Monument record 295 - Helmdon

The neat rectangular layout of the village, including the church and existing houses, which forms the the long south-east extension of the village suggests it may have been deliberately created. Within the wider parish are the remains of quarries.

{2} The tenurial history of Helmdon is complex and it is not clear how this southern extension of the village originated or functioned. Certainly by the early 5th century Helmdon had three manors, Overbury, Middlebury and Netherbury, of which the first and principal manor, through its association with Worcester College, Oxford, can be assigned to the site described here. There is apparently nothing in the parish church earlier than the 14th century, though its position on the hill-top might suggest an older foundation. In 1086 Helmdon is listed in Domesday Book as a single manor with a recorded population of 11 but in 1301 50 people paid the Lay Subsidy Tax and in 1334 the vill paid 6Is. 7¾d., one of the largest amounts in the area The 1377 Poll Tax returns record that 52 people over the age of 14 were living at Helmdon and in 1524 35 people paid the Lay Subsidy. Helmdon is a particularly interesting village, made up of three separate parts. The north section lies on the north side of a small east flowing stream and consists of little more than a winding main street which forks at both ends. To the south of the stream is another short length of street which also forks at its south end. The south east branch climbs the valley side and then turns south to become the axial road of a rectangular block of closes, houses, church and manor house site. The earthworks, which are slight and poorly preserved, are probably the site of the main medieval manor house of Overbury, with associated paddocks and ponds, together with some fragments of former house sites. The significance of the remains is topographical. They appear to be part of a neat rectangular layout, including the church and the existing houses, which forms the long south east extension of the modern village. Such a plan indicates that this part of the village may have been deliberately created.

{7} Helmdon was enclosed in 1758 (Award Enclosure Enrolment Vol. A p.173; Valuation D3432; Bill 1758 ZB 525/5; original award is Map 1712, the enclosure plan of 1760 is Map 1702). The 1760 map shows a core of old enclosure around both parts of the village.
The modern civil parish includes Falcut and Astwell, reported under Wappenham previously. Helmdon Stockings was also mapped previously.

{16} Helmdon accounts: Constable's accounts 1653 to 1717, Church Warden's accounts 1698 to 1835, and Overseeer's accounts 1705 to 1721;

{17} Drawings, sketches, notes and rubbings regarding a date on a mantlepiece preserved in the porch of the Parsonage in Helmdon.

{18} Helmdon was the source of a much praised stone in the medieval and post-medieval period. The area which was quarried is confined to a few fields on both sides of the Weston Road leading north from the village.

<1> Hall, D, 1973, Parish Survey Map: Helmdon, (unchecked) (Map). SNN57982.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.83/Site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.173 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<4> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.630 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<5> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.322 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100368.

<6> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.416 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<7> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, p.13 (unchecked) (Report). SNN103302.

<8> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/31 (Document). SNN115882.

<9> PRO series E179, E179/155/3 (Document). SNN115882.

<10> PRO series E179, PRO E179/155/27 (Document). SNN115882.

<11> 1758, Helmdon Enclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN15365.

<12> Soden, I., 1994, SMR report form, (unchecked) (SMR Report Form). SNN53852.

<13> Soden I.; Holmes M., 1994, Archaeological evaluation of land at Helmdon, Northants, April 1994, (unchecked) (Report). SNN70455.

<14> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 117 p.7 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<15> Workers Educational Association (Helmdon Branch), Aspects of Helmdon, (unchecked) (Series). SNN109407.

<16> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/144/5 (Archive). SNN115.

<17> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/144/1-4,6-12,14 (Archive). SNN115.

<18> Parry, EG, 1986-7, Helmdon Stone (Article). SNN116489.

Record last edited

Sep 18 2024 10:26AM