Ashton is a village and civil parish about ¾ mile east of Oundle in the east of the English county of Northamptonshire forming part of the unitary authority of North Northamptonshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 219.

History

The villages name means ' ash-tree farm/settlement'. Commemorative Stone at Chapel, Ashton, E Northants

Ashton was re-built in 1900 by the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...

for estate workers. Since 1965 it has hosted the World Conker Championship traditionally on the second Sunday of October. This is now held in Southwick. The village is the birthplace of Dame Miriam Rothschild a noted natural scientist and author. In 1952 George and Lillian Peach were murdered at their home in the village. The crime remains Northamptonshire's oldest unsolved murder case.

Notable buildings

Ashton Wold was built in 1900 for the Honourable

Charles Rothschild Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (9 May 1877 – 12 October 1923), known as "Charles", was an English banker and entomologist and a member of the Rothschild family. He is remembered for The Rothschild List, a list he made in 1915 of 284 sites acros ...

(d. 1923,

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

). The architect was William Huckvale and the house is in the Tudor style. Many of the cottages in the village date from 1900–01 and were designed by Huckvale. Two more cottages were added in 1945 in the same style; Pevsner refers to Ashton as a

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

. The cottages are Tudor style and thatched. Almost all of the buildings the village are Grade II or II* listed. The Creed Chapel and adjacent school building date from 1705, the manor house from the 15th century. Chapel and Schoolhouse, Ashton, E Northants

Chapel and Schoolhouse, Ashton, E Northants

Cottage at Ashton, Northants, E Northants

References

External links

Listed Buildings in Ashton, Northamptonshire, England from British Listed Buildings websiteA short history of Ashton and the Rothschild Family from the Estate websiteDetails of the World Conker Championship organised by Ashton Conker ClubA short history of the village and the pub from the Chequered Skipper website
*
The Parish Church of Oundle with Ashton
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire