Place:Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, England

Watchers
NameEaston Neston
Alt namesEaston-Nestonsource: hyphenated
Hulcotesource: hamlet in parish
Showsleysource: hamlet in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates52.145°N 0.965°W
Located inNorthamptonshire, England
See alsoCleley Hundred, Northamptonshire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Potterspury Rural, Northamptonshire, Englandrural district 1894-1935
Towcester Rural, Northamptonshire, Englandrural district 1935-1974
South Northamptonshire District, Northamptonshire, Englanddistrict municipality 1974-2021
West Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Englandunitary authority covering the area since April 2021
NOTE: Easton Neston is one of three parishes using the suffix "Easton" in Northamptonshire. There are also Easton on the Hill and Easton Maudit. Check your sources carefully.


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Easton Neston is situated in the southern part of Northamptonshire, England. Though the village of Easton Neston that was inhabited until around 1500 is now gone, the parish still exists and retains the name. At the 2011 UK census the population of the civil parish remained less than 100 and was included in the town of Towcester with which it has a border on the southwest.

It is a parish now in the unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. From 1974 until April 2021 it was part of the South Northamptonshire District of Northamptonshire, England.

History

The villages name means 'Eadstan's farm/settlement' or 'Aethelstan's farm/settlement'.

The rural civil parish has a population of about 70 and covers about 1,800 acres (730 ha) of mainly farmland and woods around the South Northamptonshire communities of Easton Neston House, and the hamlets of Hulcote and Showsley.

The ecclesiastical parish of Easton Neston is much larger, with a population of approximately 1200.

Easton Neston House was built for Sir William Fermor (later Lord Leominster ("Lem-ster")) in 1685-1695 and remodelled by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1700-1702. It was built on the site of Easton Nestone village, the main Oxford to Northampton road being re-routed to the west. The grounds also have 18th century stables and a temple dated 1641. There are entrance lodges on the old Towcester Road northwest and southwest of the house of about 1822. There is a public footpath which runs from the northwest lodge east to Hulcote.

The Parish Church of St Mary is on the south side of Easton Neston estate and in the Church of England's Diocese of Peterborough. Its origins are 13th century and it has box pews. There are several monuments to the Fermor-Hesketh family from the main house including Sir Richard Fermor (d.1552).

Industry

The parish was not always as agricultural as it now appears. Quarries for either iron ore or limestone existed in the 1870s in the vicinity of Showsley and Shutlanger. An ironworks was constructed at the junction which smelted the Hulcote ore between 1875 and 1882 when the works closed. The quarries at Hulcote operated with short breaks until 1920.

The first Hulcote iron ore quarries were on the east side of the Northampton to Towcester road on both sides of the minor road to Showsley. A clay pit was dug close by on the west side of the main road and a brick works built next to it to make bricks from the clay. Sidings were installed on the railway branch to serve the works. The brickworks and claypit operated until about 1900.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Easton Neston.

Research Tips

A Vision of Britain through Time

A Vision of Britain through Time describes parishes and former parishes from a gazetteer of 1871; provides an outline of the historic administration links for parishes. The OS map of 1900, the OS map of 1935, and the OS map of 1965 all show parish boundaries and settlements within parishes. These maps are all expandable to show individual parishes and are useful for inspecting changes occuring over the 20th century.

Archive Centres

  • Northamptonshire Archives is located at Wootton Hall Park, Northampton, NN4 8BQ, Telephone from the UK: 01604 767562 (from overseas replace the "01" with "44"). The website gives opening times and facilities available.
  • Northampton Central Library, Abington Street, Northampton, NN1 2BA (Telephone from the UK: 01604 26771 (from overseas replace the "01" with "44").

Northamptonshire Family History Society

The NFHS website describes the activities of the society. The Society is presently transcribing the deposited Marriage Registers for the period 1754 through 1837. These transcriptions may provide more details than can be found on other databases where subscriptions are charged.

GENUKI

The main GENUKI page for Northamptonshire lists a number of topics for research.

Victoria County History

  • the Victoria County History of Northamptonshire produced online by British History Online (founded by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust in 2003) contains only some of the Hundreds of Northamptonshire in its collection. Articles that do exist will be referenced under the relevant hundred and parish.

Online Databases

FindMyPast includes (list checked July 2018)

  • Northamptonshire Parish Records (Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, and Probate Index)
  • Northamptonshire Freeholders 1795-1797
  • Northamptonshire Hearth Tax, 1674
  • Northamptonshire Military Tribunals 1916-1918
  • Northamptonshire Militia Lists 1771
  • Northamptonshire, Northampton General Hospital Admissions 1774-1846

While Ancestry offers (list checked July 2018)

  • Census & Voter Lists 1841-1911.
  • Northamptonshire Birth, Marriage & Death
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532-1812
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1912
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1912
  • Other Birth, Marriage & Death collections related to Northamptonshire. (32)
  • Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Confirmations, 1870-1911
  • Other Schools, Directories & Church Histories collections related to Northamptonshire. (34)
  • A calendar of wills relating to the counties of Northampton and Rutland : proved in the court of the archdeacon of Northampton
  • Other Wills, Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal collections related to Northamptonshire. (23)
  • Reference, Dictionaries & Almanacs collections related to Northamptonshire. (21)
  • Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers collections related to Northamptonshire. (7)
  • Northamptonshire Stories, Memories & Histories
Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas French: who came to America from Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, England and settled
Works of Reverend James Hervey, 1713-1758
The Orlebar Chronicles in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, 1553-1733, or the Children of the Manorhouse
Descendents of Thomas Chichele of Higham-Ferrers, Northampton, England
Rockingham Castle and the Watsons
Other Northamptonshire Stories, Memories & Histories (14)

FamilySearch also has an extensive database online. It is free, but may not always provide the original images provided by the services one pays for.