Oundle

Oundle /ˈaʊndəl/ is a market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the 2011 census.[2] It is 69 miles (111 kilometres) north of London and 12 mi (19 km) south-west of Peterborough. The nearest railway station, Corby, is 9.3 mi (15.0 km) to the west.

Oundle

North Street, Oundle
Oundle
Location within Northamptonshire
Population5,735 (2011 census)
OS grid referenceTL038880
• London69 miles (111 km)
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townPeterborough
Postcode districtPE8
Dialling code01832
PoliceNorthamptonshire
FireNorthamptonshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

In 2017, The Sunday Times included Oundle in its list of best places to live in the Midlands. Oundle was the only Northamptonshire town to be included on the list which takes into account crime rates, house prices and standards of local schools.[3]

History

Discoveries of Iron Age and Roman materials suggest that Oundle has been a settlement location for potentially several thousand years. Findings have included a number of iron age coins, and Roman bronze pins, coins and skeletons.[4] A significant Roman find was part of a Roman cup discovered in the church yard of St.Peter's Church in the early 19th Century. Further excavation on the site lead to the findings of many Roman coins, some from the time of the reign of Emperor Claudius [5]

The Saxon invasion saw the arrival of a tribe called Undalas which possibly meant undivided. It is the death place of St Wilfrid in 709 AD where he had consecrated a church as well as being the location of one of his monasteries. The current St Peter's Church[6] occupies the same site as St Wilfrid's original church.[7]

Saint Cetta or Cett,[8] a 7th-century saint,[9] is the Patron Saint of Oundle.[10] Very little is known of him but according to the Anglo-Saxon Secgan Manuscript[11] he was buried in the monastery at Oundle, near the River Nene, around 1000 AD[12] and a chapel to him built in the 11th century, on the small knoll beyond the end of St Sythes Lane. The presence of this shrine and the market charter explain much of the growth of Oundle in the 12th century.

The Domesday Book records Oundle in Polebrook hundred with a population of 36 households, a mill and a value in 1066 of £0.3, which had risen to £11 by 1086.[13]

As the area became prosperous, wealthy traders set up shops and houses, and guilds were formed. Unlike other settlements in the vicinity, Oundle was unaffected by the Black Death in the mid-14th century.

Oundle had a grammar school since at least 1465, at which Sir William Laxton (Lord Mayor of London) was educated. In his will he left a legacy to found Laxton Grammar School in 1556, now known as Oundle School, administered by the Worshipful Company of Grocers.

In 1743 a group of mutineers from the Black Watch were captured at Ladywood, near Oundle. They had deserted in protest at being sent abroad, instead of patrolling the Highlands, for which the regiment had been raised.[14][15]

Governance
Main article: Corby (UK Parliament constituency)

Oundle is part of the parliamentary constituency of Corby. The current Member of Parliament serving this area is Conservative Party MP Tom Pursglove who was elected in May 2015.[16] At the time of election and until June 2017 he was the youngest sitting MP in the country.[17]

Main article: East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)

Oundle is part of the East Midlands constituency for the current European Parliament and is represented by 5 sitting MEPs. They are Labour Party MEP Rory Palmer, Liberal Democrat MEP Bill Newton Dunn and the Brexit Party MEPs Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Jonathan Bullock and Matthew Patten.[18]

At a local level, the town elects a 12-person town council every four years to form the Oundle Town Council. The council is a non-politically affiliated group that work to further the social and economic interests of Oundle. A Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the council every May.[19]

Geography

Oundle is a town located in the East Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire county, on the River Nene, with Corby 9 miles to the west, and Peterborough 12 miles to the north-east. Despite being located within Northamptonshire, Oundle falls into the 'PE8' post-code district for Peterborough.[20]

The Oundle Parish boundary consists of approximately 900 hectares and covers the entire urban build, as well as open countryside. The boundary follows the River Nene to the East and South of the town, and extends west to Oundle Wood and north to Park Wood. This boundary was established during an extensive East Northants Boundary review in 2013.[21]

Geology

The region itself is located on solid formations from the Jurassic age, with Oundle being built on the sedimentary rock oolite.[22]

Economy

Oundle is home to one of two factories producing luxury motor yachts for Fairline Yachts Ltd. The original company, Fairline Boats, which was also located in Oundle entered administration in 2015 before being acquired by Russian investors in January 2016.[23]

Landmarks

Public Houses
Internal View of Oak Staircase within The Talbot Hotel

Among the oldest buildings is the Talbot Hotel. This was constructed of timber; it was rebuilt with stone in 1626 from the ruins of nearby Fotheringhay Castle. The hotel is notable for the claim of being haunted by the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots who was executed in Fotheringhay in 1587. The hotel is said to contain the oak staircase taken from the ruins of Fotheringhay Castle that Mary walked down while being escorted to her execution.[24][25]

Other public houses include The Rose & Crown, a 17th-century inn, The Ship Inn, a 14th-century coaching inn, The George, and The Riverside, which has become derelict.[26]

Churches

There are a number of churches. By far the most prominent, its 210-foot spire being the tallest in Northamptonshire, is St Peter's Church[27] which has the main churchyard. There are also Methodist, Baptist and Roman Catholic churches. The Baptist church has a premises on St Osyth's Lane but holds services on Sunday mornings at Oundle Church of England Primary School.

The Stahl Theatre

The Stahl Theatre is a 264-seat theatre venue owned by Oundle School that was previously a disused Congregational Church chapel on West Street. Oundle School, under the instruction of then housemaster John Harrison, bought the building in the late 1970s and converted the chapel into the theatre which opened for performances in 1980. Harrison became the building's director and produced many performances before his retirement in 1993. In 2012 he returned to produce Love's Labour's Lost, his 100th Stahl Theatre production before his death in 2018.[28] The building is named after Ronald Stahl, a US citizen who lived in Oundle in 1900.[29] Today, the theatre is used by a variety of local groups, including Oundle School, Oundle Church of England Primary school and the local Oundle Gilbert & Sullivan Players.

War Memorial

The war memorial, known officially as the Oundle and Ashton War Memorial, is located at the junction of New Street and West Street. Constructed in 1920 at a cost of £600, it was unveiled on 14 November 1920 by Mr F.W. Sanderson and dedicated at the same ceremony by Canon Smalley Law, the Vicar of Oundle. Originally commemorating the local lives lost during the First World War, it also includes dedications to those killed in the Second World War.[30] The memorial takes the form of a five-stepped octagonal base surmounted by two square plinths and a slightly tapering rectangular pillar. In turn, this is further surmounted by a small cross. The memorial was classed as a Grade II listed building by Historic England on 7 June 1974, which classes it as a 'particularly important building of more than special interest.'[31]

The memorial has inscriptions to 95 people killed in the two wars. 68 for the First World War and 27 for the Second World War.[32] The now closed Oundle Middle School took the names of four of those inscribed on the memorial as names of its school houses, those were D.F. Barber, J.L. Marlow, J.H. Mason and P. Richardson. All four served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Transport

Road

Oundle is located off the A605 that links the A14 at Thrapston to the A1 at Peterborough. The road at Oundle underwent major improvements in 1985 resulting in the Oundle bypass being opened on 12 December 1985 by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester and is commemorated by a plinth and brass plaque at the roundabout.[33]

Rail

With the definitive closure of Oundle railway station in late 1972,[34][35] there are currently no rail links operating in Oundle. The station originally opened in June 1845 and was designed by John Livock, a prominent architect at the time who was best known for his railway station construction. The original station building is still in use today as private residential property.

Bus

There is no main bus station in Oundle, however, there are regular services stopping in the market place with several other stops located throughout the town. The primary bus route servicing Oundle daily is the Stagecoach operated X4 that links Northampton and Peterborough.[36]

Education
View of the entry to Oundle Church of England Primary School.

The town's most notable school is Oundle School, a co-educational boarding independent school with around a thousand pupils, most of whom are boarders. The two other schools in the town are Prince William School, a comprehensive school, and Oundle Church of England Primary School, which rated as "Outstanding" in its 2011 Ofsted inspection.[37]

Culture and community

Oundle hosts a number of annual events, notably:

  • The Oundle International Festival (OIF) is an annual music festival and pipe organ school, founded in 1985, with the training of young organists as its core. These summer schools are centred on a Frobenius organ in the Oundle School chapel. A concurrent festival programme for the public was also planned as a recurrent feature.
  • The Oundle Festival of Literature has regular events throughout the year featuring established, local and new authors .[38]
  • The Oundle Fringe Festival is an annual arts and entertainment festival that began in 2011 to help showcase local musical and literary performers. It has grown rapidly since its inception and takes place over a 10-day period every July, with performances of many genres of music such as rock and jazz, and also literary readings and theatrical performances.[39]
  • The Oundle carnival has taken place since 2009.[40]
  • The World Conker Championships have taken place in the nearby village of Ashton on the second Sunday of October since the championship started in 1965.[41]

A farmers' market is held in the Market Place on the second Saturday of every month as well as a local market every Thursday. There is also a park with swings and climbing frames, as well as a skatepark which was built in 2005 and regenerated in 2012. An annual fair and circus is located in the park.

Oundle has many shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants all of which are located in the town centre. It also has two supermarkets: a Co-op and a Waitrose.[42]

Filming Locations

External shots for the 2012 Daniel Radcliffe film The Woman in Black were filmed at Cotterstock Hall just north of Oundle.[43]

Town partnerships

Oundle maintains partnerships with the following places:[44]

Notable people

Sport

Football
  • Oundle Town Football Club - Founded in 1883 and currently playing in the Peterborough and District Football League Division 1.[53] As well as the senior team, Oundle Town FC also have a youth and junior team, as well as mini, walking, and disability teams.

Rugby
  • Oundle Rugby Club - Founded in 1976, Oundle Rugby Club has a senior team playing in the Midlands 1 East division,[54] as well as junior and mini teams.

Cricket
  • Oundle Town Cricket Club - Founded in 1826 the 1st XI senior team currently play in the Northamptonshire Cricket League Premier division.[55] They also have a ladies and girls teams as well as operating 6 junior teams.
gollark: Imagine you have BeesCorp, which produces honey and requires wood for beehives, and HoneyFoodsCompany, which requires honey and other stuff and produces food.
gollark: Which isn't always true, or even the case a lot of the time.
gollark: See, bartering requires that party A has something party B wants, and party B has something party A wants.
gollark: This sounds like just indirected bartering. Which is problematic.
gollark: With no particular incentive to except that the "friend" might not like it otherwise?

References
  1. https://www.oundle.gov.uk/
  2. Office for National Statistics: Oundle CP: Parish headcounts Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  3. "Oundle named among best places to live in the Midlands". The Northants Telegraph.
  4. "Oundle". British History Online.
  5. Murray, John (1878). Handbook for travellers in Northamptonshire and Rutland. London: J. Murray. p. 47.
  6. St Peter's Church
  7. Page, William. "A History of the County of Northampton". British History Online. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  8. "Cett 1". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  9. "Google Translate". Translate.google.com.au. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  10. Morris, Carwyn Hywel. "The concept of territory in the late Anglo-Saxon and early Medieval cult of saints in England" (PDF). Etheses.bham.ac.uk. p. 5. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Cett - oi". Oxfordindex.oup.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  13. "Search | Domesday Book". Domesdaymap.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  14. "The Black Watch - The Mutiny". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  15. "Legends of The Black Watch". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  16. "UK Parliament MP Information".
  17. "Interview with Tom Pursglove". Huffington Post.
  18. "UK MEP Election Results 2019". BBC News.
  19. "Oundle Town Council".
  20. "Postcode - Oundle". postal-code.co.uk.
  21. "Oundle Neighbourhood Plan" (PDF). Oundle.gov.uk.
  22. Taylor, J.H. (1963). Geology of the country around Kettering, Corby and Oundle. HMSO.
  23. "Fairline Boats: New owners buy firm but close a factory". BBC News.
  24. "Haunted Hotels & Inns".
  25. "The Talbot Hotel - A History".
  26. "Riverside Inn, Oundle". Closed Pubs.
  27. "St Peters Church Oundle". Oundlestpeters.org.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  28. "John Harrison obituary". The Guardian.
  29. "Stahl Theatre in Oundle is 30 years old". BBC News.
  30. "Memorial - Oundle and Ashton". Imperial War Museum.
  31. "WAR MEMORIAL AT SOUTH END OF NEW STREET". Historic England.
  32. "Names on Memorials - Oundle and Ashton Memorial". Imperial War Museum.
  33. "Oundle Bypass Plaque - A605, Oundle, Northamptonshire, UK".
  34. Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 105. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
  35. Butler, P., (2007) A History of the Railways of Northamptonshire, Great Addington: Silver Link Publishing
  36. "Stagecoach invests £3.1m in X4 buses serving Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby".
  37. OFSTED. "Inspection Reports". Oundle Primary School. OFSTED. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  38. "Welcome to Oundle Festival of Literature". Oundlelitfest.org.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  39. "Oundle Fringe Festival".
  40. "Oundle Carnival". Oundlecarnival.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  41. "The Game of Conkers". Historic UK.
  42. "New Oundle store will be worth the Waitrose".
  43. "Daniel Radcliffe's The Woman In Black takes in Northamptonshire filming location". The Location Guide.
  44. "Oundle Chronicle". Oundlechronicle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  45. "William Abell". Oxford Dictionary of Nation Biography.
  46. "Humanist Portray: Meet Richard Dawkins". Humanists International.
  47. "Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson: The rock star who is more choir boy than hellraiser". The Express Newspaper.
  48. "John Knight". ESPN Cricket Info.
  49. Archived 28 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  50. "Former Oundle pupil is starring in Danny Boyle's new Beatles-inspired movie". Northants Telegraph.
  51. The Musical Times, Volume 40. London: Novello and Company. 1899. p. 225.
  52. "4AD: the 'pure' label behind Pixies and Cocteau Twins". The Guardian Newspaper.
  53. "Peterborough & District League Division One".
  54. "Midlands 1 East Division". EnglandRugby.com.
  55. "Northamptonshire Cricket League".
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