Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

village formerly in the

Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and comp ...

, geographically in

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 ...

, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, and administered by the City of Peterborough

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. 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 authorit ...

of Helpston covers an area of and had an estimated population in 2011 of 981. The parish church is dedicated to St Botolph; the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

window was created by

Francis Skeat Francis Walter Skeat (3 December 1909 – 31 August 2000) was an English glass painter who created over 400 stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, both in England and overseas. Skeat was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow ...

and depicts "

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...

". The poet

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

was born in Helpston in 1793 and is buried in the churchyard of St Botolph's. The thatched cottage where he was born was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2005. The

John Clare Cottage John Clare Cottage is a cottage and literary museum in Helpston, Peterborough, United Kingdom. The cottage was the birthplace of English poet John Clare (1793-1864). The thatched Grade II* cottage at 12 Woodgate, Helpston, originally consisted of ...

, at 12 Woodgate, has been restored using traditional building methods and is open to the public. In 2013 the John Clare Trust received a grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

to help preserve the building and provide educational activities for youngsters visiting the cottage. John Clare Primary School is named after the poet. The name Helpston is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means the farmstead (''tun'') first settled by ''Help'' (an

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

personal name). Helpston is well known for its athletics club, Helpston Harriers AC, who aspire to improve local running standards.

Gallery

File:UK Helpston.jpg, Village sign File:John Clare's birthplace, Helpston, Peterborough - geograph.org.uk - 217344.jpg,

File:Bluebells at Helpston Heath - geograph.org.uk - 641739.jpg, '' Bluebells'' at Helpston Heath File:Butter Cross and parish church, Helpston, Peterborough - geograph.org.uk - 87485.jpg, Butter Cross and parish church

History

In July 1822 it was reported that a

deodand A deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law, an object or instrument that becomes forfeited because it has caused a person's death. The English common law of deodands traces back to the 11th century and was applied, on a ...

of 20 shillings was laid upon the cart held responsible for the death of John Price, aged twelve, the driver of the cart. The inquest was held at the Bell Inn. Deodands were abolished under the

Deodands Act 1846 The Deodands Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict, c.62) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that abolished the ancient remedy of deodands. Background By the early nineteenth century, the ancient remedy of deodands had largely f ...

24 years later.

References

External links

Helpston Parish Website

A website about the village

Clare Cottage
Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Geography of Peterborough {{Cambridgeshire-geo-stub

Gallery

History

See also

References

External links