Thenford
Thenford is a village and
Archaeology
Traces have been found of a Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement east of the village. Neolithic artefacts found include four flint arrowheads and a fragment of a polished stone axe southeast of the village. Bronze Age artefacts found include a middle Bronze Age palstave and a late Bronze Age hoard at Thenford Hill Farm north of the village that included two swords, four spearheads, two rings and other bronze objects.[2]
Traces have been found also of an Iron Age settlement in the north of the parish on Arbury or Arberry hill. It was a fortified farmstead with a circular rampart 490 feet (150 m) in diameter. Fragments of Iron Age and Roman pottery have been found in the eastern part of the site.[2]
East of the village are the remains of an Iron Age settlement and Roman villa dating from 1st to the 4th centuries AD. The site was developed in four phases, with the villa itself being built about AD 300. It had six rooms, one of which had a fine Roman mosaic. Later extensions to the villa included a bath house. In the 1820s coins from the reigns of Tetricus (271–274) to Constans (circa 323) were found in the walled garden of Thenford House. A few years later skeletons were found in the same garden. The villa site was excavated from 1971 to 1973.[2] and is now a scheduled monument.[3] The mosaic is preserved in Thenford House.[2]
Early in the 19th century a
Before 1830 a
History
Thenford's name is derived from the Old English for "Ford of the Thegns".[4]
Thenford Manor House was near the parish church. Its origin was medieval, and in the 18th century was described as party Elizabethan. It was demolished probably when the current Thenford House was built.[2]
Thenford House is a Georgian country house built between 1761 and 1765[5] for Michael Wodhull. It is a Grade I listed building.[6] It is currently the home of Lord Heseltine.[7] In its grounds is a large arboretum that has become one of the most important private collections in the United Kingdom. It is open to the public four times a year.[8]
Thenford had a watermill west of the village and a windmill on a mound north of the village. The watermill was demolished in the 20th century but traces of its foundations, leat and mill pond survive. The windmill mound was about 66 feet (20 m) in diameter and still existed in 1947. It has since been destroyed.[2]
An
Parish church
The
The church is a Grade I listed building.[10]
St Mary's parish is a member of the Chenderit Benefice, which includes the parishes of Chacombe, Greatworth, Marston St. Lawrence, Middleton Cheney and Warkworth.[11]
References
- Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i RCHME 1982, pp. 143–145.
- ^ Historic England. "Roman villa SE of Thenford House (1003880)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- English Place Name Society. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 425–426.
- ^ Historic England. "Thenford House (Grade I) (1190951)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Heseltine, Michael (22 October 2016). "Diary". The Spectator. p. 9.
Forty years ago, Anne and I bought our 18th-century home. We had searched for years for the home of our dreams and Thenford ticked every box.
- ^ Archie Bland (23 October 2016). "Lord and Lady Heseltine on gardening: 'We shot 350 squirrels – absolutely awful things'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
- ^ Pevsner & Cherry 1973, p. 425.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade I) (1371503)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- A Church Near You. Church of England. Archived from the originalon 9 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
Sources
- ISBN 0-14-071022-1.
- RCHME, ed. (1982). An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire. Vol. 4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 143–145.
External links
- "Tony Tooth's Pictures of Thenford". PicturesOfEngland.com.