Woodford, Northamptonshire

Woodford

Church of St. Mary the Virgin seen from the River Nene
Woodford
Woodford shown within Northamptonshire
Population 1,461 (2011 census)
OS grid reference SP9676
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Kettering
Postcode district NN14
Dialling code 01832
Police Northamptonshire
Fire Northamptonshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK Parliament

Woodford is a large village and civil parish located in East Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population (including Woodwell) was 1,461 people.[1]

It is in two distinct parts, the easterly, lower, part being alongside the River Nene and the westerly, upper, part is on the through road out of the Nene valley. Its parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and has the nickname "the Cathedral of the Nene".

Inside the church can be found a couple of curiosities. Within a niche cut into a pillar, there is a mummified human heart wrapped in coarse cloth. This was discovered during restoration work in 1867. There is also a framed newspaper cutting; this concerns a photograph of an alleged ghost taken in the church in 1964.[2]

Woodford House, an early 19th-century mansion, was the home of the Arbuthnot family and scene of the death of the diarist Harriet Arbuthnot in 1833. The property was purchased in 1880 by Charles Henry Plevins from Arthur Arbuthnot, son of General Charles Arbuthnot. The house was altered between 1899 and 1910 and had a new garden created in 1909.[3] The Arbuthnots owned iron ore quarries on the estate which were dug from circa 1851, an early date for what was later to become a large industry in Northamptonshire.[4]

Heritage assets

The following buildings and structures are listed by Historic England as of special architectural or historic interest.[5]

Demography

  • In 1801 there were 491 persons[6]
  • In 1831 there were 639 persons[6]
  • In 1841 there were 680 persons[6]
  • In 2011 there were 1,461 persons[7]

Notes

  1. Office for National Statistics: Woodford CP: Parish headcounts. Retrieved 15 July 2015
  2. Codd, Daniel. Mysterious Northamptonshire. Breedon Books (2009). p.131-132. ISBN 9781859836811
  3. NCC, Record Office
  4. The History of Ironstone Mining around Burton Latimer
  5. National Heritage List for England (Historic England)
  6. 1 2 3 William Whellan & Co. (1849). History, Gazetteer and Directory Northamptonshire. Whittaker & Co. p. 885.
  7. Office for National Statistics

References


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