Long Buckby

Long Buckby is a populous village and civil parish in the Daventry District of Northamptonshire, England midway between Northampton and Rugby. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, the parish of Long Buckby, which includes the hamlet of Long Buckby Wharf, had a population of 3,913.[1] The west of the parish has the Grand Union Canal, A5 and adjoining M1 motorway all passing through the Watford Gap, with Watford, Northamptonshire being the next village to the north. The centre near a castle has a railway station on the Northampton Loop corollary of the West Coast Main Line.

Long Buckby

Long Buckby High Street
Long Buckby
Location within Northamptonshire
Area16.46 km2 (6.36 sq mi)
Population3,913 (2011 Census)
• Density238/km2 (620/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSP628673
Civil parish
  • Long Buckby
District
  • Daventry District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNORTHAMPTON
Postcode districtNN6
Dialling code01327
PoliceNorthamptonshire
FireNorthamptonshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

History

Long Buckby has a history going back approximately 1,200 years to the Vikings[2] when all of northern, central and eastern England came under the Danelaw. The mound remaining of a castle built by Sahir de Quincy in the 12th century remains. The village name is of Nordic origin, with 'by' meaning settlement or village while 'Buck' is derived from 'Bec' (pronounced 'becker' in old Norse) for 'stream' or 'brook'. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as Buchebei, its affix possibly coming at a later date in reference to the length of the village.

The village once had a thriving shoemaking industry[2][3] but is now mainly a residential village. The village offers a wide range of amenities and services to its residents, including a doctor's surgery, two dentists, four churches, two schools, a public library, a veterinary surgery, a boarding cattery, a post office, a community centre, Long Buckby Mill Park Nature Reserve and Cotton End Park. There are three pubs in the village (The Peacock, Old King's Head & a micro-pub Badger's Arms). A fourth pub, The Admiral Rodney is closed and now a hair salon and rented flats. Local shops include two grocery stores, a butchers, several hairdressers, a newsagent, card and gift shop, chemist and a wide range of restaurants and take-aways.

The English comedian Stanley Unwin moved to Long Buckby in 1940[4] when he got a job with the BBC at the nearby Borough Hill transmitting station. He stayed as a resident until his death in 2002.

Until the mid-1960s Long Buckby boasted its own goods marshalling yard which played a very significant role in the once thriving village economy, providing for the import of fuel and consumables for local business and residents as well as delivering the mail and packages to the village post office, and newspapers to the village newsagents. Local agricultural produce and to a lesser extent livestock were exported from the facility.

Long Buckby railway station as the nearest stop to Althorp was the final stop on the rail journey by the Prince of Wales, his two sons and others following the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 2007, one of the village shops celebrated its 150th year of operation since it first opened on the High Street in 1858.

Notable buildings and monument

The Historic England website contains details of 37 listed buildings in the parish of Long Buckby.[5] All of them are Grade II apart from the following, which are Grade II*.

There is also one scheduled monument in the parish:

  • Long Buckby ringwork and bailey[7]

Transport
Sign outside Long Buckby Wharf

Long Buckby railway station is served by West Midlands Trains. It lies on a loop (corollary) of the West Coast Main Line running between Birmingham New Street and London Euston. Plans were made to expand the station facilities from a portable cabin temporary shelter to a more permanent facility.

Regular local bus services connect Long Buckby to the nearby towns of Northampton, Rugby and Daventry.

Schools

Long Buckby has two schools, Long Buckby Infants School for reception, Year 1 and Year 2, and Long Buckby Junior School which takes pupils from Year 3 to Year 6, leading up to the Key Stage 2 tests.

The village is within the catchment area of Guilsborough School, a secondary school which takes local pupils on to Key Stage 3 (Year 7 to Year 9), followed by Key Stage 4 for Years 10 and 11. Guilsborough School also offers a Sixth Form centre for students wishing to take AS and A2 courses.

Sport

Long Buckby A.F.C. plays at Station Road. They are members of the United Counties League First Division. The club's highest achievement was reaching the 2nd round of the FA Vase in 1985-86. The club's most successful players include Gary Mills, Darren Harman, Alex McKenzie, Dan Holman and Richard Ryan. The football club on the same site as the rugby union club has its own clubhouse and a second pitch which the reserves and Sunday League sides use.

Long Buckby Rugby Football Club was founded in 1875 fielding three senior sides, a colts team and other junior teams. All are given coaching by qualified rugby coaches. Club training nights include week nights. Youth rugby is on Sundays. The club has a licensed clubhouse. The club's colours are green. Its emblem is a castle with an archway with a cross above.

Tennis tournament

Long Buckby Tennis Tournament started at the early year of 1907 in terms of lawn tennis and is played annually in mid-July on the sports ground, where a dozen or more grass courts are marked out and netting erected on the cricket outfield. Around two hundred and fifty people of all ages and standards take part over two days. It is an American-style doubles tournament with each couple playing all the others in their section. Profits from the tournament are donated to the sportsground and to the other sports organisations which use the ground. 2007 celebrated a centenary year with extra promotion to surrounding areas.

Economy

Maclaren, the pushchair manufacturer founded by Owen Finlay Maclaren, was based in the village until 2000 when the company went into receivership and manufacturing went to China.

Notable residents
  • The English comedian and inventor of Unwinese, Stanley Unwin, lived in the village for many years and is buried in the local churchyard.
gollark: Advanced!
gollark: Ah, the Macron logic interpreter.
gollark: Pen plotters do NOT exist.
gollark: It's wrong iff not approved by the PIERB.
gollark: ↓ you, consequently

References
  1. "Official Labour Market Statistics (nomis)". Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 2011 census
  2. "History". longbuckby.net. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008.
  3. Royal Historical Society (defunct by merger), subscription access database of book summaries.
  4. "Stanley Urwin". Teletronic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009.
  5. "Historic England – The List". Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  6. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1077036)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  7. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1013015)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
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