Easton Maudit 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 ...

in rural

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 ...

. It takes its name from the Maudit (or Mauduit) family who purchased the estate at what was then just Easton, in 1131. There was no residential landowner in the village until 1578 when the village was acquired by

Sir Christopher Yelverton Sir Christopher Yelverton (1536 – 31 October 1612) was an English judge and Speaker of the House of Commons. Ancestry Christopher Yelverton came from an ancient Norfolk family, tracing their descent back to Andrew Yelverton, who held conside ...

. It is about east 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; ...

town centre. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of

Bozeat Bozeat is a village and civil parish in the postal district of Wellingborough, North Northamptonshire, England, about south of Wellingborough on the A509 road, near Wollaston. At the time of the 2011 census, Bozeat's population (including E ...

. Thomas Percy was made the rector of the parish at the age of 24; he was a friend of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, who was a frequent visitor to the Rectory.

Church

The church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. The church floor was designed by Lord Alwyne Compton,

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

, and includes the motto of the Marquesses of Northampton. Samuel Johnson,

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

and other members of the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...

, were friends of the then rector and as well as staying in the village worshipped in the church. The chief monument is to

, a

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

, who composed the prayer which is still said daily in Parliament. Yelverton's son Henry was

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. Outside the churchyard are the remains of a large oak tree - the shell of which is now artificially supported. The village and church feature in "The Hammer of God", the first episode of the 1974

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

television series, starring

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, Order of the British Empire#Current classes, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many ...

Manor house

The village once housed a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

. The house was purchased by the Compton family from

Castle Ashby Castle Ashby is the name of a civil parish, an estate village and an English country house in rural Northamptonshire. Historically the village was set up to service the needs of Castle Ashby House, the seat of the Marquess of Northampton. The v ...

and they had the house demolished. All that now remains is the plot of the house surrounded by

Lebanon Cedar ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

Notable residents

Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''All G ...

the actor lived in Easton Maudit and is buried in the village graveyard.

Other information

There is a fine set of Roman remains in the village. There is a riding school at Manor Farm, and a small airfield.

References

External links

Website for the excavation of the Romano-British villa at Easton Maudit

Other village pictures

File:Easton Maudit. Lane leading up to St Peter & St Paul's Church-geograph-4756010-by-Colin-Park.jpg File:EMTree.JPG, Remains of the Great Tree File:EMRectory.JPG, The Old Vicarage File:NimmoGrave.JPG, Derek Nimmo's grave File:EMPorch.JPG, The old porch to the church File:EastonFrom Grendon.jpg, The village seen from Grendon {{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire