Furtho is a deserted medieval village and former parish 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 now part of Potterspury

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 ...

. The origin of the village's name is uncertain: 'before the hill-spur' or 'ford hill-spur' are conjectured. Furtho is east of Potterspury, west of Cosgrove and about northwest of Stony Stratford. The nearest towns are

Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and G ...

to the southeast and

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the olde ...

to the northwest.

Manor

Furtho was a parish of and bounded on one side by the River Tove. 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 recorded three estates totalling less than four hides, all held of Robert, Count of Mortain. The largest was a manor of two hides that by the 1240s was held by a Walter de Furtho. In 1452, William Fortho, esquire was resident in Fortho or Furtho. The village was depopulated by the Furtho family inclosing its land in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1572 Thomas Furtho inclosed the demesnes and gave villagers of land in the common fields in exchange for their plots and for giving up their ancient right of way to

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 ...

. In 1621 Edward Furtho died without issue so the Furtho estate passed to his surviving sisters Anne Staunton and Nightingale Mansel. The Stauntons sold their half in 1625 to Sir Robert Banastre. He died in 1649, leaving his estate to his grandson

Banastre Maynard, 3rd Baron Maynard Banastre Maynard, 3rd Baron Maynard (c. 1642 – 3 March 1718) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1663 to 1679. He succeeded to the peerage as Baron Maynard in 1699. Life Maynard was the second eldest son of Wi ...

, who sold the estate in 1666. The manor house has been lost but its 15th-century dovecote survives. It was restored in 1917 and 1990. Its present conical roof is 20th-century and the upper stage is only partially complete. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. There is a "Furtho Manor Farm" but it is a more modern, red-brick building unconnected with the lost manor house. It is now a guest house.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of

St Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

is partly 12th- and 14th-century, but was mostly rebuilt in 1620. It was last used for worship in 1921, when the

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 ...

was united with that of St Peter's, Potterspury. St Bartholomew's is now in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Economic and social history

By the 1720s only four houses remained in Furtho, and by the 1830s this had declined to two. Furtho civil parish was united with that of Potterspury in 1951.

References

Sources

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External links

{{authority control Deserted medieval villages in Northamptonshire Former civil parishes in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District