# Radstone

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{{Short description|Hamlet in Northamptonshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{infobox UK place
|official_name= Radstone
|static_image_name= St Lawrence, Radstone - geograph.org.uk - 131594.jpg
|static_image_caption= St Lawrence's parish church
|coordinates = {{coord|52.0598|-1.1482|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference= SP5840
|london_distance= 
|label_position= top
|population= 54
|population_ref= ([2001 Census](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2001))<ref name=ONS>{{cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790474 |title=Area selected: South Northamptonshire (Non-Metropolitan District) |work=[Neighbourhood Statistics](/source/Neighbourhood_Statistics) |publisher=[Office for National Statistics](/source/Office_for_National_Statistics) |access-date=22 November 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921221701/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790474 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|civil_parish= Radstone
|unitary_england=          [West Northamptonshire](/source/West_Northamptonshire)
|lieutenancy_england=            [Northamptonshire](/source/Northamptonshire)
|region= East Midlands
|country= England
|constituency_westminster= [Daventry](/source/Daventry_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
|post_town= [Brackley](/source/Brackley)
|postcode_district= NN13
|postcode_area= NN
|dial_code= 01280
|website= [http://modgov.southnorthants.gov.uk/mgParishCouncilDetails.aspx?ID=301 Radstone Parish Meeting]
}}

'''Radstone''' is a [hamlet](/source/Hamlet_(place)) and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England) in [West Northamptonshire](/source/West_Northamptonshire), about {{convert|2|mi|0}} north of [Brackley](/source/Brackley). The [2001 Census](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2001) recorded a parish population of 54.<ref name=ONS/> At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet remained less than 100 and was included in the [civil parish](/source/civil_parish) of [Whitfield](/source/Whitfield%2C_Northamptonshire).

==Geography==
The land of the parish mostly falls from west to east from a hill whose highest point, about {{convert|520|ft}} above sea level, is in [Greatworth](/source/Greatworth) parish just beyond the field boundaries that form the western boundary of Radstone parish.

A stream forms much of the northern boundary or Radstone parish, flowing east to join the [Great Ouse](/source/River_Great_Ouse). Another tributary of the same river forms part of the parish's southern boundary. A third flows west–east across the parish and joins the first about {{convert|3/4|mi|adj=on}} east of Radstone hamlet. The parish is open farmland apart from Shortgrove Wood, which is in the northeast part next to the boundaries with [Helmdon](/source/Helmdon) and [Syresham](/source/Syresham).

The present hamlet of Radstone is a [shrunken village](/source/Abandoned_village), formerly called Upper or Over Radstone.<ref name=RCHME>{{harvnb|RCHME|1982|pp=124–126.}}</ref> There was a Lower or Nether Radstone about {{convert|4/5|mi|adj=on}} to the east, just downstream of the confluence of the two streams. It is now a [deserted village](/source/Abandoned_village).<ref name=RCHME/>

==Roman archaeology==
Before 1900 an [urn](/source/urn) containing coins, presumably [Roman](/source/Roman_currency), was found in the parish and placed in [Northampton Museum](/source/Northampton_Museum_and_Art_Gallery).{{sfn|Adkins|Serjeantson|1902|p=220}} By the 1980s it had been lost.<ref name=RCHME/>

==Toponym==
The [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 records the [toponym](/source/Toponymy) as ''Rodestone''. [Pipe rolls](/source/Pipe_rolls) record it as ''Rodestona'' in 1163, ''Rodestūn'' in 1167 and ''Rudston'' in 1198. A ''[Curia regis](/source/Curia_regis)'' roll from 1201 records it as ''Rodestan''. The name comes from the [Old English](/source/Old_English) words ''rōde'' meaning "cross" (see "[Rood](/source/Rood)") and ''stān'' meaning "stone".{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|loc=Radstone}}

==Manor==
In the [Norman era](/source/History_of_England) the [manor](/source/Manorialism) was assessed at two [hides](/source/Hide_(unit)).<ref name=Adkins332>{{harvnb|Adkins|Serjeantson|1902|p=332.}}</ref><ref name=Adkins369>{{harvnb|Adkins|Serjeantson|1902|p=369.}}</ref> The [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 records Robert of [Rhuddlan](/source/Rhuddlan) holding it;<ref name=Adkins332/> in the 12th century it was in the [fee](/source/Fief) of [Chester](/source/Earl_of_Chester).<ref name=Adkins369/> In 1260 cultivation covered 22 [virgate](/source/virgate)s of land at Upper Radstone and 2{{fraction|1|2}} virgates at Lower Radstone.<ref name=RCHME/>

==Parish church==
The earliest parts of the [Church of England parish church](/source/Church_of_England_parish_church) of [Saint Lawrence](/source/Lawrence_of_Rome) are 12th-century.<ref name=EH-church>{{NHLE |num= 1190302 |desc=Church of St Lawrence |date=4 February 1969 |accessdate=23 November 2013}}</ref> The [Baptismal font](/source/Baptismal_font) is [Norman](/source/Norman_architecture).<ref name=Pevsner/> The [gable](/source/gable)-roofed west tower has characteristic Norman features including a round-headed arch to the [nave](/source/nave).<ref name=Pevsner>{{harvnb|Pevsner|Cherry|1973|p=381}}</ref> The [chancel](/source/chancel) is [Early English Gothic](/source/English_Gothic_architecture) of the early 13th century, with single [lancet window](/source/lancet_window)s in the north and south walls<ref name=EH-church/> and a double lancet window to the east.<ref name=Pevsner/>

The west tower has two sets of bell-openings. The first set is early 13th-century and is now blocked; the second set is [Decorated Gothic](/source/English_Gothic_architecture).<ref name=EH-church/> Also Decorated Gothic are the north and south [aisles](/source/Aisle) added to the nave early in the 14th century, each with two- and three-light windows with reticulated [tracery](/source/tracery)<ref name=EH-church/> and a three-bay arcade with octagonal [piers](/source/Pier_(architecture)).<ref name=Pevsner/> Near the east end of the south aisle is a cusped and [ogee](/source/ogee)d [piscina](/source/piscina) for a side altar that would have been there before the [Reformation](/source/English_Reformation).<ref name=EH-church/> In the chancel is a [monument](/source/English_church_monuments) to a John Blencow, who died in 1666.<ref name=EH-church/> The church is a [Grade I listed building](/source/Listed_building).<ref name=EH-church/>

St Lawrence's is now part of the parish of [Helmdon](/source/Helmdon) with [Stuchbury](/source/Stuchbury) and Radstone,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.achurchnearyou.com/helmdon-stuchbury-radstone-st-mary-magdalene/ |title=St Mary Magdalene, Helmdon w Stuchbury & Radstone |author=Archbishops' Council |author-link=Archbishops' Council |publisher=[Church of England](/source/Church_of_England) |year=2010 |access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> which in turn is part of the [Benefice](/source/benefice) of the Astwell Group of Parishes.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.astwellparishes.org.uk/parishes/ |title=Parishes |publisher=Astwell Benefice |access-date=12 June 2019}}</ref>

St Lawrence's church has been closed for worship since June 2015 because [Natterer's](/source/Natterer's_bat) and other bats use it as a seasonal summer roost. The Astwell Benefice calls the colony an "infestation" and is seeking a [National Lottery Heritage Fund](/source/National_Lottery_Heritage_Fund) grant to have the bats permanently "excluded" from the building.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.astwellparishes.org.uk/content/pages/documents/1539898834.pdf |title=The Astwell Benefice Profile |publisher=The Astwell Benefice |page=11 |year=2018 |access-date=12 June 2019}}</ref>

==Economic and social history==
thumb|Cottages in Radstone
Faint earthworks show the sites of former cottages in (Upper) Radstone: at the west end of the hamlet (now almost erased by ploughing),<ref name=RCHME/> and on the southwest side of the main street<ref name=RCHME/> opposite the former parish school and houses 15–20.

The remains of Lower Radstone are about {{convert|1/4|mi|m|adj=on}} northeast of Coldharbour Farm.<ref name=RCHME/> Earthworks show a north–south main street with an east–west one branching off it to the west, and stonework almost {{convert|1|ft|1}} high from former buildings.<ref name=RCHME/> [Medieval](/source/England_in_the_Middle_Ages) pottery ranging from the 12th to the 15th century has been found.<ref name=RCHME/> At the southeast corner of the former village is a [fish pond](/source/fish_pond) that cuts through the closes of some of the former cottage sites, and may have been created after the village was abandoned.<ref name=RCHME/> Lower Radstone was abandoned some time between the 15th and 18th centuries: in the latter it was recorded that ''"the footsteps of the old demolished town are still remaining"''.<ref name=RCHME/>

In the southeast of the parish by Fox Covert is a low mound, about {{convert|72|ft}} across and {{convert|2+1/2|ft|1}} high, with an indication of a pit or post-hole at its centre.<ref name=RCHME/> This indicates that the mound was created as the base for a medieval [post mill](/source/Post_mill).<ref name=RCHME/> 12th- to 13th-century pottery has been found at the site.<ref name=RCHME/>

The parish has some [ridge and furrow](/source/ridge_and_furrow) traces of cultivation, many of them in the reversed S-shape characteristic of [ox](/source/ox)-ploughing.<ref name=RCHME/> However, much of the parish is still arable and as a result much of the ridge-and-furrow has been degraded and is now detectable only by [aerial archaeology](/source/aerial_archaeology).<ref name=RCHME/> It is not clear whether Radstone had separate [open field system](/source/open_field_system)s for each of its two villages or one for the whole parish.<ref name=RCHME/> Nor is there a surviving record of when the common lands were [enclosed](/source/Enclosure).<ref name=RCHME/>

In 1720 the parish was estimated to have a population of about 100.<ref name=RCHME/> The [1801 Census](/source/Census_Act_1800) counted 128 inhabitants.<ref name=RCHME/>

===Railway===
In the late 1890s the [Great Central Main Line](/source/Great_Central_Main_Line) from Manchester and Sheffield to {{rws|London Marylebone}} was built through the parish, passing just east of the hamlet. It opened in March 1899 with Radstone equidistant between its two nearest stations at {{rws|Helmdon}} and {{rws|Brackley Central}}. [British Rail](/source/British_Rail)ways closed Helmdon station in 1963 and closed the railway and Brackley Central station in 1966.

==References==
[[File:Disused Railway bridge - geograph.org.uk - 326353.jpg|thumb|Bridge carrying the disused route of the former [Great Central Main Line](/source/Great_Central_Main_Line) over the minor road southeast of Radstone]]
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Adkins |editor1-first=WRD |editor1-link=Ryland Adkins |editor2-last=Serjeantson |editor2-first=RM |year=1902 |title=A History of the County of Northampton |volume=1 |series=[Victoria County History](/source/Victoria_County_History) |location=Westminster |publisher=[Archibald Constable](/source/Archibald_Constable) & Co |pages=220, 332, 369 }}
*{{cite book |last=Ekwall |first=Eilert |author-link=Eilert Ekwall |orig-year=1936 |year=1960 |title=Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names |edition=4th |place=Oxford |publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |isbn=0198691033 |at=Radstone }}
*{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget |orig-year=1961 |year=1973 |title=Northamptonshire |series=[The Buildings of England](/source/Pevsner_Architectural_Guides) |location=Harmondsworth |publisher=[Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books) |isbn=0-14-071022-1 |page=381 }}
*{{cite book |editor=RCHME |year=1982 |chapter=Radstone |title=An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire |volume=4 – Archaeological sites in South-West Northamptonshire |location=London |publisher=[Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England](/source/Royal_Commission_on_the_Historical_Monuments_of_England) |pages=124–126 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=126578 }}

{{Commons category|Radstone|position=left}}

Category:Civil parishes in Northamptonshire
Category:Hamlets in Northamptonshire
Category:West Northamptonshire District

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Radstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radstone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radstone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.