Thenford

{{Short description|Village in Northamptonshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Use British English|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox UK place |static_image_name= St Mary, Thenford, Northamptonshire - geograph.org.uk - 826566.jpg |static_image_caption= St Mary's parish church |official_name= Thenford |coordinates = {{coord|52.071|-1.244|display=inline,title}} |os_grid_reference= SP5141 |population= 74 |population_ref= ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]]) |civil_parish= Thenford |unitary_england= [[West Northamptonshire]] |lieutenancy_england= [[Northamptonshire]] |region= East Midlands |country= England |constituency_westminster= [[South Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Northamptonshire]] |post_town= [[Banbury]] |postcode_district= OX17 |postcode_area= OX |dial_code= 01295 |london_distance= |website= }}

'''Thenford''' is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] about {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} northwest of the [[market town]] of [[Brackley]] in [[West Northamptonshire]], England, and {{convert|4|mi}} east of [[Banbury]] in nearby [[Oxfordshire]]. The [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]] recorded the parish population as 74.<ref>{{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=Parish Headcounts. Area selected: South Northamptonshire (Non-Metropolitan District) |work=[[Neighbourhood Statistics]] |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=28 March 2011}}</ref> At the 2011 Census the population of the village remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of [[Middleton Cheney]].

==Archaeology== Traces have been found of a [[Prehistoric Britain#Neolithic|Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] settlement east of the village. Neolithic artefacts found include four flint arrowheads and a fragment of a polished stone axe southeast of the village. Bronze Age artefacts found include a middle Bronze Age [[palstave]] and a late Bronze Age [[hoard]] at Thenford Hill Farm north of the village that included two swords, four spearheads, two rings and other bronze objects.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

Traces have been found also of an [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] settlement in the north of the parish on Arbury or Arberry hill. It was a fortified farmstead with a circular rampart {{convert|150|m|disp=flip}} in diameter. Fragments of Iron Age and [[Ancient Roman pottery|Roman pottery]] have been found in the eastern part of the site.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

East of the village are the remains of an Iron Age settlement and [[Roman villa]] dating from 1st to the 4th centuries AD. The site was developed in four phases, with the villa itself being built about AD 300. It had six rooms, one of which had a fine [[Roman mosaic]]. Later extensions to the villa included a [[Thermae|bath house]]. In the 1820s coins from the reigns of [[Tetricus I|Tetricus]] (271–274) to [[Constans]] (''circa'' 323) were found in the walled garden of Thenford House. A few years later skeletons were found in the same garden. The villa site was excavated from 1971 to 1973.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}} and is now a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1003880 |desc=Roman villa SE of Thenford House |accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref> The mosaic is preserved in Thenford House.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

Early in the 19th century a [[Roman funerals and burial|Roman funerary urn]] containing ashes was found in St Mary's parish churchyard. Nearby were found "a medal of Constans", plus [[tessera]]e suggesting that a building with a mosaic floor had been in the vicinity. Other [[Roman Britain|Roman era]] sites have been found in the parish.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

Before 1830 a [[Anglo-Saxon England|Saxon]] cemetery was found west of the village. Seven skeletons and a number of earthenware vessels were found in a [[Tumulus|barrow]]. The site has since been quarried, leaving no trace of the barrow. The only artefacts known to survive are one blackware vessel and an iron knife.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

==History== [[File:Thenford House, Thenford (geograph 3402220).jpg|thumb|Thenford House, built 1761–65]] Thenford's name is derived from the [[Old English]] for "Ford of the [[Thegn]]s".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Northamptonshire/Thenford |title=Thenford |work=Key to English Place Names |publisher=[[English Place Name Society]] |access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref>

Thenford [[Manor house|Manor House]] was near the parish church. Its origin was [[England in the Middle Ages|medieval]], and in the 18th century was described as party [[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]]. It was demolished probably when the current Thenford House was built.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

[[Thenford House]] is a [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[English country house|country house]] built between 1761 and 1765{{sfn|Pevsner|Cherry|1973|p=425–426}} for [[Michael Wodhull]]. It is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed building]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1190951 |desc=Thenford House |grade=I |accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref> It is currently the home of [[Michael Heseltine|Lord Heseltine]].<ref name="thespectatordiary22october">{{cite news|last1=Heseltine|first1=Michael|title=Diary|work=The Spectator|date=22 October 2016|page=9|quote=Forty years ago, Anne and I bought our 18th-century home. We had searched for years for the home of our dreams and Thenford ticked every box.}}</ref> In its grounds is a large [[arboretum]] that has become one of the most important private collections in the United Kingdom. It is open to the public four times a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/23/lord-and-lady-heseltine-gardening-squirrels-thenford-brexit|title=Lord and Lady Heseltine on gardening: 'We shot 350 squirrels – absolutely awful things'|work=The Guardian|author=Archie Bland|date=23 October 2016|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref>

Thenford had a watermill west of the village and a windmill on a mound north of the village. The watermill was demolished in the 20th century but traces of its foundations, [[leat]] and [[mill pond]] survive. The windmill mound was about {{convert|20|m|disp=flip}} in diameter and still existed in 1947. It has since been destroyed.{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

{{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Thenford Inclosure Act 1766 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of Great Britain | long_title = An Act for dividing and enclosing the Common Fields, Common Pastures, Common Meadows, Common Grounds, and Waste Grounds, of and in the Manor and Parish of Thenford, otherwise Fenford, in the County of Northampton. | year = 1766 | citation = [[6 Geo. 3]]. c. ''9'' {{small|Pr.}} | territorial_extent = [[Great Britain]] | royal_assent = 18 March 1766 | commencement = 17 December 1765{{efn|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = Current | original_text = | collapsed = yes }} An [[open field system]] of farming prevailed in Thenford until the 18th century. Traces of [[ridge and furrow]] can be traced in much of the parish, and especially [[Aerial archaeology|from the air]]. [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] passed an [[inclosure act]] for the parish, the '''{{visible anchor|Thenford Inclosure Act 1766}}''' ([[6 Geo. 3]]. c. ''9'' {{small|Pr.}}).{{sfn|RCHME|1982|pp=143–145}}

==Parish church== [[File:St Mary, Thenford, Northamptonshire - Window - geograph.org.uk - 826544.jpg|thumb|15th-century stained glass of St Christopher in St Mary's church]] The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Saint Mary]] was built in about 1200, extensively rebuilt in about 1300 and has a [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular Gothic]] west tower and [[chancel]] [[Rood screen|screen]]. The south [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] is of two [[Bay (architecture)|bays]]. The north arcade is of three bays and was built about 1300. The east window of the north aisle has fragments of early 15th-century [[Medieval stained glass]] representing [[Saint Christopher|St Christopher]], and [[Saint Anne|St Anne]] with St Mary. Also in the north aisle is an early 17th-century [[English church monuments|monument]] to Fulk Woodhull, who died in 1613. He is represented by a recumbent stone effigy in a recess framed by [[composite order]] columns. St Mary's north porch was rebuilt in 1885.{{sfn|Pevsner|Cherry|1973|p=425}}

The church is a Grade I listed building.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1371503 |desc=Church of St Mary |grade=I |accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref>

St Mary's parish is a member of the Chenderit [[Benefice#Church of England|Benefice]], which includes the parishes of [[Chacombe]], [[Greatworth]], [[Marston St. Lawrence]], [[Middleton Cheney]] and [[Warkworth, Northamptonshire|Warkworth]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice.php?B=28/039BP |title=Benefice of Chenderit |work=[[A Church Near You]] |author=Archbishops' Council |author-link=Archbishops' Council |publisher=[[Church of England]] |year=2015 |access-date=10 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209165130/http://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice.php?B=28%2F039BP |archive-date=9 February 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== *{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget |orig-year=1961 |year=1973 |title=Northamptonshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-071022-1 |pages=425–426 }} *{{cite book |editor=RCHME |editor-link=Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England |year=1982 |title=An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire |volume=4, Archaeological Sites in South-West Northamptonshire |place=London |publisher=[[The Stationery Office|Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] |pages=143–145 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol4/pp143-145 }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Thenford}} *{{cite web |url= http://www.picturesofengland.com/user/TonyTooth/pictures//England/Northamptonshire/Thenford |title=Tony Tooth's Pictures of Thenford |publisher=PicturesOfEngland.com}}

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[[Category:Civil parishes in Northamptonshire]] [[Category:Villages in Northamptonshire]] [[Category:West Northamptonshire District]]