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Brief History of the Village from Kelly's Directory 1910
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IRCHESTER is a parish and village on the borders of Bedfordshire and bounded on the north by the river Nene, with a station about half a mile east from the village on the main line of the Midland railway, 2 miles south-east from Wellingborough station, on the Northampton and Peterborough section of the London and North Western railway and 3 south-west from Higham Ferrers. The parish is in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Higham Ferrers, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Wellingborough, rural deanery of Higham Ferrers (first portion), archdeaconry of Oakham and diocese of Peterborough. The church of St. Katharine, standing on high ground, is an edifice of stone, consisting of spacious chancel with north chapel, clerestoried nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and a western tower with lofty octagonal spire, 152 feet high, containing a clock and 5 bells: the spire lights and the south and west belfry windows contain reticulated tracery: the west window and doorway of the tower and the chancel windows are Perpendicular; the windows of the aisles Decorated; and the north and south doorways and the priests' door in the south wall of the chancel are elegant examples of Early English: on the south side of the chancel are aumbries, and a piscina and sedile of the same date: the south porch is of the transition period from Decorated to Perpendicular: in the north wall of the chancel is a plain sepulchral niche: the pulpit of oak, with elaborate carvings, is said to date from the 15th century, and there are some good Decorated benches: the font is Early English: in the chancel is an incised slab to Thomas Jenyson, dated 1681, and there are some remains of ancient glass: the church was restored in 1889, under the direction of the late Mr. J. L. Pearson R.A. at a cost of £3,500, of which £1,000, expended in the chancel, was defrayed by the 1st and last Lord Wantage (d. 1901), as lay rector, who also contributed Awards the restoration fund: in the course of the work several wall paintings of pre-Reformation date were discovered, one of which, above the chancel arch, has been allowed to remain, but is very much faded: there are sittings for 550 persons. The register dates from the year 1622. The living is a discharged vicarage separated from that of Wollaston, June 21, 1880, net yearly value £277, including 95 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of Mrs. Thomas, of Reepham, Lincs, and held since, 1903 bv the Rev. William John Bewglass Kerr, of St. Bees. There is a Mission church at Little Irchester, served by a lay-reader. The Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1869, will seat 400 persons: the Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1877, has 150 sittings. The Free Library, built at a cost of £1,000, provided by Andrew Carnegie esq. on a site presented by Lady Wantage, contains about 1,000 volumes. There are three charities: Sharwood's charity consists of £182, vested in railway debentures, the interest being apportioned annually by the vicar and churchwardens as follows, £2 to Irchester Elementary school and remainder in sums of 5s. or 10s. to the industrious poor of the parish; Jenyson's charity consists of £5 4s. to be distributed weekly in twopenny loaves of bread among such poor of the parish as attend church regularly; the Feoffee estate, consisting of land and cottages of the value, of upwards of £100 a year, is distributed in gifts to the poor of the parish and expended in repairing the parish bridges. The inhabitants are to some extent employed in agriculture, but principally in making shoes for the manufacturers in Higham Ferrers and Wellingborough. Chester House, about half a mile from the church, and now occupied by Mrs. Sidney Smith, is an ancient Elizabethan mansion of stone and obtained its name from the Roman encampment here, Irchester having been a Roman station; it is a manor of itself and consists of one house and farm, and adjacent are earthworks. In 1874 a Roman burial ground was discovered on an estate about half a mile from Chester House; about 400 skeletons were found, all facing eastwards, a number of stone coffins, and one of lead containing skeletons, besides eight bronze vessels packed in a ninth; some of the vessels were in an excellent state of preservation; two being perforated at the bottom and partly up the sides with elegant patterns; many coins and Roman pottery have also been found, and, in a field adjoining the workings, iron slag has been met with: one of the stone coffins mentioned above, now in a field abutting on Chester House, is roughly hewn out of a solid block of Northamptonshire freestone, with a huge slab of the same for lid, secured by strong iron cramps; a similar stone coffin, together with the leaden one and the bronze vessels or bowls, are in the possession of the trustees of the late H. R. Arkwright esq. of Knuston Hall. Coins, with other relics, are still occasionally met with. H. M. the King, in right of the Duchy of Lancaster, is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Lady Wantage, of Lockinge Park, Berks, the trustees of the late Herbert Robert Arkwright esq. and the trustees of the late Rev. G. F. Whidborne M.A. The soil is of a fertile mixed character; substratum, oolite limestone, sand and ironstone. Iron ore abounds here. The chief crops are cereals. The area is 2,669 acres of land and 19 of water; rateable value, £13,578; the population in 1891 was 1,824 and in 1901, 2,301.
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LITTLE IRCHESTER is a hamlet about 1½ miles west-northwest. Here is the (Wellingborough) London and North Western railway station.
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KNUSTON hamlet, forming the eastern portion of this parish, is the property of the trustees of the late Herbert Robert Arkwright esq. J.P. Knuston Hall, at present occupied by the Hon. Sir Edward Chandos Leigh K.C.B. is a large mansion standing on an elevated spot in the centre of a well-wooded park, overlooking a vast area of country: to the south-east of the mansion a stream of water traverses the park and forms into a lake; the stream is crossed by a light bridge.
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Services
Parish Clerk and Sexton, John Ward.
Post, M. 0. & T. Office.—Thomas Fox, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Wellingborough at 6.40 a.m. & 12 noon; dispatched at 10.40 a.m. & 5.30 & 7.30 p.m.; Sundays, 12 noon.
Town Sub-Post & T. Office, Little Irchester—Mrs. Elizabeth Jones, sub-postmistress. Letters are dlivered through Wellingborough; letter box cleared at 10 a.m. & 12.45, 5.50 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 12.30 p.m.
Wall Letter Box cleared week days at 10.50 a.m. & 6.5 & 7.20 p.m.; Sundays, 11.55 a.m.
Council School (mixed), built in 1908, for 300 children; average attendance, 280; Frederick Clement Gray, master. Infants accommodated temporarily in Wesleyan school, for 150 children; average attendance, 130; Mrs. M. Gray, mistress.
Railway Stations—Wellingborough (London & North Western railway), David Horn, station master; Irchester (Midland), Knuston, John J. Shrives, station master
Carrier—William Payne, Wellingborough, daily.
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| Irchester |
| Private Residents |
| Ardagh Vernon Edmund Russell |
| James George, The Grange |
| Kerr Rev. William John Bewglass (vicar), Vicarage |
| Leigh Hon. Sir Edward Chandos K.C.B. Knuston hall |
| Parsons Edward J.P |
| Parsons John Edward, Manor house |
| Ratcliffe Miss |
| Saxby Thomas |
| Smith Mrs. Sidney, Chester house |
| Little Irchester |
| Commercial |
| Collins Montague, Crown & Anchor P.H.; boats to let |
| Forteseue Frank, butcher |
| Freeman Elijah, grocer |
| Lay Harry, Prince of Wales P.H. |
| Sanders Edgar C, beer retailer |
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| Commercial |
| Ardagh Vernon Edmund Russell L.E.C.P.& S.Edin., physician & surgeon Ashwell Joseph, farmer, Knuston lodge |
| Austin Harry White, farmer |
| Berrill Charles, builder & contractor |
| Berrill Emily (Mrs.), shopkeeper |
| Bolt Wm. Sydney, farmer, Knuston lodge |
| Booth & Graham, drapers |
| Brown Thomas & Co. (Leicester) Ltd., boot & shoe manufacturers |
| Carnegie Free Library (Chas. Spencer, librarian) |
| Davies Mary A. (Mrs.), Carpenters' Arms P.H. |
| Denton B. & Sons Ltd. shoe manuf’s |
| Ellis & Everard Ltd. coal merchants, Railway station |
| Fairey Alfred, cycle dealer |
| Fairey Joseph, shopkeeper |
| Fortescue Gerrard, farmer, The Lodge |
| Fox Thomas, stationer, Post office |
| George Alfred, beer retailer |
| George Ephraim, shopkeeper |
| Hardwick Samuel & Son, carpenters |
| Hart Charles, farm bailiff to Edward Blott esq |
| Hipwell Wm. miller (water & steam) |
| Irchester Industrial Co-operative Society Limited |
| Irchester Working Men's Club (Geo. Bowon, sec) |
| James George, farmer, The Grange |
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| Kemshed William, beer retailer |
| Laughton George, shopkeeper |
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Lay Francis Harry, wheelwright
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| Lillie George, shoeing & general smith |
| Newcombe George, estate foreman to the trustees of the late H. R. |
| Arkwright esq. J.P |
| Parsons Edward & Son, pork pie manfrs, grocers, bakers & butchers Parsons Edward, farmer |
| Parsons John E., farmer |
| Payne William, carrier |
| Percival Mark, wagonette proprietor |
| Pettit Edward, baker |
| Pettitt Alfred, beer retailer |
| Prentice John, clerk to Parish Council & rate collector |
| Sanders William, hair dresser |
| Short William, refreshment rooms |
| Stone Frank, beer retailer |
| Walker James, Red Lion P.H |
| Ward Albert, tailor |
| Ward William, painter |
| Warner Henry, grocer |
| Watkin George, wagonette proprietor |
| Watts Alfred, beer retailer |
| Willmott George, farmer |
| Wykes Henry, farmer |
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