At the
heart of rural Northamptonshire sits this triangle of houses surrounded
by farmland. It is an ordinary yet idyllic spot and quintessentially
English but it was here that Edward the IV married Elizabeth Woodville
that Henry the VIII built his favourite palace and hunting lodge that
Royalists and Parliamentarians drew the line in the Civil War and that
Lacemaker sold their work to the passing travellers as they journeyed
from Northampton to London.
The area
provides a fascinating insight into the history of transport including
within its boundaries a major turnpike, road Watling Street, the Grand
Union Canal and the London to Birmingham railway line.
The Estate
Villages
Whilst Grafton Regis
is the focus of the project the estate, records have also revealed
papers concerned with the villages of Abthorpe; Alderton;
Ashton; Blakesley; Blisworth; Cold Higham; Darlscote; Greens Norton; Grimscote;
Hartwell; Heathencote; Paulerspury; Potterspury; Roade; Shutlanger;
Silverstone; Stoke Bruerne; Towcester; Wakefield; Yardley Gobion; and
to a lesser extent, Cosgrove; Furtho; and Potcote; Old Stratford;
Passenham & and Deanshanger; Quinton and Whittlebury. Records from
each village are included together with maps and photographs where
available.