Greatworth is a village in the civil parish of

Greatworth and Halse Greatworth is a village in the civil parish of Greatworth and Halse about north-west of Brackley, West Northamptonshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlet of Halse. In 2011, the settlement had a population of 708. The 2011 Census ...

about north-west of Brackley, West Northamptonshire, England. The parish also includes the hamlet of Halse. In 2011, the settlement had a population of 708. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 890.

History

The villages name means 'Gravelly enclosure'. The parish includes the

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...

of Stuchbury, about northeast of Greatworth village. Halse, about southeast of Greatworth village, is also the site of a deserted medieval village as well as a modern hamlet. Greatworth Manor House burned down in 1793, and only its ornate gatepiers remain.

Parish church

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of Saint Peter was built in the 13th century. The chancel retains Early English features including a priests' door and two

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s in the south wall and a trio of stepped lancets in the east wall. The west tower was added in about 1300. The nave has 17th-century features including two north windows, two south windows and the south door, and the polygonal pulpit. The chancel arch was rebuilt in 1882 under the direction of the architect H. R. Gough. It is a Grade II* listed building. The west tower has a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells. A member of the Newcombe family, who were associated with bell-foundries in Bedford,

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, cast the tenor bell in about 1599. The fifth bell was also cast in about 1599 but the identity of the founder is unknown. Robert Taylor, who had foundries at Loughborough and Oxford, cast the fourth bell in 1825. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble, second and third bells in 2004. St Peter's churchyard has a notable array of historic headstones. 20 of them in are Grade II listed, and two late 17th-century English Baroque headstones are Grade II* listed. St Peter's parish is a member of the Chenderit

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, which includes the parishes of Chacombe,

Marston St. Lawrence Marston St. Lawrence is a village and civil parish about northwest of Brackley in Northamptonshire. A stream flows through the village and another forms the southern boundary of the parish. The two merge as Farthinghoe Stream, a tributary of t ...

, Middleton Cheney,

Thenford Thenford is a village and civil parish about northwest of the market town of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England, and east of Banbury in nearby Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 74. At the 2011 Census the ...

and Warkworth.

Railways

In 1847, Parliament passed a bill for the Buckinghamshire Railway to build a branch through Buckingham to Banbury. It was built through the south of Greatworth parish and opened in 1851. The nearest station was , which was not at Farthinghoe but southwest of Greatworth on the main road between Brackley and Middleton Cheney. The Northampton & Banbury Junction Railway was incorporated in 1863 and built through the parish, joining the Buckinghamshire Railway at Cockley Brake Junction south of the village. It opened in 1872 and became part of the Stratford on Avon and Midland Junction Railway in 1910. In 1951

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways closed the Northampton line to all traffic and the Banbury line to passenger traffic. BR closed the Banbury line to freight traffic in 1963.

RAF Greatworth

In 1949, the Air Ministry bought land from

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

to create RAF Greatworth, which was an RAF radio communications station from early in the 1950s until 1988. In 1973, the station had a selection of

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten ...

(HF) radio transmitters, including the Marconi HS31 (6 kW), HS51 (30 kW), HS71 (12 kW) and the Marconi MST (Marconi Self Tuner) 1200 (30 kW). There was also a selection of Racal Speedrace transmitters, one of which offered remote control of frequency and aerial parameters from Systems Control. The aerial farm had steerable log periodic antennae, dipoles, rhombics and bicones – all types of HF antenna. A 24-hour watch system, each consisting of an RAF

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

, a junior technician (JT), a senior aircraftman (SAC) and a civilian radio technician was maintained which carried out preventive and corrective maintenance and also re-tuned the transmitters and their drive units as directed by Systems Control at

RAF Stanbridge RAF Stanbridge (originally RAF Leighton Buzzard) was a non-flying RAF station situated on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England and located west of the village of Stanbridge, Bedfordshire. For the majority of its life the s ...

in Bedfordshire. After closure the site was leased to the USAF until it was handed back to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in February 1992. The site is now Greatworth Park trading estate, for which the original RAF buildings have been retained and extended.

Amenities

Greatworth has one public house, The Greatworth Inn, which is an independent freehold. Greatworth has a post office, a social club and a primary school.

References

Sources

* * {{Authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District