Wollaston Parish is bounded on the north by the river Nene, on the west by Grendon and Strixton, and on the east and south by Irchester, and a part of Bedfordshire.  It contains about 2796 acres.  Its population in 1801 was 761; in 1831,975; in 1841, 1120; in 1851, 1261; in 1861, 1443; and in 1871, 1394 souls.  The rateable value of the parish is £6406; and the gross estimated rental £7183. The soil varies from a strong clay to a gravelly land.  Ironstone also abounds in the parish.  The principal landowners are George Burnham, Joseph Hill (lord of the manor), Adam C. Keep, Esq., Lieut-Col, Thompson, Christ's Hospital, Bartholomew’s Hospital, William Whitehead Esq., and Earl Spencer.

Beacon Hill formerly called Mill-hill, is an eminence in circumference about half an acre, supposed to have been a Roman Specula.  It is now the property of Mr Patenall, and from it no less than 27 church spires may be seen on a clear day with the naked eye.

Manor—Gunfrid de Cloches held 5 hides of land in Wilavestone at the Domesday survey, which with a mill of  the annual value of 5s. and 48 acres of meadow, were then rated at £10.  Corbelin held two hides here of the Countess Judith at the same time, which with a mill was rated at 40s.  Stric was the Saxon proprietor of the latter estate, and the former was held by four thanes, with sac and soc.  Amongst the earliest possessors of this manor were the de Brays, one of whom, William de Bray, in the forty fourth of King John (1242) obtained a grant of a weekly market here on Tuesday, and an annual fair on the eve of the Invention of the holy Cross, and two following days.  From this family the manor passed to Thomas, son of Maurice, Lord Berkeley whose descendants held it till the twentieth of Edward III (1346), when it was seized into the hands of the Crown.  The other part of this lordship, which formerly belonged to the Countess Judith, was in the possession of the family of de Wollaston at an early period; and in Norden’s time, Wollaston, as part of the Duchy of Lancaster, was in the Crown.  Thomas Wentworth Esq., of Harrowden, purchased it of the Earl of Bridgewater, and from him it passed through several intermediate possessors to the present proprietor.

The Village of Wollaston, which is pretty large, but scattered, is 3½ miles S. by E. of Wellingborough and 11 E. from Northampton.  Shoemaking is the principal employment of the inhabitants.  Here are some very good houses, including the residences of George Burnham, Joseph Hill, and Adam C. Keep Esqrs.

The Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, is a handsome structure, with a tower surmounted by a lofty spire.  The greater part of the edifice having fallen down in 1737, there is only the tower and spire with the north transept of the original fabric remaining.  The tower and spire form a fine specimen of the Decorated style of the early part of the reign of Richard II.  The roof of the nave which is flat, is supported by four massive pillars.  The accommodation in the church was increased in 1841 by erecting north and south galleries, extending the west gallery, and seating the chancel, by which means 496 sittings were obtained, and in consequence of a grant from the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement of Churches, 430 of that number are free and unappropriated; previous to the alteration there were 470 sittings, 66 of which are also free.  In the chancel are tablets to the Neale, Dickins, and Shipton families, and near the chancel entrance are also tablets to the Hill, Griesbach, and Manning families.  The living is a discharged vicarage, to which is annexed that of Irchester, in the deanery of Higham Ferrers, rated in the king's books at £13, 6s. 8d., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and now worth about £500 per annum.  Rev. Joseph Monk is the patron, and the Rev. Jacob Tomlin, B.A., is the incumbent.  The tithes were commuted at the enclosure, in 1788, for land.  There is no vicarage house in the parish, the incumbent resides at Chester House.

The Independent Chapel, of stone, erected in 1752, will seat about 400.  The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, built in 1840, will seat 250, is also of stone; and the Baptist Chapel, of white brick, was erected in 1867, at the expense of Mr Joseph and Miss Knighton, and has superseded a former one dating from 1834, which is now used at a Sunday School.

A School Board, consisting of five members, was formed here in 1871, and in 1873 the school was built at a cost of £2712, to accommodate 250 pupils.  The present average attendance is 160.

Post, Money-order Office and Savings Bank – Watson George Parbury, postmaster.  Letters arrive from Wellingborough at 8 A.M., and are despatched at 4.55 P.M.