Monument record 705 - Woodend

Remains of former settlement lie in and around the present village, one area now built upon. Also known as: Blakesley Parva; Wood Blakesley; Little Blakesley)

{1} Woodend and Kirby lie in Blakesley parish but were always separate townships. In Woodend lies Blakesley Park, in existence by 1207, which contained 196 acres in 1797 (Baker 1836, ii p.29). Woodend was enclosed by Parliamentary Act in 1779. There is no map with the Award of 1781 (NRO Enclosure Enrolment Vol. H p.266). There were then 557 acres of new allotments made. From the Award description these laid mostly north and east of Wood End village. To the south was Blakesley Park and other old enclosure; west of the village was an old enclosure called Caen Wood. This makes sense as once being an eastward extension of Plumpton Wood. Part of Plumpton Wood, 27 acres, also belonged to Wood End and this is almost certainly the embanked enclosure that lies on the north-east side of the wood.

The settlement was mapped from the OS first edition 1:10560 scale map.

Kirby
Kirby township was enclosed before 1509, when Kirby Close was mentioned (NRO GI 50, 55). It extended to 580 acres (Baker ii p.30). Pastures used for grazing 100 sheep in 1547 were owned by the de Foxley family of Foxley (Allison et al. p.41).

No pre-1880 Os map has been identified for Kirby. By 1880 the settlement is represented by three farms. The area of settlement core has therefore been mapped to a single polygon using aerial photographic data from the county Sites & Monuments Record and the OS First Edition 1:10560. The anciently enclosed extent of the township has also been mapped as a single polygon covering the whole township (excluding settlement core).

{2} Settlement remains (SP 616 493) formerly part of Woodend lie in and around the existing village, on limestone and Northampton Sand between 137m and 145m above OD. The settlement was once known as Little Blakesley, Blakesly Parva or Wood Blakesley. The modern village consists of a single curved street running in a north-south direction with houses on both sides. Until recently there was a large gap on the east side where houses had once stood. Part of this area has now been built over and no earthworks remain, but the site may nevertheless be of archaeological sigificance. Beyond the existing gardens in the north west of the village at least one rectangular enclosure survives, bounded by low banks and shallow ditches. It has shallow quarry pits within it. Other banks and ditches, perhaps indicating former buildings, lie at the north end of the village street.

<1> Hall D.N.; Britnell T., 2000?, South Northamptonshire Historic Landscape: Part III, P.16 (Report). SNN103302.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 173/Site 2 (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, A/P (RAF VAP CPE/UK/1994, 2086-7, F21 58/RAF/2316, 0069-70) (Photographs). SNN104890.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:45PM