Geddington is a village 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 authorit ...

on the A4300, previously A43, in

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 ...

between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,503, virtually unchanged from 1,504 at the 2001 census. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement connected Gaete' or 'farm/settlement connected with Geiti'. Alternatively, '

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

place farm/settlement'. The village contains an Eleanor cross. The monument dates from 1294, when the crosses were raised as a memorial by Edward I (1239–1307) to his late wife, Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290). There were originally 12 monuments, one in each resting place of the

funeral procession A funeral procession is a procession, usually in motor vehicles or by foot, from a funeral home or place of worship to the cemetery or crematorium. In earlier times the deceased was typically carried by male family members on a bier or in a cof ...

as they travelled to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. The Geddington cross is one of only three Eleanor crosses still standing; the other two being in

Hardingstone Hardingstone is a village in Northamptonshire, England. It is on the southern edge of Northampton, and now forms a suburb of the town. It is about from the town centre. The Newport Pagnell road (the B526, formerly part of the A50) separates ...

(near Northampton) and Waltham Cross, although remnants and reconstructions of the lost ones can also be seen at other sites. The Geddington cross is regarded as the best preserved. The village was also formerly home to a Royal hunting lodge which was used as a base by monarchs for hunting within the

Royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

of Rockingham. The building has subsequently been lost; however, the "King's Door" within the church of

St Mary Magdalene, Geddington St Mary Magdalene is a Church of England church in Geddington, Northamptonshire, England. It is a grade I listed building. In 2017 it was wrongly thought to be the Shrine of Hagius until the belief was found to be based on an error in transcript ...

in the village remains, it was the entrance through which the King could enter the building while staying at the lodge. The old main road runs through the village and crosses the

River Ise The River Ise is a river in Northamptonshire, England and a tributary of the River Nene. The river rises in a field that was part of the site of the Battle of Naseby in north-western Northamptonshire. The parish of Naseby lies across a watershe ...

by a spectacular mediaeval bridge. The bridge, built in 1250, has five arches and three pedestrian refuges. A more recent ford also runs alongside the bridge. The village is famous for its annual boxing day squirt in which a barrel attached to a rope across the river is squirted from one side of the ford to the other by competing fire crews from Geddington and Kettering. Geddington has two public houses: namely, The Star Inn and The White Hart. The village has no shop and the small post office/ newsagents has now closed.

Transport

The nearest mainline railway station is

Kettering railway station Kettering railway station serves the town of Kettering in Northamptonshire, England. It lies south-west of the town centre, on the Midland Main Line, north of London St. Pancras. History The station was opened in May 1857 by the Midland ...

, a distance of from the village.

Corby railway station Corby railway station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, is in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. The current station, opened on 23 February 2009, replaces an earlier one dating from 1879, first closed on 18 April 1966 ...

is from the village. There is a partial cycle path from the village to the nearby town of Kettering and the village of

Weekley Weekley is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire, on the outskirts of Kettering. The village's name probably means, 'wood/clearing by the Romano-British vicus', a trading settlement. There are two known Ro ...

, but difficulty crossing the road at Weekley means cycling remains an underused mode of transportation.

References

External links

Geddington Village websiteBus service 8 links Geddington with Kettering and Corby
* ttp://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.11861 English Heritage page on Geddington's Cross
Walking tour with pictures
* {{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire English royal forests Civil parishes in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire

Transport

See also

References

External links