Clopton is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

located in

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. The council is based in Corby, the district's la ...

, close to the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

border. The village stretches along the north side of the B662 and was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as 'Clotone'. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 134 people. The Village Church of St Peter was built in about 1863 by Richard Armstrong. In 1395, the noblewoman

Agnes Hotot Agnes Hotot ( 1395) was an English noblewoman known for besting a man in a lance fight. According to Arthur Collins, writing in 1741, an unspecified monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member ...

married into the Dudley family at Clopton. Before her marriage, she was known for besting a man in a

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

fight; when her ailing father was unable to meet the arranged dueling challenge, Hotot took his place, disguising herself in his armour. She knocked her opponent off his horse – and then revealed her true identity. The Dudley family later created a new crest in honour of her victory. The village is reputed to be haunted by a ghost known as Skulking Dudley, who lived in the area in the 14th century. Skulking Dudley Coppice is named after him.

References

External links

Villages in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub