Apethorpe (pronounced ''App-thorp'') is a village,

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

,Office for National Statistics: Apethorpe CP
Retrieved 3 November 2009 former manor and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England (in the

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. The council is based in Corby, the district's la ...

district), situated 11 miles west of the City of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. The 2001 census records a population of 130, increasing to 160 at the 2011 census. The manor of Apethorpe is recorded in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Patorp'' and has had various spellings over the past millennium, including Apetorp, Appetorp, Apthorp, Appethorpe and Apthorpe. The village's name means 'Api's outlying farm/settlement'. The village is compact, uniform and centred on Main Street. In the late 15th century the manor of Apethorpe was acquired by Sir Guy Wolston, an officer in the household of King Edward IV, who began the construction of the surviving

Apethorpe Palace Apethorpe Palace (pronounced ''App-thorp''), formerly known as "Apethorpe Hall", is a Grade I listed English country houses, country house, dating to the 15th century, close to Apethorpe, Northamptonshire. It was a "favourite List of British ro ...

Location

The village is approximately north of the Northamptonshire

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

, northeast of

Corby Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

, and west of

. The nearest railway stations are in

for London St Pancras and

for London King's Cross. London is about via the A1 road.

Features

Church

St Leonard's Church, Apethorpe is mostly

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

but has a chapel of 1621 and tower partly 1633. There is a huge monument to Sir Anthony Mildmay (d.11 September 1617) and another smaller one to Sir Richard Dalton (d.1442). Mildmay was the eldest son of Sir

Walter Mildmay Sir Walter Mildmay (bef. 1523 – 31 May 1589) was a statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, and founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Origins He was born at Moulsham in Essex, the fourth and youngest son of ...

, an English statesman who served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer of England The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

under

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

and also founded

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. Sir Anthony inherited the family estate and was knighted in 1596 when he was appointed ambassador to

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

Apethorpe Palace

The Willow Brook bounds the eastern edge of the village, which contains the Grade I listed historical monument of

, former seat of the

Earl of Westmorland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorl ...

. It has been owned by the Baron von Pfetten since 2014.

The pub

In 1904 Leonard Brassey made many alterations to the village, a number of cottages were built and the old Westmorland Arms was replaced by a new public house, The King's Head. This closed in 2016 and reopened in 2020 as The Willow and Brook, before again closing in 2023. The pub is owned by Baron Von Pfetten.

Other structures

There is a

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

and whipping post just west of the church. The

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

on the palace ground is 18th century listed as Scheduled Monument. Pevsner also mentioned Blue Field Farm northeast as having an interesting barn with a cross-cartway through it.

Roman villa

The remains of the villa lie about 500 yards (450m) southeast of the palace and were excavated in 1859. A courtyard of '' ca.''230 by 240 feet contained the main buildings. The main block on the north side had

hypocaust A hypocaust () is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm the upper floors a ...

s and fine geometric

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s with two other wings and a bath block. Slate from

Collyweston Collyweston is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, about three miles southwest of Stamford, Lincolnshire, on the road (the A43 road, A43) to Kettering. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 ...

was used for the roofs. Pottery found included

terra sigillata Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface Slip (ceramics), slips made ...

and Castor ware. Coins located the main period of use as the 4th century AD. There was a well in the centre of the courtyard. Two small un-inscribed house-

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

s were found. One coin of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

, the remainder Constantinian (?), possibly indicating the date of the main phase of the villa. In successive phases of building there appears to have been at least one aisled building in the same position relative to a winged corridor house at Ickleton. The villa combines a dwelling house with an aisled house.On-line archaeology
, retrieved 1 January 2010

Notable former residents

The village was home to the actor

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003– ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Roman villas in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire