Glendon is a deserted village in the English county of

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 ...

. Its location was on land to the east of Glendon Hall, now within the parish of Rushton. Neighbouring towns include Rothwell,

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

, Rushton and

Desborough Desborough is a town in Northamptonshire, England, lying in the Ise Valley between Market Harborough and Kettering. It was an industrial centre for weaving and shoe-making in the 19th century and had a long association with the Co-operative ...

History

The village has a reference 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, where it is recorded that it had a population of 14. The village is also mentioned by name in the

Nomina Villarum ''Nomina Villarum'' was a survey carried out in 1316 and contains a list of all cities, boroughs and townships in England and the Lords of them. The document was compiled for King Edward II. The survey was a feudal aid, a payment which by traditi ...

of both 1316 and 1327. At these times, it was recorded that there were ten tenants in the manor. By 1428, records show that there were only ten inhabitants left in the village. In the year 1514, what remained of the village was enclosed by Robert Malory and nine of the ten dwellings left in the village were demolished, the land given over to the rearing of

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

for the growing

woolen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

trade. Glendon Hall and Home Farm are the only buildings remaining today. There are no traces left of the village as most of the land around the hall has been landscaped, although there is a sign of

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

in the form of a long deeply hollowed channel, running east from the hall, that was once the main street through the village. The village's story was featured in the first episode of the 2006 series of ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'', which featured efforts to find the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Helen's, which they concluded had been incorporated into Glendon Hall c. 1514 as a chapel and later demolished.

Glendon parish

The

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 ...

of Glendon survived until 1935, covering Glendon Hall and Glendon Lodge, as well as Bunkers Hill Farm. It was merged into Rushton parish in on 1 April 1935.

Local tradition

It is said that one of the early owners of Glendon Hall, Sir William Lane, unexpectedly left his wife, Dame Margaret, in the middle of the night and thundered off on horseback on a mysterious assignation. He never returned, and was subsequently found murdered near

Pytchley Pytchley is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, three miles south-west of Kettering and near the A14 road. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population was 489 people. The village has a Church of England Primar ...

, some miles to the south. Thus, it was believed in the early 20th century that the hall was haunted by Sir William's ghost, which accounted for an all-pervading sadness and

melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...

atmosphere at the place.Codd, Daniel (2009). ''Mysterious Northamptonshire'', Breedon Books. p.114.

Fiction

The Duke of Glendon's Regiment is a fictitious infantry regiment in the 1944 wartime propaganda film ''

The Way Ahead ''The Way Ahead'' (also known as ''Immortal Battalion'') (1944) is a British Second World War drama film directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov. The film stars David Niven, Stanley Holloway and Willi ...

''.

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

stars as Lieutenant Perry, leading new recruits drawn from all walks of life on overseas active service for the first time. The regimental nickname in the film was 'The Dogs,' short for 'Duke of Glendon.'

References

* http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/snapshot_villages.html Deserted medieval villages in Northamptonshire Former civil parishes in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub