Rushden is a large parish and village, 1 mile south from Higham Ferrers and about 2 miles east from Irchester station on the main line of the Midland railway, and 2½ south from Higham Ferrers and 2 miles east from Ditchford stations on the Northampton and Peterborough section of the N. W. railway. The village is lighted with gas, and the electric light has been introduced into some of the largest factories. The church of St. Mary the Virgin, formerly collegiate, is an edifice in the Early English style, consisting of a choir, nave, aisles, transepts, north, south and western porches and a fine tower and crocketed spire, nearly 200 feet high, and containing a peal of 6 bells and a clock: there are several relics of ancient art, statues and effigies in the church: the church was thoroughly restored in 1874-5, at a cost of about £4,700, and subsequently reseated at a further cost of £300, and a new organ erected, costing about £500. The register of baptisms dates from 1598, marriages and burials 1559. The living is a rectory, gross yearly value £300, with residence, in the gift of and held since 1868 by the Rev. John Thomas Barker M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, and hon. canon of Peterborough, who is non-resident. A Church of England service is occasionally held in the Infants' schoolroom, Higham Hill. The Temperance Hall, built in 1872 at a cost of £400, has since been converted into a Wesleyan chapel, and will seat about 250 persons. There is another Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1873, and two Baptist chapels with Sunday schools, erected in 1884 at a cost of £1,000, and holding about 400 children. The Rushden Club and Reading Room, opened about 1875, has 150 members. The Conservative Club, erected in 1888, has a lecture hall, reading and other rooms, and 300 members. Rushden Hall, the seat of Mrs. Sartoris, is a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style, situated close to the village and surrounded by extensive and well-wooded pleasure grounds. H.M. the Queen is lady of the manor. The principal land-owners are Herbert Sartoris Esq. J. P. of Weekley, and Messrs. S. Mason, F. Sanders, Kew and Hall, G. Denton, Mrs. Manton and the Rector. Acreage, 3,544; rateable value, £18,311; gross estimated rental, £22,000. Population, 7,442.