Weedon Bec is a very large village and parish in Daventry district, with an amazingly rich history. Its population in 2001 numbered 2,485. Situated about six miles south-east of Daventry, where the A5 and A45 roads cross. The River Nene, Grand Union Canal and West Coast Main Line railway all travel through it. Its name can be traced to the Anglo-Saxon 'Woden' or 'Weo-dun' and means 'Hill Temple' or 'Holy Shrine' - and 'Bec' from when Roger de Thebovill gave a 'moiety' of the manor of Weedon to the abbey of Bec in Le Bec-Hellouin, Normandy, France.
Originally comprising two older settlements known as Lower Weedon and Upper Weedon, a third distinct area called Road Weedon developed at a later time - in connection with the A5/Turnpike - also earning the village's other, old name of 'Weedon on the Street.'
It was part of Fawsley Hundred (a Hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England denoting the division of a shire for administrative, military and judicial purposes under common law - there were 28 Hundreds in Northamptonshire) 'Fawsley Hundred' first appears in 1193 - formed by the union of two earlier Hundreds. The Fawsley Hundred used to meet under a large Beech tree in Fawsley Park until the start of the 18th century.
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NOTE FROM AUTHOR |
Prehistoric worked flints were found in an area of Upper Weedon in 1968. Compared to the nearby village of Stowe, so far Weedon seems to have relatively few finds recorded from this era. It would suggest the area of higher ground between Stowe, Farthingstone and Weedon was a preferred site for settlement around this time. UPDATE: I have recently found information from Northamptonshire Archeology showing survey results that indicate possible enlclosures, ditches and pits of a prehistoric enclosed settlement to the east of the village.
In Roman times, the A5 would not have been known as Wattling Street. The Roman routes would have been known instead as all of 'Iter III' and the middle southern section of 'Iter II' - and even then it was a pre-existing, ancient trackway in England and Wales first used by Celts to travel to Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans paved the route; and though the Roman Road 'Iter II' passes alongside the village it seems as if there was never any significant Roman settlement here. In times gone by, some believed the Bannaventa of the Britons (a small defended Roman settlement, now known to be located near Norton), and the Isannovaria of the Romans were located in the village. Archeological evidence so far seems to show little support for Roman occupation; far more Roman finds have been located at Stowe and other surrounding areas than within Weedon, although a few Roman coins are reported to have been recovered from the site that later became the Anglo-Saxon Royal Palace (see below).
So it was the Saxons who gave the main section of road that runs from Dover to Wroxeter the name: "Waecelinga Straet", Wattling Street - meaning 'the street of the people of Waecel.' One interpretation of 'Waecel' is: 'foreigner' - referring presumably to the Celts. Wattling Street was later used in the 9th century, as the demarcation line between the Anglo-Saxon and Danish-ruled parts of England; placing Weedon (like many local villages) and the vicinity right on the front line, perhaps giving rise to the need for castles etc., in the area.
Castle Dykes - according to Pevsner,(who lists it under the village of Farthingstone) - this is a large earthwork that represents a medieval castle that is comparatively unusual. Consisting a narrow main bailey cut virtually in two by a ringwork forming the inner stronghold. It would have had a large outer bailey. (NOTE: Interestingly - with regard to a local story about the Round Hill mentioned below, I have found a theory online, for Castle Dykes being pre-Roman AND in one author's opinion as the SECOND BEST option for the site of Boudica's last battle.)
Early Medieval Royal Palace pre-685; English Heritage lists the possible site of a royal palace within the village. It is believed to have been converted to a monastery by St Werburgh, niece of King Ethelred of Mercia. The Palace (monastery) - is believed to have been destroyed - burnt - by the Danes. Sources suggest foundations have been found for its location.
Saint Werburgh (d. Feb 3 699), (also known as Werburga), was born in Staffordshire, traditionally the daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia, and his wife Ermengild (also a Saint, who converted her pagan husband. Ermengild had a cult-like status), Werburgh was sister to Coenred. After Wulfhere's death, Werburgh became a nun at Ely and was tutoured under Etheldreda (queen, foundress and abbess of Ely), and Werburgh is believed to have succeeded her mother as abbess. Werburgh was recalled by King Ethelred of Mercia, her uncle - to his kingdom where he gave her charge of some nunneries, which she founded or reformed: Weedon, Hanbury and Threckingham. For a time, Werburgh would have been in Weedon, where not one, but TWO miracles are attributed to her (more to follow). St. Werburgh was instrumental in convent reform across England. Buried, at her own request, at Hanbury...(more to follow)
Weedon’s OTHER Saint:
If Werburgh’s association with the village escapes most people’s attention – the village's other, less fortunate Saint is even more elusive to the village’s memory. Little is known about Alnoth, who only makes an appearance in an account by Goscelin. However, in any dictionary of British Saints, you will find: ALNOTH.
ALNOTH – was believed to be a serf (a member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labour in return for certain legal or customary rights) and cowherd (someone who herds or tends cattle) in Werburgh’s monastery in the village, but became a hermit in Stowe wood. Alnoth met an unfortunate end in the wood, where he was murdered by robbers c.700.
In the Domesday Book property and land-owners listed for the village, include: Alan (or Aleine?) who held 1/2 hide. Land for 1 1/2 ploughs with 1 villain(a peasant villager of higher economical status than a Bordar), 4 bordars (a cottager, a peasant of lower economical status) and 6 acres of meadow, 2 acres of scrubland and a mill. Hugh de Grandmesnil (from Grandmesnil, Calvados. Sheriff of Leicestershire, constable of Leicester Castle. Had holdings in 8 southern and midland counties), held 3 1/2 hides. Land for 8 1/2 ploughs. In demesne (land in Lordship whose produce is devoted to the Lord rather than his tenants - this can be a Manor held in the Lord's personal possession or part of an estate exploited directly for the Lord's 'Home Farm') 1 1/2 ploughs and 2 villains, with a priest and 3 bordars have 1/2 a plough. There are 3 knights, with 6 villains and 3 bordars; have half a 4 1/2 ploughs. There are 17 acres of meadow, 12 acres of woodland and a mill rendering 40d. It was worth 40s; now 50s. Robert, Count of Mortain (half brother of William I, younger brother of Odo of Bayeux. Virtual Earl of Cornwall), holds half a hide in Weedon Bec. There is land for 1 1/2 ploughs. There is 1 plough with 1 Villain, and 4 Bordars, and 6 acres of meadow, 2 acres of scrubland and a mill rendering 40d. It was worth 40d; now 10s. AEstan held it freely.
Weedon Bec Priory c.1086 Weedon Priory was one of the numerous (French) 'Alien Priories or Abbeys' in the country drawing rent from English Manors....(much more to follow on this subject)...It appears that estates of Bec Abbey sold cider in the village - although our climate determined ale would have been common, cider was once made much more widely throughout southern Britain.
The Church: the earliest record I have seen for a Vicar in the village, dates from 1224 - a William de Wedon - appointed by the abbot of Bec, however - as Saint Werburgh and the Abbey of Bec stories show, Christianity would have had a presence in the village long before this time. How the 'Royal Palace' and monastery/nunnery and a church would have been converted and organised within Weedon, we can only guess - as far as I know, no records or stories exist to explain the exact details (but I'll keep searching!). We can get a rough idea by looking at other examples; and from my limited knowledge, the layout indicated by the geography and what Leland describes in the 1500's, hints at..., The Church Registers date back to 1587. For what we do know about the parish church of St Peter & St Paul and for more details follow the link below (to come)
Manorial Court records from between 1247 and 1275 show life for the average villager to be very difficult indeed. The Manorial Court was....,and records from this era show villagers, for instance, making pleas for the right to land, begging mercy from the lord of the Manor when their animals were caught in the lord's meadow, crops or pasture - and having to pay fines accordingly, as well as having to pay fines for trespassing other's lands, or - as Agnes Stampelove did in 1275, give the lord 2s. "for leave to come and go in the village but to dwell outside the lord's land." Breakers of the Assize (people who broke the law that regulated the sale of ale or bread - so that everybody got a fair deal in buying these food staples):... In 1248 the Court hears that a 'William Noah's son' who was a born bondman of the lord, had escaped and become a fugitive at Dodford. The court decided he had to be found. At the same court, it was reported that William Askil, John Parsons and Godfrey Green had stolen 4 geese from the village of Harpole. The Records from 1249 seem to show a significant struggle for land between some villagers and a Robert of Brockhall...
Weedon Bec Priory dissolved 1414 and granted to Eton college in 1462. In 1414 King Henry V ordered the take-over of Alien Priories, and their income transferred to the Crown. The Manor was later granted by Henry VI to the new Eton College - who became Lords of the Manor until the 1920's.
The antiquarian John Leland visited around 1535-43 and described the village as:
Church tower altered some time between 15th and 16th centuries.
Church Bells: 6.(inscriptions & history...)
September 1582-3, the 'townships' of Upper and Lower Weedon are joined through their field systems. Up until this time, Upper (or 'Nether Weedon') and Lower ('Over Weedon') settlements had 2 separate field systems, consisting 2 fields each. Only after September 1583, were fields refferred-to as being 'in Weedon' as a general term.
29 January 1615 Parish records show William Radhouse the elder was 'buried by stealth in the night time in the churchyard' - because at some point before death he had been excommunicated.
Plague hit Weedon in 1625, local accounts stated the dead were buried in the fields around the village. The Church Registers list several people who die of 'the peste.' (According to Baker, in the early 19th century, several skeletons were found while lowering the Chester Road beyond the Depot, and he assumed they may have been related to the Plague, although they could have been from any date ranging from the Roman period)
The Free School founded and endowed in 1712 by Nathaniel Billing a vintner of London, but native of Weedon. (Whose name still appears in the village - in the form of 'Billing School Place') He arranged the whole of his personal and real estate to be converted into money after his wife died - to be held in trust for the building of the school, so that 20 poor children born in the village, could be taught to read, write, cast accounts etc. His executors were instructed to use the remaining money to purchase land in or near the village, to be conveyed to the master and wardens of the Vintners Company in London, in trust so that his Nephew - Nathaniel Billing, and every succeeding master could receive the entire rents and profits of the land to maintain the school, as well as to find and provide for each of the 20 boys 'a kersey coat or a coarse cloth of whitish colour, and red buttons and button holes, a flat cap with a white tuft on the top and white ribbon round each of the caps, and a pair of shoes once in every two years' - these things he ordered, should be under the keeping of the master, so that 'they might appear decent at church on Sundays and holidays.' He also willed it so that once every 2 years the boys able to read, write etc., were to be discharged, with their clothes and the master had to choose new boys on the advice of the minister and churchwardens, so that the charity would benefit more poor inhabitants of the parish. The Will was adhered-to, a dwelling-house for a master, and a school were built, as well as an estate to support the school which was purchased in Everdon (consisting 3 closes, containing about 42 acres) The Post Office Directory of 1854 states that Billing's Free School was for the education of 20 boys, and supported by an annual endowment of about £100. The School master was Nathaniel Chapman Billing, however an Infants school mistress is listed also at this time, as Mrs Valentine Quelch. In 1878 Henry Billing is listed as Master. According to Kelly's Directories; it was rebuilt in 1862, costing around £800, for 150 boys with an average attendance of 124. The National Girls school was built in 1860, for 135 girls, with an average attendance of 108. School Mistresses included: Miss Hutchins and Miss Sharman (1878), Miss Newbury (1898, 1903). The Infants School was also built in 1860 and enlarged between 1893-4, for 135 boys and girls, with an average attendance of 95. Mistresses included: Mrs Annie Alley (in 1903)...(more detail to be added shortly.)
The Open Fields of the village were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1776, as stated before, Enclosure was first considered in 1623. Weedon also didn't have enough meadow or hay resources.
27 Nov 1777, Weedon's Militia List: In 1757, the Militia Act had established Militia Regiments in all counties of England and Wales, and from 1758 a kind of conscription existed. Each year, the parish had to draw up lists of adult males (aged 18-45), and hold a ballot to choose those who had to serve in the Militia. Weedon's Militia List of 1777 names 65 men and their occupations. The list comprises: 21 labourers, 19 servants, 8 carpenters, 5 yeomen, 4 blacksmiths, 3 butchers, 2 bakers, 1 taylor, 1 shoemaker and 1 schoolmaster.
Congregational Chapel built 1792 (located in Church St)...(URC) I have found records that state the Chapel originated in the 17th century, and that by 1688 there was a joint congregation at Floore and Weedon [more to come on this story!], The former was classified around 1715 as Independent, the latter regarded as Presbyterian in 1767, when in the same year John Wesley, when refused the use of the Parish Church 'accepted the offer of the Presbyterian Meeting-house.' The present-day Chapel was registered in 1793. [For more information....link to come]
The Grand Junction Canal constructed in Weedon between 1793 and 1805. The canal north of the village was completed by 1796
The Royal Ordnance
An 1801 Census of the Parish showed there were 750 inhabitants living in 148 houses. and by 1802 most the lands were held by copyhold from the Lords of the Manor (Eton College)
Depot authorised by Act of Parliament in 1803..for more detailed information, please follow the link below.
Parliamentary returns for 1821 show population numbered 1,178
1821 Flood...
Main part of church rebuilt 1825 - the work was 'oversighted' by a Joshua Callaway. Joshua was born in Warwickshire in the 1770's, but eventually moved to the village - where he was often overseer of the poor. He also owned property (farms, some with brick kilns) and 'a new brick and slated dwelling house' on Bridge St, - which still exists today - as 'Brooklyn'
By 1830, it was believed the population had risen to 1,400 or more
The Roman Catholic Church, built 1830 dedicated to Our Lady of Victories -...for soldiers and civilians. It seated 130 people and it was served from Daventry.
1841 Census - unfortunately for any genealogists, part or all of Weedon's census from this year no longer exists.
1851 Census...(basic details and over-view to follow)
1861 Census...The returns for the 'Military Prison' in the Depot make for interesting reading; most of the wardens are listed as Chelsea Pensioners...??detainees...(more information to come)
The church chancel was rebuilt and refitted in 1863 as a memorial to Rev. George William Watson, a former vicar.
1871 Census...(basic information to come)
1875 Flood...
July 1880 Floods...
14 August 1915 - a fatal train crash - as two trains collide on Stowe Hill, one bound for Euston, the other Liverpool. The Liverpool train was derailed and crashed down the embankment. 64 people were injured, and sadly 10 people died.
?1947 Canal burst its banks - flooding the village ...,near (what was then) Goff's Farm/Manor Farm, to the right of the bridges as you enter the village at Road Weedon.
Friday Sept 21 1951, Weedon's (second) rail crash at almost the same location - the county's worst ever public transport disaster. A London to Liverpool express train - (Princess Arthur of Connaught) derailed south of Weedon and plunged down an embankment. Again, sadly 14 passengers died, as well as a member of staff from the dining cart. Eye witness Win Grey...
Weedon (old) school disused from..., demolished in...., site developed for houses.
Weedon Primary School built....
(Query) 1980's - The Ordnance Depot used as a site to film a Gillette advert!
Easter Floods 1998
The Round Hill - if you talk to villagers, you will hear many interesting stories about what The Round Hill is, or rather was. Some have said it was simply a pile of rubbish or rubble, maybe from a brick works which used to be at the junction of Oak Street and Queen Street; others have said that horses and carts had been placed there, and I've even heard someone say Boudicca is buried there. However it was formed, just about every child who has grown up in the village will know its one of the best places to go when it has snowed!
The Tunnel
At one point, the village boasted 25+ pubs (again, connected with the vast increase in populace from the Depot)
- Click here or follow the link below to read some truly amazing wartime stories concerning the village.
If you have anything you wish to share about this page, please email the author via: WeedonBec@ymail.com.
The "weoh" in Weedon's Old English name is specifically referring to a pre-Christian temple or sacred place[1], this may well be the reasoning for the establishment of the monestary. Æþelred gave a large amount of land to the Christian church when he became king of Mercia and it was common practice to erect a church, abbey or similar Christian place of worship on the heathen sites. Æþelred should not be confused with the latter king of England Æþelræd Unræd (Ethelred the Unready, meaning ill-advised) of the 10th/11th century. Danish disturbance to the monestary is very likely as Farthingstone a little south of Weedon includes in its name the Old Norse personal name "Farðegn" (Farthegn)[2] and the Old English "-ingas tun" making it "The farm of Farðegn's people" clear indication of Danish settlement within the immediate area, albeit slightly outside the accepted limit of Guthrum's Danegeld bounded by Walting Street.
Weedon Lois further south also has the same meaning to its name as do the Harrowdens to the north (coming from the OE "Hearg")[3]. Stowe literally means "place" but again this is now seen as a "special place" connected with pre-Christian worship. Such place naming in the county shows that Anglo-Saxon occupation stretchs back to at least the early 6th century or 5th century if not during the time of the Roman retreat in the late 4th century.
It is interesting to learn that there is a suspected meadhall used as a witan or royal residence in the village; another Mercian witan was held at Irthlingborough[4] during the reign of Offa who attended the witan. The evidence of a meadhall of royal importance and the temple in its name makes the village an important feature of the early Middle Anglii occupation.
[1] Stenton; Anglo-Saxon England, 1943 and English Place-Names Society.
[2] EP-NS
[3] Stenton and EP-NS.
[4] Stenton
Are you aware of the viking find in Lower Weedon? It could be an indication of when the Danes destroyed the palace and nunnery
did you mention the stone circle up greys way, just past lancers way? found your information insiteful thanks,
Mark P
Been reading through this for the past hour now and have just amazed at some of the history of the village. Have lived for 25 years now and although i know much of the history of the army barracks, some of the other information has amazed me.
The train crashes in particular, not once have i ever heard this mentioned by family or friends. Although my dad tells me a doctor of the time (Doctor Hughes) and his wife were one of the 1st people on scene.
And to the previous comment, i know the stone circle well, used to play there as a kid, it always reminded me of a mini stone henge.
Really intresting read, ty.
Would anyone know if the 19th Light Dragoons were stationed at the Weedon Bec Ordnance Depot in 1808? PRO records show they were in Northampton, but I am trying to trace where.
Thank you for your very kind comments. I will be expanding the information on the site gradually from now on, so do check back.
If you (or anyone else) could tell me anything about the stone circle, please feel free to contact me via the Editor.
Really pleased you like the site!