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 connected with Bryni'. In 1508, John Spencer from Wormleighton in Warwickshire purchased the estate of Althorp outside Great Brington with its moated house and several hundred acres of farmland.H. Gawthorne/S. Mattingly/G. W. Shaeffer/M. Avery/B. Thomas/R. Barnard/M. Young, Revd. N. V. Knibbs/R. Horne: "The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Great Brington. 800 Years of English History", published as "Brington Church: A Popular History" in 1989 and printed by Peerless Press. He had grazed sheep here from the 1480s. In 1508, impressed by the quality of the land, he eventually bought it and rebuilt the house.Sir John Spencer 1455–1522 (access date 20 July 2013) In 1511 he made further purchases to acquire much of the surrounding countryside, including the villages of

Little Brington Little Brington is a village in Brington and civil parish, in West Northamptonshire, England. It has one little school that currently holds around 50 children. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'. Little Brington c ...

and Great Brington as well their parish church of St Mary the Virgin, from Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset. Just outside the village is Althorp House, the home of the Spencer family and

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

. Several members of the Spencer family are buried at Great Brington church, including Diana's father the 8th Earl Spencer, who died in 1992. The death of Diana had an effect on the village – the pub was renamed from The Fox and Hounds to the Althorp Coaching Inn and the post office gained currency exchange facilities following the large increase in tourism to the area. The Macmillan Way

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

passes through Great Brington.

Geography

Great Brington church from the west - geograph

Nearby settlements include

, Nobottle and Long Buckby

Notable people from Great Brington

* Lawrence Washington (1602–1653), the great-great-grandfather of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, first president of the United States, is buried in the chancel of the Church at St Mary's in the village. (reference link needs updating as it is also suggested that he rests at All Saints Church, Maldon, Essex) * Betsy Baker (1842–1955), a supercentenarian who was born in Great Brington and recognized as the world's oldest living person until she died at the age of 113 on 24 October 1955. * The disc jockey and television presenter Jo Whiley is from the village.

References

External links

BBC feature on Great Brington churchGreat Brington Parish Church websiteGreat Brington Store and Post Office website
* Villages in Northamptonshire Burial sites of the Spencer-Churchill family West Northamptonshire District {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub