Elkington is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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 authorit ...

in the

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 signific ...

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 villages name means 'Elta's hill' or perhaps, less likely, ' swan hill'. The village was described as ''Elkynton'' and other variants in 1377, having 30 taxpayers over the age of 14. However, in 1412 the village is described as destitute of inhabitants save the seven who were servitors at

Pipewell Abbey Pipewell Abbey was an English Cistercian abbey, in the Northamptonshire hamlet of Pipewell in the old Rockingham Forest. It was established in 1143 by William Butevilain as a daughter house of Newminster Abbey in Northumberland. The Abbey also ...

due to a pestilence believed to be the plague. Today there are no houses left in the village except a single remaining farm. Outlines of the village street can be seen from a survey taken from the air. The site of the former settlement is close to bridge 28 on the Leicester section of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

. It is from this village that many of the Elkington branches of that surname are supposed to have been descended; mostly the Leicestershire and Oxfordshire/Warwickshire branches come from that region.

References

External links

* Deserted medieval villages in Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub