Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. the parish church is St Mary the Virgin.

The village's name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'.

In 1508, John Spencer from Wormleighton in Warwickshire purchased the estate of Althorp outside Great Brington with its moated house and several hundred acres of farmland. He had grazed sheep here from the 1480s. In 1508, impressed by the quality of the land, he eventually bought it and rebuilt the house. In 1511 he made further purchases to acquire much of the surrounding countryside, including the villages of Little Brington and Great Brington as well as their parish church, from Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset. The death of Diana had an effect on the village – the pub was renamed from The Fox and Hounds to the Althorp Coaching Inn and the post office gained currency exchange facilities following the large increase in tourism to the area.

The Macmillan Way long distance footpath passes through Great Brington.

Geography

thumb|Great Brington Cross and Church

Nearby settlements include Little Brington, Nobottle and Long Buckby.

Notable people from Great Brington

  • Lawrence Washington (1565–1616), the great-great-great-grandfather of George Washington, first president of the United States, is buried in the chancel of the Church at St Mary's in the village.
  • Betsy Baker (1842–1955), a supercentenarian who was born in Great Brington and recognized as the world's oldest living person until she died aged 113, on 24 October 1955.
  • Jo Whiley, disc jockey and television presenter, is from the village.
  • Bill Bellamy Military Cross Winner and non-fiction best selling writer of "Troop Leader", lived here for many years.

References

  • BBC feature on Great Brington church
  • Great Brington Parish Church website
  • Great Brington Store and Post Office website