Rothersthorpe is a small village of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

origin, 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with a population of 500 in the 2001 Census, reducing to 472 at the 2011 census. It is from the town of Northampton.

Governance

The village is currently governed by

council. Before local government changes in 2021 the village was in the area of

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in ...

District Council and Harpole and Grange ward, together with the villages of

Milton Malsor Milton Malsor is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 761. It is south of Northampton town centre, south-east of Birmingham, and north of central London; jun ...

, Gayton, Harpole and

Kislingbury Kislingbury is a village in Northamptonshire, England, about west of Northampton town centre, and close to junctions 15A and 16 of the M1 motorway. The villages name origin is uncertain. 'At the gravelly-place fortification' or perhaps, 'at th ...

. The ward had a total population of 1,721 in the 2001 census. The village is part of the Daventry constituency.

History

The village's name means ' Counsellor's outlying farm/settlement'. Alternatively, the primary element could also be a personal name, 'Hreitharr', 'Reithar' or 'Redhar'. The Berry ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They are situated between the junction of North Street and Church Street and were small defended areas of buildings surrounded partly or completely by large ditches and earthworks topped by wooden palisades. They are rare nationally. The Berry is the site of a ringwork which stood at the centre of medieval Rothersthorpe. The site is irregularly shaped with a wide ditch on the north and west sides. There are the remains of an inner

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

in the north east corner and southern end. Features in the west of the interior of the works show the locations of former buildings. Remains of ridge and furrow farming are on the eastern side.

Murder

The remains of Andrzej Kulesza, 27, were found in a field in the village in April 2011 by a woman walking her dog and confirmed as his in July 2011. A £20,000 reward was offered for information about his kidnap and murder. He disappeared from his home in

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...

in September 2010 after going out to shop. His girlfriend received ransom calls and paid some money, but the calls stopped days after he went missing. Two men were arrested on suspicion of kidnap and murder and bailed to return later. On 7 August 2013 Kamil Dreszer was convicted of Kulesza's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years. Artur Janik was found guilty of manslaughter, kidnapping, false imprisonment and preventing the lawful burial and disposal of a corpse. He was jailed for 11 years. Daniel Kosowski was found guilty of preventing the lawful burial and disposal of a corpse and jailed for 30 months.London man Andrzej Kulesza's torture murderer jailed
''BBC News'' 7 August 2013

Demographics

The 2001 Census shows 500 people living in the parish, 237 male and 263 female, in 191 dwellings.

Facilities

The village has a mixed Church of England

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, and the church of SS Peter and Paul. A

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, The Chequers, closed in 2011. The

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

with the Northampton (formerly known as Rothersthorpe) Service Area and junction 15A is nearby but mostly out of hearing as the prevailing wind is south-westerly. There is, however, light pollution from the service area and a large area of warehouses in the nearby area of Northampton. The Northampton Arm of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

, built in 1815 passes near to Rothersthorpe. Seventeen locks, taking the canal into Northampton and its junction with the

River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...

, takes about two hours for a boat to travel through. Banbury Lane Crossing

The village is bisected by the Banbury Lane, an ancient

drovers' road A drovers' road, drove ''roador droveway is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of unknown age; ot ...

along which cattle were once taken to market in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...

from as far afield as

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Along this road a mile or so south was a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

with 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 ...

railway route from

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. The crossing was one of few left on the line and the first outside Euston, some 65 miles south. The level crossing and an adjacent bridge over the Grand Union Canal were replaced by a curved bridge in 2005. This was for safety reasons following projected speed increases to 125 miles per hour on the line operated by tilting Class 390 ''Pendolino'' trains.

References

External links

(Location on Google Maps)
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire