Thrapston is a market town in

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority area forming about one half of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire. It was created in 2021. Its notable towns are Ketterin ...

, England. It was the headquarters of the former

East Northamptonshire East Northamptonshire was from 1974 to 2021 a local government district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in Thrapston and Rushden. Other towns include Oundle, Raunds, Irthlingborough and Higham Ferrers. The town of Rushden wa ...

district, and at the time of the 2011 census, had a population of 6,239. The town's name means 'Farmstead or town of a man named Thraepst'. Another source suggests the individual name is related with

Old Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...

'Trapsta', 'Trafstila' and 'thrafstjan' meaning 'to comfort:, henceforth 'farmstead or town of a man named Draefst or Draepst'. Thrapston is situated close to the

River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...

and is at the junction of the A14 and the A45. Until the 1960s, Thrapston had two railway stations. Thrapston (Midland) was on the

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 ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

route, and the former station and viaduct can be seen from the adjacent A14 road. Thrapston (Bridge Street) was on the former

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the L ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

line. A

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

was granted to the town in 1205, in exchange for two

palfrey A palfrey is a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth gaited one that could amble, suitable for riding over long distances. Palfreys were not a specific breed ...

s. This is celebrated every year with the town's

Charter fair A charter fair in England is a street fair or market which was established by Royal Charter. Many charter fairs date back to the Middle Ages, with their heyday occurring during the 13th century. Originally, most charter fairs started as street marke ...

, when the high street is closed and the townspeople congregate in commemoration. A relative 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 ...

, Sir John Washington, lived in Chancery Lane in the town, and his wife is buried in the Church of St James. Sir John was brother to George Washington's great-grandfather. Naturalist and writer

Horace William Wheelwright Horace William Wheelwright (5 January 1815 – 16 November 1865) was an English hunter, naturalist and writer who spent many years of his life in Australia and Sweden. Wheelwright was born at Tansor, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Reading ...

practised as an attorney in Thrapston in the 1840s. Thrapston had two schools, Thrapston

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and King John Middle School, which together served children from Nursery to Year 8. However, in 2015, East Northamptonshire switched to a two-tier school system resulting in the middle schools closing. As King John School closed, Thrapston Primary School expanded into the King John building, in order to accommodate the year 5 and 6 children. Following this, children usually go to Prince William school in

Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough ...

or another school in the area from year 7 onwards. The town's football club, Thrapston Town, plays in the

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

. The local authorities that cover different aspects of civic life in Thrapston are Thrapston Town Council, and

Council.

Notable residents

Henry de Thrapston Henry de Thrapston (died c.1333) was an English cleric, judge and Crown official who spent most of his career in Ireland, where he became Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and Archdeacon of Cork. He was born at Thrapston in Northamptonshi ...

(died c.1333), English-born judge and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland *

John Hindhaugh John Hindhaugh (born 1962) is a sports commentator and broadcaster from Sunderland, England. He resides in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom with his wife Eve Hewitt, the managing director of Radio Show Limited, the production company o ...

, motorsport and media presenter

References

External links

Towns in Northamptonshire Charter fairs North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub