Rothersthorpe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rothersthorpe
Rothersthorpe shown within Northamptonshire
Population	ca. 200
- London	66 miles (106 km)
Parish	Rothersthorpe
District	South Northamptonshire
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NORTHAMPTON
Postcode district	NN7
Dialling code	01604
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Northampton South
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Coordinates: 52°12′06″N 0°57′13″W / 52.201685, -0.95367

Rothersthorpe is a small village of medieval origin, in South Northamptonshire, England, with a population of around 200. It is 4 miles (6 km) miles from the town of Northampton. The village is in the area of South Northamptonshire Council and Harpole and Grange ward together with the villages of Milton Malsor, Gayton, Harpole and Kislingbury.

The ward had a total population of 1,721 in the 2001 census. The village is part of the Northampton South constituency which is represented by the Conservative Member of Parliament, Brian Binley. For the next General Election in 2010 or before the village will be in Daventry constituency.

[edit] The Berry Ringworks

These are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They are situated betweeen the junction of North Street and Church Street and were small defended areas of buildings surrounded partly or completely by large ditches and earthworks topped by wooden palisades. They are rare nationally.

The Berry is the site of a ringwork which sttod at the centre of medieval Rothersthorpe. The site is irregularly shaped with a wide ditch on the north and west sides. There are the remains of an inner rampart in the north east corner and southern end. Features in the west of the interior of the works show the locations of former buildings. Remains of ridge and furrow farming are on the eastern side.

[edit] Facilities

The village has a mixed Church of England primary school, a pub, The Chequers, and the church of SS Peter and Paul.

The M1 Motorway with the Northampton (formerly known as Rothersthorpe) Service Area and junction 15A is nearby but mostly out of hearing as the prevailing wind is south-westerly. There is, however, light pollution from the service area and a large area of warehouses in the nearby area of Northampton.

The Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal, built in 1815 passes near to Rothersthorpe. Seventeen locks, taking the canal into Northampton and its junction with the River Nene, take about two hours for a boat to travel through.

The village is bisected by the ancient Banbury Lane which runs from Northampton to Banbury. Along this road a mile or so south was a level crossing with the West Coast Main Line railway route from London, Euston to Glasgow, Scotland. The crossing was one of few left on the line and the first outside Euston, some 65 miles south. The level crossing and an adjacent bridge over the Grand Union Canal were replaced by a curved bridge in 2005. This was for safety reason following projected speed increases to 125 miles per hour on the line by Virgin Trains' tilting Pendolino trains.