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 ...
in
West Northamptonshire
West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other signific ...
, England. It is situated a short distance south of the border with
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
approximately five miles southeast of
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
, literally meaning "child's dwelling", but "child" here probably means "young nobleman". Its church, St Faith's, may originally have been the daughter chapel of the neighbouring parish of Barby.
The parish's eastern side is bounded by the old route of the Roman
Watling Street
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...
, and the village itself is sited on the crossing of two former mediaeval drove-routes. It gives its name to the
Kilsby Tunnel
The Kilsby Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the West Coast Main Line in England, near the village of Kilsby in Northamptonshire, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Rugby. It is long.
The Kilsby Tunnel was designed and engineered by Rober ...
; a railway tunnel on the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. The tunnel measures 1 mile 666 yards (2,216 m). Between 1881 and 1960, the village used to have a railway station Kilsby and Crick station but this was on the Northampton Loop about a mile (1.5 km) from the village.
One of the earliest armed confrontations of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
took place at Kilsby in August 1642: The
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
Captain Sir John Smith led a group of soldiers to disarm the villagers, after the news was heard that they were Parliamentarian supporters. The villagers put up resistance, and in the ensuing fight, several villagers were killed.
The construction of the Kilsby Tunnel between 1835 and 1838 caused considerable disruption to the village, as more than 1,200
navvies
Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and ea ...
lived in a shanty town on the edge of the village, using 200 horses and thirteen steam engines to construct it. The navvies were known for their heavy drinking in the local inns, and on one occasion, troops from the nearby Weedon barracks were called in to quell a riot.
The village has grown moderately since the 1960s, with a mix of new housing developments and a degree of in-filling. It retains a historic core of attractive buildings including some fine examples of Northamptonshire rubble stone construction, and a number of thatched properties. A Conservation area was designated in the village in 2018, and many of the village's more attractive properties are listed for their historic interest.
Amenities include an Ofsted "Good" rated primary school, two pubs, The Red Lion and The George and two churches -
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
and URC. The Village also has a volunteer-run, community-owned shop in the car park of the Red Lion pub. This warm community spirit is also evident in a number of thriving community groups, including Womans Institute, Brownies, Girl Guides, as well as a good neighbour community support scheme born out of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and the Kilsby Kronicle village newspaper.
The village is circa 10 minutes from both Long Buckby and Rugby stations, the latter offering direct services into London Euston in 49 minutes.
One of the village's more unusual claims to fame is that the
A361 road
The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK.
History
When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through ...
terminates here at a junction with the A5. The A361 runs to
Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs.
The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and along t ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
making it the longest 'three-digit' road in Britain. A consequence of these roads is that the majority of through traffic bypasses the heart of the village ensuring the main road through the village is relatively quiet.
"Kilsby Jones" is the name by which
James Rhys Jones
James Rhys Jones (1813–1889), usually known as Kilsby Jones, was a Welsh nonconformist minister, writer and lecturer.
Life
Born on 4 February 1813 at Penylan, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, he was the son of Rhys Jones, a small farmer and lo ...
is usually known. He was a Welsh congregationalist minister and writer in Kilsby from 1840 to about 1850, when he moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
