East Haddon 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other signif ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The village is located eight miles from

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and is surrounded by the villages of

Holdenby Holdenby is an English village and civil parish about north-west of Northampton in West Northamptonshire. The parish population measured by the 2011 census was 170. The village name means "Halfdan's/Haldan's farm/settlement". Prominent building ...

Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...

and

Long Buckby Long Buckby is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. In 2020 the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, was estimated to have a population of 4,303. Long Buckby is hill top village, l ...

. The location between

and

provides useful train links towards

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 651 people, falling to 643 at the 2011 census. The villages name means 'Heathy hill'. 'East' to distinguish from

West Haddon West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Facilities

East Haddon has a primary school, a church, a village hall and historical items dotted around it such as the old hall, the village pump and the old chapel. East Haddon has one pub, the Red Lion. The village is in the

Guilsborough School Guilsborough Academy is a co-educational academy school in Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, England. History The school was founded in September 1958 as Guilsborough Secondary Modern School and was officially opened in May 1959. Many of the build ...

catchment area, which is now in the top 1,000 schools in the country and in the top 10 in the county. It is also home to the Show Gardens of Haddonstone, a company formed and based in the village since 1971. The gardens have been featured in books by gardening writers Peter Coates and

Timothy Mowl Professor Timothy Mowl FSA (born 1951) is an architectural and landscape historian. He is Emeritus Professor of History of Architecture and Designed Landscapes at the University of Bristol. He is also Director of AHC Consultants. He was awarded th ...

. The show gardens are on the site of the company's head offices. The gardens are maintained throughout the year and contain

Garden Ornament A garden ornament is an item used for garden, landscape, and park enhancement and decoration. Garden ornaments include: * bench *bird baths * bird feeders * birdhouses *columns – cast stone *fire basket * flower box ** window box *fountains ...

and

Cast Stone Cast stone or reconstructed stone is a highly refined building material, a form of precast concrete used as masonry intended to simulate natural-cut stone. It is used for architectural features: trim, or ornament; facing buildings or other st ...

architecture products that Haddonstone sell. The gardens are also open for the

National Garden Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

, and raised over £1,000 in May 2012. East Haddon's relatively small population of around 600 people maintains a tennis club, a gardening club,
history society
a couple of successfu
cricket teams
and three book clubs. A popular bridge group meet in the village hall weekly and the village hall is the venue for regular quiz nights and celebratory events. The village running club has about 35 members and has been affiliated since 2002. ''The East Haddon Players'' is one of many village drama groups in the area, but uniquely East Haddon's company write their own material from scratch each year. Stories are always based in the village and to one degree or another feature East Haddon history. The group was formed to celebrate the millennium, and following the performance of ''Timelines'' didn't want to give up. A book of village history was published at the same time.

Notable buildings

The Parish Church of Saint Mary

The oldest building in the village is the East Haddon Church. The church was built in the 12th century and restored in the 14th century. The village's bells were installed in 1621 and a fifth was added in 1731. The first ever recorded peal on five bells was rung on New Year's Day 1756, lasting over three hours with 5,040 changes.

East Haddon Hall

East Haddon Hall is a Grade I listed building and was built in 1780 for the Sawbridge Family by John Wagstaff Fun, a builder from

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

. It was built to a design by John Johnson of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. In 1941

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

was born at the hall.

References

{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire