Whiston, Northamptonshire

Whiston
Whiston Location within Northamptonshire
Population	51 (2001)
OS grid reference	SP848606
• London	72 miles (116 km)
Civil parish	Cogenhoe and Whiston
Unitary authority	West Northamptonshire
Ceremonial county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Northampton
Postcode district	NN7
Dialling code	01604
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	South Northamptonshire

Whiston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Cogenhoe and Whiston, in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England. It is 4 miles due east of the county town of Northampton. In 1931 the parish had a population of 49.^[1]

History

The name of the village derives from Old English and was first recorded as Hwiccingtune in 974. It means "the farmstead of the Hwicce tribe."^[2] On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Cogenhoe.^[3]

The Church

Whiston Church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The present building was built for Anthony Catesby in the early 16th century. It is on the hill, separated from the rest of the village, from where it is reached by a footpath. The tower was built first and the church was probably complete by 1534.^[4]

Quarrying

Quarrying for iron ore and limestone was carried out at Whiston between 1914 and about 1922. The quarry was to the south west of the village adjoining an earlier quarry at Cogenhoe. The quarrying must at first have been done by hand with the aid of explosives but a steam navvy and a transporter machine was brought in in 1915. The ore was taken away by a steeply graded standard gauge railway leading to sidings at the London & North Western Railway's Northampton to Peterborough line. This was operated by a steam locomotive (a saddle tank engine built by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd.) The gradient was in favour of the loaded trains.^[5]

References

1. "Population statistics Whiston CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
2. Mills, A.D. (1991). A Dictionary of English Place Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 356. ISBN 0-19-869156-4.
3. "Relationships and changes Whiston CP/AP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
4. Pevsner, Nikolaus (1973). Cherry, Bridget (ed.). Northamptonshire. The Buildings of England (Second ed.). London: Penguin. p. 459. ISBN 0-14-071022-1.
5. Tonks, Eric (April 1989). The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 3: The Northampton Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. p. 134–139. ISBN 1-870-754-034.