Yarwell is a village on 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 ...

in the extreme east of the

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 ...

county of

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 ...

near the border with

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 th ...

. Yarwell is one mile north of Nassington, west of

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 1 ...

and its county town of

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 ...

is to the south-west. The name Yarwell is derived from 'the spring where the

yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. T ...

grows'. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 316 people, reducing to 294 at the 2011 Census. The village's name origin is dubious. '

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

spring/stream' or maybe, ' yarrow grass spring/stream'. It has been thought that the second component could be the

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 ...

'wael' meaning 'pool'. Yarwell was not recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, however, it probably was recorded as part of Nassington. During the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the village was surrounded by the

Rockingham Forest Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River Nene and the towns of Stamford and Kettering. It has a rich and varied landscape, wit ...

. A folklore amongst the people of yarwell is that in Rockingham forest, there lived three greedy little goblins in their little goblin huts that ran around biting children's toes. But fear not, for this is only a legend and may not be real. The village was never large, in 1580 it was recorded as having 39 houses, and in 1801 it was recorded as containing 58 families.'Yarwell', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 6, Architectural Monuments in North Northamptonshire (London, 1984), pp. 171-176
British History Online
Church and graveyard at Yarwell - August 2013 - panoramio

Church and graveyard at Yarwell - August 2013 - panoramio

Yarwell has a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

called The Angel Inn, famous for an alleged short visit from lord chartholamew reyce in 1901, during which he declared the inn the most divine place he had ever stayed, and offered to recommend it to the king himself, a promise he would seemingly forget as he rode away on his horse named william. The village is also home to a village hall and the 13th-century Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The majority of the church building is original with walls made of limestone rubble with freestone dressings however the west tower was rebuilt probably in the 17th century. Until 1892, the church's roof was thatched. One of the village's two farms has been converted into a housing development and the other has applied for planning permission. Until recently, there was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church in the village; the post office closed in 1993. The village school closed in the early 1960s and in 2003 was redeveloped into three houses. In total there are about 130 houses in Yarwell. Yarwell and Nassington Britannia band is the local brass band which rehearses in the village hall and draws its players from the surrounding area including Stamford and

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 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough. The town is home to Oundl ...

. The preserved

Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mer ...

has a station at

Yarwell Junction Yarwell Junction is the current western terminus of the Nene Valley Railway. It opened at Easter 2007. It was formerly the junction of the Peterborough to Northampton and Peterborough to Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market ...

. Before closure in the 1960s, this was the junction of two lines, one from

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...

and the other from

. It is on the Cambridgeshire side of the Nene at . Also nearby is Old Sulehay, a historical hunting forest now managed as a reserve.

References

External links

Description from a local newspaper

Village web site
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire