Monument record 2888 - Duddington

Duddington was held by the crown in 1086 when it was dependancy of the royal manor Gretton. The church continued to be a chapelry of gretton into recent centuries, reflecting this early manorial link. The village has at its core an irregular curving area with two islands of development which may represent encroachment on a green.

{1} Duddington was held by the crown in 1086 when it was dependancy of the royal manor Gretton. The church continued to be a chapelry of gretton into recent centuries, reflecting this early manorial link. The village has at its core an irregular curving area with two islands of development which may represent encroachment on a green. The plan form is, perhaps significantly, reminiscent of Gretton. It is possible that the churchyard, with its curiving boundary fronting the putative green, represents an earlier stage of encroachment. If so, it occurred very early since Duddington had its own priest by 1086, even though the fabric of the current church is early 12th century.
Interpretation of the village plan is further complicated because the 'old manor-house' said to be occupied by the incumbent of the parish in 1849, has not been located. The bridge over the Welland may be late medieval , the original crossing having been a ford closer to the village centre. There was a mill at Domesday; the road to the bridge may have led to the mill with the bridge being added next to it.
Some tenements on the north side of the road were laid out over ridge and furrow, indicating that part of the village represents encroachment over furlongs. It is likely that the rectilinear double row of tenements fronting the Northampton-Stamford road, on the south-east side of the village, represents later medieval expansion; it already existed by the 17th century.
A Tenters Frulong north-west of the watermill may suggest that there was formerly cloth production. It has been suggested that slate workings associated with Collyweston continued into Duddington but only a single slater was recorded in 1777.

{2} the village stands on a low terrace above the Welland and the main street, with a back lane to the east, runs parallel to the river. To the north, near the present centre of the village, is a small green called Stocks Hill. The green was originally much larger and in the 18th a broad path led west from the green to a ford which may have been the river crossing from early times. Duddington was a chapelry of Gretton until c1840.

<1> Foard, G.; Hall, D. & Partida, T., 2009, Rockingham Forest: An atlas of the medieval and early-modern landscape, p. 210-212 (Book). SNN106598.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1984, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 43-49 (Series). SNN77384.

Record last edited

Oct 1 2026 10:03AM