Eastcote is a small village in the shire

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

(Northants), England. It is about south-west of the county town of

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; ...

along Banbury Lane. It is close to the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa *A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Francistown ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

, the Roman Road known as

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

, about north-west of

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the oldest ...

. Prior to the opening in the 1959 of the

M1 Motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

and the

M6 Motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

a little later, the A5 was the main route by road from London to north

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and north-west England.

Governance

The village is grouped with several other small villages into the parish council of the nearby larger village of

Pattishall Pattishall, also known in antiquity as Pateshull, is a village and Parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Astcote, Dalscote and Eastcote) was 1,471 at the 2011 census. The village lies adjacent ...

. It is governed by

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 ...

. Prior to local government changes in 2021 it the District Council was South Northamptonshire District Council where the village was part of Blakesley and Cote

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. This is a two-member ward currently both

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

History

Eastcote House
stood in 60 acres and was owned by a Mr Gresham. The house was demolished around the middle of the 20th century.Northamptonshire Chronicle & Echo, '' "Dark Years of PoW Camp" '', Published 2014_02_06 Just before the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the house was sold as a retirement home to the National Sailor's and Firemen's Union of England as a retirement home. The Union decided that they would help German seaman and prepared an internment camp initially housing 50 men. However, the leader of the union was greatly upset by the fact that, after he had left the concert room where he had informed the internees about the sinking of the Lusitania on 7 May 1915 and the loss of fellow merchant navy sailors, they had started to sing German songs. The next morning the leader of the union held a meeting with the War Office resulting in the camp being handed over to the British Government and subsequently surrounded by barbed wire. Most of the internees were transferred out of the camp by July 1916. The camp became a POW camp expanding to about 4500 men by 1919 and was complete with a new water supply, sewage system, hospital, theatre and workshop. The village of Pattishall did not have electricity until the 1930s. After the war the property was sold by the union. There were periodic escapes: seven men escaped in 1917 but all were caught.

References

External links

South Northants District CouncilNorthamptonshire County Council
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District