Little Brington is a village in Brington 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 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 signif ...

, England. It has one little school that currently holds around 50 children. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'.

Little Brington church

Little Brington church is notable for having a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

but no

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, KG, CB, PC (14 April 1798 – 27 December 1857), styled The Honourable Frederick Spencer until 1845, was a British naval commander, courtier, and Whig politician. He initially served in the Royal Navy and ...

(1798–1857) built the church of St John as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

and a memorial to his first wife, the former Elizabeth Georgina Poyntz whom he had married in 1830. The church consisted of a chancel, nave and tower with a tall spire and was built in the local brown ironstone of the area. In the 19th century and early in the 20th services were held on a regular basis. The Earl had provided the church for the convenience of villagers from Little Brington and

Nobottle Nobottle is a hamlet in West Northamptonshire in England. The population is included in the civil parish of Brington. It borders the Althorp estate, which owns much of the property. Nobottle used to have a 600yd rifle range (the only one in ...

, who found it difficult to attend St. Mary's in

Great Brington Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin's church is the parish church. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement con ...

(almost 1 mile distant). St John's could seat approximately 150 people and was licensed for baptisms and marriages; funerals and burials were held in Great Brington St Mary's. By the 1940s, the church had fallen into a state of disrepair, mainly because of a leaking roof. The main body of the church was demolished after the war in 1947. At the request of the Air Ministry, however, the distinctive tower with its octagonal spire was spared. It had become a landmark to navigators and likely serves the same purpose today. The spire, at , can be seen for many miles in every direction and is invariably a mystery to passersby; the narrow entrance to the circular staircase within the tower has been sealed up to deter vandals.

Persons of note

The Australian cricket umpire Ted Wykes was born in Little Brington in 1921.

References

External links

Great Brington Parish
* Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub