Welford is a village and civil parish in the

West Northamptonshire West 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. It contains the county town of Northampton, as wel ...

unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, just south of the River Avon and 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 2011 census, the population of the parish was 1,043.

Location

It is on the main A5199 road connecting Northampton and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and, being halfway between the two, was an important stagecoach stop. The A5199 is known as the 'Welford Road' for much of its length. It is close to the junction of the two major motor routes in England – the M1 motorway and the M6 motorway – and is 1½ miles north of Junction 1 of the A14, which connects that junction with the east of England.

History

The village's name means 'ford with a spring/stream'. In medieval times its Premonstratensian

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

moved to Sulby some two miles to the east and Welford lost its market charter which was sold to West Haddon. There is clear evidence that Welford shrank considerably during the medieval period and it is notable that three of its neighbouring civil parishes – Elkington, Stanford-on-Avon and Sulby – are almost entirely depopulated. In 2016, a new housing estate was built called Miller's Lock. While the builders were digging up the foundations, they found the remains of an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

roundhouse. A silver cup dating from the sixteenth century that was found in the village is in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. The history of the parish has been the subject of two books: *Welford: Portrait of a Northamptonshire Village" *Welford: The Legacy 1856 to 1980

Notable buildings

The Historic England website contains a total of 38 entries for listed buildings in the parish of Welford. These are all Grade II, apart from St Mary's Church, which is Grade II*. They include: * St Mary's Church, Church Lane *The Talbot, High Street *Manor House, West Street * Welford Congregational Church, West End

Facilities

It is served by a short arm from the Grand Union Canal and has two marinas. The Jurassic Way long distance footpath passes through the village on a southwest–northeast axis; although it officially makes its way through the fields to the east of the village, many walkers prefer to walk along the High Street to make use of the village's facilities. Welford has a village shop and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, a beauty therapy studio, a Church of England Endowed primary school, a garage, and one

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. Another public house lies just over the Leicestershire border, but is reached by walking through the Welford Pocket Park. The primary school is part of the Peterborough Diocese Education Trust and accepts children from the surrounding parishes, giving the name Welford, Sibbertoft and Sulby Endowed School (WSSES). There are around 85 pupils at the school. WSSES is a feeder school to the secondary provision of Guilsborough Academy, in the neighbouring village of Guilsborough, Northamptonshire. Other amenities include a village hall, a sports field which is home to Welford Victoria F.C., a youth centre and a pocket park. There is also a spinney which is near the park and was a gravel quarry in the 19th century. To the North East of the village lie Welford Reservoir and Sulby Reservoir. A painted wood carving of Postman Pat and his black and white cat, Jess stands at the junction of High Street and West Street. It was crowd funded by villagers and installed in 2019 after the previous statues, which stood in the same spot for 25 years, rotted away. It is now administered as part of

. Previously it was in Daventry District (1974–2021) having earlier been part of Oxendon Rural District (1894–1935) followed by Brixworth Rural District (1935–74).

References

External links

The Official Welford Victoria Football Club Website

The village website
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{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District