St. James End, Northampton
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St. James' End | |
---|---|
St James' Parish Church, St James' Road | |
Location within Northamptonshire | |
Population | 5,465 (Ward. 2011) |
OS grid reference | SP745605 |
• London | 68 miles |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | NORTHAMPTON |
Postcode district | NN5 |
Dialling code | 01604 |
Police | Northamptonshire |
Fire | Northamptonshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament |
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St. James End, also known as St. James, colloquially as Jimmy's End, and historically as St James's End, is a district west of the town centre in Northampton, in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. The area developed from the mid to late 19th century particularly with the expansion of the shoe manufacturing and engineering industries, and also the extension of the railway from London in June 1882.[1]
History
Northampton Abbey
The area is named after
The former Express Lift factory, which included the lift-testing tower, was redeveloped for housing in 1999–2000. The site was known to occupy part of the precinct of the abbey. Excavations were carried out to determine the location and remains of any parts of the abbey.
The abbey and a cemetery were located. The main buildings were preserved beneath the new housing development. The cemetery of c.300 burials was excavated during winter 2000–2001. The bones were analysed to determine the health and burial practices in the late medieval population of Northampton.[3]
294 burials were uncovered in well ordered rows, with many wooden coffins, graves lined with old ceramic roof-tiles, stone-lined graves and a single stone coffin suggesting the occupants of relatively high status.[4]
Use of the cemetery later was less orderly. Burials were in simple, shallow graves with just a shroud. On the south side was a stone-built building with two mortuary chapels. One had a stone-lined tomb, and a fragment of life-sized sculptured leg, with chain mail and a stirrup strap from a broken effigy. This may have happened at the dissolution of the abbey in 1538.
A highly decorated grave slab and the remains of two skeletons had been unearthed in 1970.[4]
Analysis of the burials shows a large number of elderly people many having suffered from trauma such as leg fractures, fused and/or deformed leg joints and advanced spine degeneration. Many of these may have died in the abbey infirmary and further analysis is being undertaken.[4]
First World War
On 19 October 1917 at 10.45 pm German
The house was occupied by Mr. Henry Gammons, a railway bricklayer, who was away at the time. His wife, Mrs. Eliza Gammons, and twin daughters Gladys and Lily, aged 13, were in bed. The bomb passed through the house to the bedroom, killing the mother instantly and set fire to the room. Both mother and daughters were killed.[5]
Governance
The St James area today forms part of the civil parish of Northampton in West Northamptonshire.
When significant development in the area began in the nineteenth century, it was outside the borough boundaries of Northampton, in the neighbouring parishes of
Local government districts were reconstituted as
Notable buildings
St James today is most notable for the presence of the
The Parish Church of St James in St James' Road was built in 1868–71 by R. Wheeler of Tonbridge, Kent, with additional work in 1900 and the tower in 1920. The brick is exposed inside and enriched with black bricks.[11]
The Doddridge Centre in St James Road was built in 1895 as the Doddridge Memorial Chapel in memory of Philip Doddridge (1702–1751), an English Nonconformist. It provides facilities and support to community and voluntary groups with 30 groups based in the building and another 40 using it as a meeting point for a variety of activities.
The chapel where Doddridge served from 1729–51 is in Doddridge Street on the east side of the river. It dates from 1695 and is now a United Reformed Church. The interior has galleries, box pews and a memorial to Doddridge.[11]
St James is home to the
, several restaurants, a multi-screen cinema, and several other retail outlets.The First Northampton bus service operated out of the former Northampton Transport depot on St James's Road but withdrew services on 14 September 2013. The depot remained in operation until 22 October 2013 to service the First Northampton operated Luton Airport Parkway railway station – Luton Airport service. It was then transferred to First Essex's Chelmsford depot.[12]
This left the large depot empty. It had been opened in 1904 as the main depot for electric trams and then in the 1920s for motorbuses. Between then and 1939 it was extended considerably, but in 2013 the last service bus left and the depot was made redundant.[13] In 2014 the site was acquired for expansion by Church's Shoes which has a factory next door.[14][15] As of November 2022 the depot site remains unused and enclosed by Church's-branded hoarding.
Industry
Former works
The Express Lift factory closed in 1990 having been a major employer (see notable buildings). Mettoy had a large site, originally used as a boot factory, at the corner of Spencer Bridge Road and Harlestone Road, NN5 7AE, now occupied by Aldi and Iceland supermarkets.[16]
Current establishments
On St James Road between Sharman Road and Spencer Street is the factory of
This reflects the previous ownership by the company Padmore and Barnes; they produced footwear using a moccasin construction, and a Native American was their emblem; they produced some 6,000 pairs of moccasins in the first half of the 20th century. A statue stood at the top of the front of the building but was removed when the works closed.[18]
The large and thriving St James Industrial Estate along St James Mill Road near West Bridge is host to a large number of business and industrial establishments including the headquarters of
There are three public houses in St James: The Thomas Á Becket and the Foundrymans Arms in St James Road and The Sevens in Weedon Road. There is also a working men's club in Weedon Road. A fourth pub, The Castle, in St James Park Road, was converted to rented flats and a shop - marking the end of the building's use as a public house. More recently, Jimmy's Sports Bar opened on the Harlestone Road which includes a rooftop bar.[19]
Traffic issues
Both St James Road and Spencer Bridge Road feed into Weedon Road and are the main exits to the
1998 floods
The part of St James in St James Road and the lower parts of Harlestone Road and Weedon Road are low lying and in the flood plain of the River Nene and its tributaries. In April 1998, many residents of both St James had to leave their homes and seek temporary accommodation elsewhere, after part of the area, along with Far Cotton and Cotton End, suffered flooding, when the River Nene broke its banks after torrential rain. Flooding occurred on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. Since then river banks have been raised and flood mitigation lakes created west of the town (see gallery).[21][22]
Area maps and views
2014 map
There is no exact de-lineation of the St James area – the red outline on the modern map shown below gives the area generally regarded as St James. This differs from official designations of Borough Council Wards and County Council Divisions which often include additional areas used to even up the numbers of voters. The northern area comprises what are known as the 'Scottish streets' after their street names. On the west side, off Weedon Road, is the Lift Tower estate and several side roads up the hill to Sixfields.
In the south is the large and thriving
The eastern part of St James lies just west of a tributary of the River Nene and the railway station and was the first part of the area to be developed for housing and industrial use in the mid and late 19th century as can be seen from the 1899 map. This area extends to Spencer Bridge Road in the north beyond which is the area of the town known as Spencer, after the Spencer family of
Part of the area south-west of St James Road appear on the 1899 map such as Abbey Street, Almad Street, Lincoln Road and Spencer Street. Other areas further up Weedon Road have terraced houses on the 1899 map but have been cleared for three blocks of council flats close to Franklin's Gardens stadium.
1899 map
The eastern part of St James was the first area to be developed for housing and industrial use in the mid and late 19th century as this map shows. There are three shoe factories shown, a
The large goods area at the station reflects the main method of goods transit at the time. What is now
Gallery
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2014 map of St James End: the red area is the usual limit of the area - see text
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Extract from Ordnance survey map dated 1899 showing part of the St James are west of Northampton Railway Station
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The Doddridge Centre in St James Road, about a 10-minute walk from Northampton railway station
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The busy junction of St James Road, Harlestone Road and Weedon Road off-peak
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Church's shoe factory in St James Road
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Indian image on Church's Shoe Factory main entrance - see text
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Former tram and bus depot, St James Road, derelict from 2013
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Long abandoned stylish Northampton Corporation Transport Offices in St James Road
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Flood defences: looking south on the east side of St James opposite Northampton Station. The river runs north to south and is a tributary of the river Nene
See also
References
- ISBN 0-8503-3767-4.
- ^ "A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 3, 1930". Phillimore & Co Ltd. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ "The Medieval Abbey of St. James (Part 1) 1999 – 2001 excavations". Northants Archaeology. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ a b c "The Medieval Abbey of St. James (Part 2) 2001–2002 excavations". Northants Archaeology. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Full story: Far Cotton Historical Society, accessed 2014_01_21
- ^ "No. 23886". The London Gazette. 13 August 1872. p. 3593.
- ^ "Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 4) Act 1874". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1896. p. 368. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "St James Urban District". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ Freshwater, R. (15 August 2010). "Roots of the Company – The rise and fall of the GEC empire". britishtelephones.com. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-09632-3.
- ^ "Office of the Traffic Commissioner Notices and Proceedings September 2013 Office of the Traffic Commissioner 4 September 2013 Accessed 2014_01_17" (PDF).
- ^ Fatbusbloke (20 September 2013). "Public Transport Experience: Last Notes on First Northampton (Possibly)". Public Transport Experience. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ SJRA (23 December 2014). "San Jacinto River Authority". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Public Transport Experience: First's Long, Lingering Northampton Death?". 16 May 2013.
- ^ Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map of Northampton South 1901
- ^ Church's history section, Accessed 2014_01_18
- ^ "Padmore and Barnes - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk.
- ^ "Take a look around a cool new rooftop bar complete with extensive views of Northampton". www.northamptonchron.co.uk. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Air Quality Consultants report on Franklin Gardens expansion, October 2013, Accessed 1014_01_17
- ^ "The big mop-up: One year on". BBC News. 18 October 1999. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ "1998 Easter Floods Remembered". BBC Northamptonshire. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ "County Council website for St James School, accessed 2014_01_17".
- ^ "Department for Education performance data for St James School, Northampton, Accessed 2014_01_17".
- ^ "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. 17 September 2023.
External links
- Far Cotton History Group
- Map sources for St. James End, Northampton