Litchborough is an historic 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
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
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 ...
, England. At the time of the
2001 census, the parish's population was 300 people,
[Office for National Statistics: Litchborough CP: Parish headcounts](_blank)
Retrieved 11 December 2009 increasing to 321 at the 2011 Census.
The villages name probably means, 'enclosure hill'.
The manor of Litchborough, and that of nearby Weedon Pinkney, belonged in the fourteenth century to the Wale family, and passed by descent to the Malorre family.
More recently, new built housing has increased the number of dwellings to 111 and the population to 449.
It is 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 ...
, 2 miles off the A5 on the Banbury Road.
The
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
parish
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
is dedicated to St Martin.
The village has an active Village Hall and a popular pub, the Old Red Lion.
The village has a well supported Parish Council chaired by Tim Sykes of the Old Rectory, a businessman who chaired the hostel sector hospitality company Beds & Bars. Gareth Lugar-Mawson, a retired High Court Judge who has served in Hong Kong and Brunei, also serves on the Parish Council.
There is an informative village community website - litchborough.org.uk - with local news, details of events and Parish Council information.
Litchborough Hall
Litchborough Hall is the home of Bob Heygate, who was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1997 and who, with cousin Paul Heygate, owns and runs the landmark Heygates Mill at Bugbrooke and the Fine Lady Bakery at Banbury.
In June 1603
Lady Anne Clifford
Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, ''suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became ''suo jure'' ...
stayed at Litchborough Hall, the home of Elizabeth Nedham, who had been a member of the household of
Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick
Anne Dudley (née Russell), Countess of Warwick (1548/1549 – 9 February 1604) was an English noblewoman, and a lady-in-waiting and close friend of Elizabeth I. She was the third wife of Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.
Family and marri ...
.
Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford
Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford ( Harington; 1580–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a ...
met her and they rode to
Dingley Hall to meet
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...
.
The house was extensively reworked in 1838 in Tudor style by the architect George Moore.
Litchborough Hall, Historic England
/ref>
References
Villages in Northamptonshire
West Northamptonshire District
Civil parishes in Northamptonshire
{{Northamptonshire-geo-stub