Turn around and look up Bridge Street (High Street) - the “Half Moon Inn” is on your left.  John Linnett bought this land and old derelict building from the Duke of Grafton after the canal was built.  It was probably the old Chequers Public House that had come down many years ago, but he renovated and extended it and you can see his date-stone on the back wall facing the bridge “J L 1797”.  There are outbuildings and a yard behind the building bordering the canal.  John Linnett has just had 2 boats built and registered to carry coal to and from Paddington.

The Half Moon Inn is quite a meeting place and the upstairs rooms provide welcome accommodation for many of the itinerant workers attracted to the area by work on the tunnel and railway and the boatmen. (Later to include the “leggers” who will propel the boats through the tunnel by lying on planks at the sides of the boats and “legging” or walking along the walls of the tunnel, while the towing horses are led over the hill.)  The boats are propelled through the tunnel now by “shafting” - using poles slotted into holes in the wooden rails attached to the sides of the tunnel.  This is slow, laborious and dangerous work.

 (There are further photos of High Street, Bridge Street, in the HighStreet Pt II section)

2   By lay-by  (Lamp-post 93) 

Figure 3 Rectory coach house and stables in 1950s.  G Freeston

 This is a very dangerous bend in the narrow road (it will become the lay-by) with that high stone wall on the other side topped by the Rectory coach house and stables (taking the whole width of the new road).  Behind them is the stone and thatched Rectory where the Reverend John Ambrose lives, high above the road and just forward of the Church. (This will be demolished when the new stone Rectory is built behind it in 1841 for the new rector.)

 Looking back at the Half Moon Inn you can also see the old stone wall on the North side but all the new buildings are in brick with a slate roof.  Now that the canal provides the means of bringing different materials to our village such as slate from Wales we don’t have to rely entirely on local materials.  Bricks are becoming more popular and now local brickworks and kilns have been set up using the new supply of coal. 

 The open land next to the public house (terrace of houses and the cemetery) is farmed by one of the village farmers, Robert Campion, who lives in the new Manor House Farmhouse a little further up the road but the old farm cottages and barns on the road have now fallen down.  The plan to create some of the new larger fields in Blisworth began about 200 years ago and they were enclosed with ditches and hawthorn and blackthorn hedges and the process has continued in spite of the concerns of local people.  The idea is that new crops, methods, tools and rotation can be experimented with to increase food production and this is encouraged by our King George III, sometimes known as “farmer” George. 

 We have gradually lost our strips of field where we could grow a few crops and more of the villagers are employed by the big farmers although some have taken up other trades or migrated to the town to find work.  We still have some areas of common land where we can graze our animals and gather materials for fuel but there is talk of that being lost to the large farmers soon and I don’t know how poor families will be expected to make a living.  (When enclosure of the fields and common land is complete the Duke will provide 100 allotments for the villagers on a site up Stoke Road – many still cultivated productively in 2005.)

3   Outside new stone house  (Lamp-post 91) 

 On this side the land, as indicated by the Ordnance Survey, is said to be the site of the first Manor House probably built in the 13^th century and long since fallen down. (The white rendered pair of houses and the new stone house)   Now only the large Tithe Barn remains across the back of the plot with 2 diverging wings where the Rector stores produce given to the Church.  All workers have to pay one tenth of their incomes or produce, known as a tithe, each year to fund the work of the Church.  Incidentally a rector is the clergyman of a parish where the tithes are kept by the local priest, while a vicar is called such where the tithes are taken by the religious house or lord.

 This might have been where the Wake family lived as Lords of the Manor from 1276 until 1504 when Sir Roger Wake died.  The Manor was then sold to Sir Richard Knightly of Fawsley.  (a curate in 1718 asserts the Wake residence was really on the site of Blisworth House)  In 1675 the Manor of Blisworth was bequeathed by King Charles II to Henry Fitzroy who became the first Duke of Grafton. He owned the village and several others and much of the land around.  It was his son Charles who administered the estate after his mother’s death in 1725 but he chose to live at Wakefield Lodge.  He was a very diligent landlord and his agents drew up a map of Blisworth in 1727 and listed all the tenants and their rents.  Now Charles’ grandson Augustus Henry, the third Duke, has looked after the estate for nearly 50 years with much consideration for the welfare of the inhabitants.

  Our Church of St John the Baptist, part of which dates back to the 13^th century, has always been the centre of the life of the village and a source of social order.  The sometime absentee Reverend John Ambrose has been our Rector for 8 years now and is responsible for recording the births, marriages and deaths, and raising and distributing poor relief to the needy.  Times have been very difficult recently and vestry meetings are held to support the large number of villagers who apply for relief and supply some basic necessities like clothing and coal and money.

 The Church is also responsible for reporting on matters of crime and disorder, and collecting taxes.  We have a new National Income Tax introduced by our Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, in 1798, to help finance the on-going war against the French and Napoleon, which we are assured is only temporary ( it will be revived in 1842 and continue…!)  

 The 14^th Century Tower has 5 bells – 2 from 1624, 1 of 1713 and 2 dated 1758 - which summon us to worship on Sundays and feast days. (6^th bell installed in 2004.)   The bells also let us know the time of day (as people don’t have clocks or watches!) as does the clock on the tower (? – a new clock will be installed in 1838.)  The Church houses the tomb of Sir Roger Wake and his wife Elizabeth Catesby and their 10 children with the family crests. 

 But now the Church is beginning to lose its power and more and more people of the village are following the Baptists since the Goodridge family came to Blisworth about 27 years ago.  They met in peoples’ homes at first and John Goodridge was their first preacher.  They caused a lot of ill-feeling with the Church-goers but the Duke is very sympathetic and when the numbers grew he persuaded Robert Campion to let them use his barn for services.  Maybe they will manage to build their own meeting house in years to come. (The Baptist Chapel will be built 1825.)

4   By 50 High Street  (Lamp-post 90) 

Figure 4 Toll-house from George Clarke's etching 1855 (image 16-21)

Now you can see the Toll-house and the gates across the road erected 6 years ago by the Turnpike Trust (near the corner in front of the Church) where travellers have to pay to pass.  The gates have spikes or “pikes” to stop horsemen jumping over them giving rise to the name “Turnpikes”.  These Trusts are set up by local landlords with authority from Parliament to collect fees from travellers to maintain and improve a stretch of road – this one from Far Cotton to Towcester.   In turn the Trustees pay rent to the Duke for the toll-house of £2 10 shillings a year but share any remaining profit.  The condition of the road has improved considerably in the last few years and the spreading of crushed stone has helped to fill the ruts and pot holes especially near the bridge where it was often thick mud.  Blisworth did not suffer as badly as some villages as most of our roads are built on a firm ironstone base. 

 Round the corner by the Churchyard there are 4 rather poor cottages with no upstairs windows and very low eaves with the thatch coming down almost to the road.  This is where some of the poorest of the Parish live.  The Duke is very good to them and lets them live there for only a few pence rent a year – just enough to prove their tenancy.

 The lane opposite is known as The Alley (Church Lane) and leads up to the Squire’s big stone Mansion House (Blisworth House) where Humbro Rigby Esq lives, paying rent of £8 13s a year.  The date stone above the door is inscribed “P / WE 1702” although an earlier building is believed to have been on the site.  There are stables, a barn, dove-house and separate brew-house, lovely gardens and several acres of the Old Park which is now crossed by the canal.

 The Cottage on the other corner is let to Richard Cadnum for 25 shillings. (It will be replaced by the 3 gabled cottages in the late 1800s.)  There is a well-built late 17^th century 2 storey House just beyond it with a steep pitch thatch roof and a large garden and barn (Church House).

 Behind us is the new Manor House which was probably built in the 16^th century and the Brayfield family of farmers lived there for many years. (Demolished about 1897 when thought to be unsafe and the brick replacement again called The Manor House.) The farmer, Robert Campion, has lived here for over 20 years now and some of his land was used for the canal and tunnel.  He farms over 200 acres including Pond Bank Close behind his house and the fields on the other side of the canal.  His annual rent for the whole farm is £112 5s.  All the Blisworth farmers live in houses within the village and farm the lands around, rented from the Duke. (The Duke will build 5 new farmhouses just outside the village in the next decades when enclosure is completed and a new generation of farmers will have their lands clustered round them.)

5   By 38 High Street, The Old Bakehouse  (Lamp-post 88) 

 In spite of the trade initiated by the new canal and wharf Blisworth is still mainly an agricultural community with both arable farming and stock-keeping along with the trades needed to support farming, such as blacksmith, cobbler, carpenter, butcher, baker etc. 

 These typical labourers’ Stone Cottages with thatch roofs (Peverel Cottage, Oakbeams, no 40 & The Old Bakehouse) line the main Bridge Street (High Street).  Widow Lambert lives in the first cottage with her son for 15 shillings and they share the well at the rear of the next 2 which are let to tenants of farmer Robert Campion. They were mostly built in the 17^th century although the single-storey terraced cottages with attics have earlier cores. The third one (no 40) is probably the oldest cottage in the village with some parts originating in the late 15^th or early 16^th century with the left chimney stack and upper floor being inserted during the last century.  The next cottage (The Old Bakehouse, later detached) is that of the baker George Goode who has a separate bakehouse at the rear and a piece of land at a rent of £8 15s.  Another terrace of 3 stone and thatch cottages follows (nos 36-32).  

 Over the road there is obviously much dereliction and unoccupied land as a result of a Great Fire of 1798 on May 28^th.  The Cottages raised up from the road on a bank (Greystones and Hopcroft cottages, with roof raised and thatch gone) were once a good stone house and used as a farmhouse but were converted into 2 cottages some years ago.  They escaped the fire but the barns and out-buildings nearer the road were damaged. (The pair of stone cottages, Tile Cottage and Christmas Cottage, built later)  The empty plot next was another cottage that was totally destroyed. (Village Shop and Post Office).

 Here is the report in the Northampton Mercury in June 1798:- 

 We are very proud of our weekly newspaper, The Northampton Mercury, which was one of the first in England, starting in 1720.  It tells us all that is happening in London and the country and sometimes has local news such as the above.  It is widely distributed in the Midlands at a cost of 6 pence so only the rich can afford to buy one but some people manage to see a copy and news gets passed on.

6   By the sign-post near the Royal Oak 

Figure 5 Painting of "The Cross" by W Hart 1958

This wide area in front of the cottages and smithy (the car park) is known as “The Cross” and is the centre of the village and quite a meeting place especially during parades and feast days.  The cottage on the left of the pair at the back has a date stone set in the wall over the door inscribed “NG IG 1613”.  It has a Smithy and yard adjoining. (A new smithy will be built in 1820.)  One of the other pair of Cottages to the right, adjoining the Plough Alehouse (The Royal Oak) was an old bakehouse but is now used as a shop.  (All these cottages will be demolished in 1958 to provide a Car Park for the Public House.)

 The Plough Alehouse (The Royal Oak) has been run by Garfield Gibbs for 20 years now.  He also farms some of the land behind it and on the other side of the canal for a rent of £9.  This is our oldest alehouse with records going back nearly 100 years and is a very popular meeting place.  There are barns, stables and a brew-house behind and ale has been brewed here for many years.

The Farmhouses on the opposite corners were badly damaged in the fire.  Francis Gibbs lost much of his house on the right (The Old Coach House) and all his buildings and his son William is taking over the farm.  Joseph Hedge had to move out of the house on the left (Crieff House) to the late Mr Will’s house but he continued to farm his land. His house has had much restoration although it has lost a wing, and his out-buildings beyond have been renovated to provide more living accommodation and form a Yard of Cottages round the well. (Crieff Cottage and barns and others that will be demolished.)

 Look up South Street (Stoke Road) and the Row of Cottages and Joseph Westley’s Flour Mill (6 modern houses) were damaged by fire and the old Blisworth School (Village Hall) originally endowed by the Wake family in the 15^th century was badly affected.  Joseph Westley, the miller, managed to acquire part of the land to build a New House for his wife Mary and family right next to the school which will be restored later. It is a tall 3-storey house with cellars, end on to the road with all the windows on the north side including a bay window on the ground floor.  There is a date stone over the front door, “W J&M 1799” (It will be demolished in 1976)  Beyond the damaged school you can just see another fine house in sandstone and banded with ironstone.  This used to be The Feathers Alehouse (Thackstone House) which again was severely damaged by fire.

7   On corner opposite the Royal Oak  (Lamp-post 85) 

 The building on this side, situated across the corner, was a late 17^th century house, now converted into a pair of Cottages and a Barn (Rose Cottage and Lindisfarne).  The population has increased in recent years since the agricultural depression of the 1760s, with higher birth rates, lower death rates and earlier marriages and many of the larger cottages have been divided into 2 dwellings.  There are several more Cottages further down Mill Lane (Chapel Lane) and also continuing down the main street.

Figure 6 Cottages demolished in 1936.  G Freeston

 Labourers’ cottages either front along the street or are grouped into short terraces round a shared water well and often sharing the outside earth privies.  They are all thatched with local straw, many of them single-storey, with low eaves and windowless attics or small “eyebrow” windows in the thatch.  Some have hay and corn stacked outside and wood for fuel.

 The men are out working in the fields in the day and oxen and cows are brought into cover in the evening. There is a strong spirit of co-operation and neighbours join together to get a job done.  Wives are at home weaving, making lace and clothes as well as looking after the house and family and they also keep chickens and pigs.  We cook over an open fire, but if we can afford them we can now get pots and pans from the Black Country, pottery from Staffordshire, and cutlery from Sheffield since the canal arrived, instead of our wooden platters and knives.    

While labourers’ cottages are set along the street, houses with some status are built gable-end on to the street facing a yard maybe with a well and with buildings to use for stock or produce or for trades such as blacksmith, cobbler or carpenter.

 The House opposite is end-on to the road with a curved front (Tudor Cottage – much rebuilt in 1977) and had a wheelwrights shop in the outbuilding until Charles Inwood died in 1792. (Demolished 1963, after it was a cobblers shop for many years and William Hill, the cobbler, died).  Widow Lydia Inwood still lives in part of the building and William Church in the other half at 15 shillings each.

 (Further up the street, photos elsewhere on this website may be found in the High Street I section)

8   Outside 14 High Street  (Lamp-post 83) 

Figure 7 Painting of High Street Cottages 1912  by Dr L Jeffreson

 This mainly 17^th century Row of Thatched Cottages (nos 14 – 2 High Street but only 14, 12 and 2 will survive) continues up the High Street to the next lane (Little Lane).  It is a strange co-incidence that many of them at the end were occupied by men called Thomas! – now Thomas Clarke, Thomas Walker’s widow, Thomas Trusler’s widow and then Thomas Chambers each paying about £1 a year.

 In the centre of the row is the Village Pump maintained by the Duke (until 1919 and then demolished in 1951 – between the Newsagent and Old Police House).  This is another popular place for meeting local people and exchanging news.

 Several Johns lived on the other side of the road - in the Cottages (no 9) now John Morris and John Carter’s widow at 10 shillings and 12s 6d - with the Farmhouse occupied by the farmer, John Caves.

  The Farmhouse (Stoneacre) is a fine 17^th century building of 2 storeys and attic and cellars with gable end to the road.  It is built in typical alternate bands of limestone and ironstone which is a local fashion arising from the need to even out the courses and to achieve more weather resistance.  It is also seen as very decorative.  A more recent extension has been added at the back.  John Caves farms the land behind and his barns and stables extend along the road.  (They will be used as a smithy later but demolished and replaced by house no 5).

    Figure 8 Sketch of Stoneacre in 1888

9   Cross the road to the School House  (Lamp-post 81) 

Figure 9 High Street cottages looking south 1918.  W Alexander

We are looking back at the row of labourers’ stone and thatch cottages (from Jasmine Cottage to no 14 but only 2, 12 and 14 will  survive). 

Figure 10 Farmhouse down Little Lane before 1936.  G Freeston

Now we can see down the lane (Little Lane) to John Goodridge’s fine Tudor Farmhouse at the end with its barn, stable and dove-house.  There is a lovely group of 10 small cottages clustered nearby at the junction with Mill Lane (unfortunately all will be condemned and  demolished by the Ministry of Health in 1936 as they will not meet the new standards of hygiene).

 The lane leads down to the bridge crossing the canal with the road up to the village of Gayton. Near the bridge is the now disused Water Mill that was worked by the Dent family for over 100 years.  We now rely on the windmill, run by Richard Dent, for our flour.   (In a few years, the windmill will be taken over by Elizabeth aka. Ann Westley nee Campion)

 Behind us are Barns and a Cottage (site of the School House) that are part of John Caves’ farm and the corner of the village pound where stray animals are enclosed when rounded up.

10a   On Elm Tree Corner  (Lamp-post 80) 

Figure 11 Elm Tree Corner about 1900  ?W Alexander

 We are standing under the old Elm Tree  - who knows how long it has been here? – that gave the name Elm Tree Corner to this end of Blisworth.  From here 2 more large Farmhouses are apparent – one on the road towards Northampton, right by the road, is probably over 200 years old. (Cliff Hill Farm)  Shadrach Wesley came here in 1780 and when he died 2 years ago his son William took over the farm. Beyond it is a large Barn with a datestone “G B 1633”. (It will be converted into an imposing house, Highcliffe, in 1993.)

 Adjoining the farmhouse is the House and Butchers Shop where William Lepper has lived and worked for about 20 years (demolished 1973).  Opposite the farmhouse are the 2 Stone Cottages along the road of Charles Griffin and John Faulkner. (These will be replaced by the stone cottage end-on to the road.)

 The attractive row of 3 cottages opposite (a single dwelling again in 2003 - Threeways Cottage) are those of John Carter, Widow Carter and Thomas Hicks.  This was a 17^th century house that was repaired and made into 3 dwellings 12 years ago.  The wide passage between 1 and 2 (the front door) leads through to the garden with the entry doors on each side while the third entrance is round the back.

10b   On Elm Tree corner  (Lamp-post 80) 

 Figure 12 Elm Tree and cottages 1900

 The next terrace of 3 17^th century Cottages front the road opposite the Elm Tree. (Only one will remain as the view will be opened up for the cottage, Willow Cottage, set back from the road when it is refurbished c. 1955)

 The interesting thing about the next early 17^th century Farmhouse (no 11, Elmtree House) is that this farm was not part of the Grafton Estate until recently, due to an earlier mortgage agreement.  After the previous farmer, John Inns, died the farm was bought by the Duke’s estate in 1789 and William Pettifer became the tenant farmer. Inside, the sitting room has a wall painting with an inscription from Psalm 143: “Teach mee to doe thy will for thou art God: Let thy good spirit leade me into Righteousness” (still there!).

 The Barns extend up Greenaway Lane (Courteenhall Road) and his 69 acres of farmland stretch behind to include Clift Hill and Windmill Close for a rent of £78 a year. (The terrace of 4 new houses in the 1860s with long front gardens, known as Mount Pleasant, will probably use the stone from the demolished barns.)  The lane alongside leads to the Windmill up on the hilltop which has long been in service and is now our only mill run by Richard Dent.