Harrington 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, administered by

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 ...

council. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 154 people, including Thorpe Underwood but reducing to 146 at the 2011 Census. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of St Peter and St Paul is located north-east of the village itself.

History

The villages name origin is uncertain. 'Farm/settlement connected with Heathuhere' or farm/settlement of the Heather dwellers'. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the Saunders family became

lords of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

of Harrington. In the 17th century the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

passed by marriage to the Stanhope and then the Tollemache families until it was pulled down in 1745 by Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart. A stone pillar from one of the gateposts now stands in the middle of Desborough. The site of the manor house is called 'The Falls' with the 'Park' adjoining. The Falls contains the remains of terraces,

fishponds Fishponds is a suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from Bristol city centre, the city centre. It is mainly residential, and housing is typically terraced Victorian. It has a small student population from the presence ...

and a sunken garden, which may have had a fountain. The fishponds were constructed to supply fresh fish to the monastic house. Eel,

bream Bream (, ) are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Ballerus'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', '' Lepomis'', '' Gymnocranius'', ...

, pike, and

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

were bred in a series of ponds of varying size fed by channels. The gardens were laid out by Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet who married Hon. Elizabeth Stanhope, daughter of John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope, around 1620 and inherited the estate in 1675. It is now listed as an historical archaeological site. The Tollemache family sold the Harrington estate in 1864, and it was ultimately purchased in 1913 by the Desborough Cooperative Society, which saw great possibilities in the development of ironstone working. A converted barn at Falls Farm in Harrington now houses a

gin Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper berries and other botanical ingredients. Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe. The modern gin was modified in Flanders and the Netherlands ...

distillery, Warner's Distillery. The gin is made with spring water from the farm itself, together with home-grown

elderflower ''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry. Description Elders are mostl ...

and ten other botanicals including

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

and Angelica root. In April 2013 the company was featured on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's '' Countryfile''.

Notable buildings

The Historic England website contains details of a total of five listed buildings in the parish of Arthingworth, all of which are Grade II apart from St Peter & St Pauls Church, which is Grade II*. They are: * St Peter & St Paul's Church, Church Lane *Appleton Farmhouse, Rothwell Road *Henry Hall's House, 22 & 24 High Street *Slade Farmhouse, High Street *40-50 High Street

RAF Harrington

During World War II

RAF Harrington Royal Air Force Harrington or more simply RAF Harrington is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station in England about west of Kettering in Northamptonshire south of the village of Harrington, Northamptonshire, ...

used by the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

was located south of the village across the B576 road, now the A14. It was a later a Thor missile site.

References

External links

Harrington and Thorpe Underwood websiteTollemache ArmsCarpet Baggers Aviation MuseumWarner Edwards Distillery

Church Lodge Farm

Harrington Concerts
{{authority control Harrington North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire