Dingley is a village and

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 ...

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, located along the A427, about east of the nearest town,

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

. It is also close to the A6 and near the border with

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 209 people, reducing to 194 at the 2011 census. The villages name origin is uncertain. 'Dynni's wood/clearing' or perhaps, 'hollow wood/clearing'.

Governance

Dingley is part of

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 ...

. Before local government changes it was part of

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

borough.

Dingley Hall

The main feature of the village is Dingley Hall which has had many famous owners over the centuries. A house has stood on this site from medieval times when it was a Preceptory for the Knights' Hospitallers. It is first recorded as ''Dinglei'', meaning "the woodland clearing marked by valleys". At the dissolution of the monasteries it was sold to Edward Griffin. During the late 1550s Griffin had the house extensively rebuilt leaving only the older tower, and adding a

renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

porch. Further additions were made in the 1680s and the porch - which is dated 1558 - was re-sited during these alterations. In 1781-2 the west wing was demolished, but it remained a large rambling house. On 24 June 1603 Sir Thomas Griffin entertained

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

her son Prince Henry, and Princess Elizabeth at Dingley, on their way to London from Edinburgh.

Lady Anne Clifford Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, ''suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became ''suo jure'' ...

and her aunt the Countess of Warwick travelled from London to see the queen at Dingley, meeting Lucy, Countess of Bedford on the way. The queen moved to

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest ...

the next day.John Nichols, ''The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities, of King James the First'', vol. 1 (London, 1828), p. 173-5. It became the home of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

naval leader Admiral David Beatty. The Hall continued as a family home until 1936. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was used as a nursing home. Although the estate was sold in 1958, the house was left to deteriorate until it was gutted in 1972. In 1978, it was bought by the architect Kit Martin who divided it into seven houses and three flats. Nothing is left of the original interiors. Although Dingley Hall is a private property, for 30 years it hosted musical events throughout the year called 'Music at Dingley' with concerts in the Norman church or in the Porch House. Having had 30 wonderful years of music making, the committee have decided to stop.

Village

A small village grew up as part of the Dingley Hall estate; there are two distinctive rows of attractive workers' cottages on the A427 half a mile into the village beyond Dingley Hall gatehouse. Point to point racing takes place between Easter and summer and draws a crowd averaging 10,000 at each meeting.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire