) west-north west of Northampton and 9 miles (14 km) south east of Rugby. The village is 1 mile (1.6 km) off the A361 that runs between Daventry and Crick where the A5 and the M1 junction 18 gives access to the national motorway network north and south.

Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal passes through the village and the north portal of the Blisworth tunnel is near Stoke Road.

Braunston and Willoughby railway station was a station on the former Great Central Main Line. It served the small village of Willoughby which it was located next to, and the larger but more distant village of Braunston. The station opened with the line on 15 March 1899.

The Horseley Ironworks was a major ironworks in the Tipton area in the county of Staffordshire, now the West Midlands, England.

Braunston Tunnel is on the Grand Union Canal about 830 yards (760 m) east of Braunston, Northamptonshire, England top lock. It is in the northern outskirts of Daventry, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the village of Braunston.

The lost village of Braunstonbury lies in low ground south-west of the village of Braunston in the English county of Northamptonshire. Its site is on the eastern bank of the River Leam, which also marks the border between Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. Adjacent to the site on the west side of the river Leam is the site of the lost village of Wolfhampcote which straddled the county border of both counties.

Braunston London Road was one of two railway stations that served the village of Braunston in Northamptonshire, England. The station was built on the Weedon to Leamington Spa branch line on an embankment next to the village's wharf on the Grand Union Canal after the demolishing of a number of houses and a pub that were in the way.

References

↑ "Braunston - UK Census Data 2011".
↑ "Key to English Place-names".
1 2 "All Saints Church". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
↑ "Cathedral of the Canals". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
↑ "Arts and beauty". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
↑ "Braunston Village". Braunston Village.
↑ Braunston Primary School
↑ An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 22, Fig 27. ISBN 0-11-700900-8

External links

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[auto-1] "Braunston - UK Census Data 2011".

[2] "Key to English Place-names".

[auto1-3] 1 2 "All Saints Church". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.

[4] "Cathedral of the Canals". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.

[5] "Arts and beauty". www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.

[6] "Braunston Village". Braunston Village.

[7] Braunston Primary School

[8] An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 22, Fig 27. ISBN 0-11-700900-8

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