Apethorpe (pronounced "Ap-thorp") is a village,

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 authorit ...

,Office for National Statistics: Apethorpe CP
Retrieved 3 November 2009 former manor and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

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 (in the

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area forming about one half of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northampto ...

district), situated 11 miles west of the City 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 ...

. The 2001 census records a population of 130, increasing to 160 at the 2011 census. The manor of Apethorpe is 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 manus ...

of 1086 as ''Patorp''. The village is compact, uniform and centred on Main Street. In the late 15th century the manor of Apethorpe was acquired by Sir Guy Wolston, an officer in the household of King Edward IV, who began the construction of the surviving

Apethorpe Palace Apethorpe Palace (pronounced ''Ap-thorp'', formerly known as "Apethorpe Hall", "Apethorpe House", "Apthorp Park" or "Apthorp Palace" ) in the parish of Apethorpe, Northamptonshire, England, is a Grade I listed country house dating back to the ...

. The villages name means 'Api's outlying farm/settlement'.

Location

The village is approximately north of the Northamptonshire

market town 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 ...

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 Ound ...

, northeast of

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

, and west of

. The nearest railway stations are in

for

London St Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...

and

for London King's Cross. London is about via the A1 road.

Features

Church

St Leonard's Church, Apethorpe is mostly

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

but has a chapel of 1621 and tower partly 1633. There is a huge monument to Sir Anthony Mildmay (d.11 September 1617) and another smaller one to Sir Richard Dalton (d.1442). Mildmay was the eldest son of Sir

Walter Mildmay Sir Walter Mildmay (bef. 1523 – 31 May 1589) was a statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, and founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Origins He was born at Moulsham in Essex, the fourth and youngest son of ...

, an English statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of England under

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and also founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Sir Anthony inherited the family estate and was knighted in 1596 when he was appointed ambassador to

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

Apethorpe Palace

The Willow Brook bounds the eastern edge of the village, which contains the Grade I listed historical monument of

owned by the Baron von Pfetten since 2014.

The Willow and Brook

In 1904 Leonard Brassey made many alterations to the village, a number of cottages were built and the old Westmorland Arms was replaced by a new public house, The King's Head. The Pub is now owned by Baron Von Pfetten and operates under the name of "Willow and Brook" opened by lease holders James and Suzanne Millar.

Other structures

There is a stocks and

whipping post The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

just west of the church. The

Dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

on the palace ground is 18th century listed as Scheduled Monument. Pevsner also mentioned Blue Field Farm northeast as having an interesting barn with a cross-cartway through it.

Roman villa

The remains of the villa lie about 500 yards (450m) southeast of the palace and were excavated in 1859. A courtyard of '' ca.''230 by 240 feet contained the main buildings. The main block on the north side had

hypocaust A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...

s and fine geometric

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s with two other wings and a bath block. Slate from

Collyweston Collyweston is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, about three miles southwest of Stamford, Lincolnshire, on the road (the A43) to Kettering. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 514. Geography The villa ...

was used for the roofs. Pottery found included

terra sigillata Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of ...

and Castor ware. Coins located the main period of use as the 4th century AD. There was a well in the centre of the courtyard. Two small un-inscribed house-

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s were found. One coin of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

, the remainder Constantinian (?), possibly indicating the date of the main phase of the villa. In successive phases of building there appears to have been at least one aisled building in the same position relative to a winged corridor house at Ickleton. The villa combines a dwelling house with an aisled house.On-line archaeology
, retrieved 1 January 2010

Notable former residents

The village was home to the actor Rowan Atkinson.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Roman villas in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire