Wootton is a former village about south of Northampton town centre that is now part of Northampton. It is a civil parish in the West Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England.
Wootton is separated from Hardingstone by the Newport Pagnell Road the B526, formerly part of the A50 road. Part of Wootton is alongside the A45 dual carriageway from the M1 to Wellingborough which is seen and heard from that part of the area.
History
Domesday Book
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Wootton is described as "Wetone". It later became Weton, Wutton and then Witton. "Wootton" appeared in the 14th century. The names probably have the Saxon origin of "Wudutun" and mean settlement or farmstead in, or by, a wood, which may have been Salcey Forest.
Church
The 13th-century Parish Church of St George the Martyr stands in the High Street in a conservation area, and is a Grade I listed building. It was restored in 1865. It was again restored and re-dedicated in 1991 after a £93,000 restoration programme had been successfully completed.
The Rectory, west of the church is dated 1630.
Royal Pioneer Corps
The Northamptonshire Regiment and later Royal Pioneer Corps were stationed at the former Quebec Barracks, later renamed Simpson Barracks on a large site adjacent to the Newport Pagnell Road which include the old Hardingstone workhouse building which dates from 1839.
Governance
As a former village distinct from the town, it has its own Parish Council, unlike more recent 20th- and 21st-century suburbs of the town. In the 20th century the parish was merged with East Hunsbury, a rural area before development in the 1980s. However, the combined Wootton and Hunsbury Parish was demerged again in 2015; the Wootton part initially gaining the name "Wootton, Wootton Fields and Simpson Manor", before it was agreed that this was too much of a mouthful, and the parish was reverted to its original name, Wootton.
The village is mostly in the Nene Valley ward of West Northamptonshire Council, with small parts of the parish in the Hackleton and Grange Park ward.
Demographics
The 2001 census showed there were 2,015 people living in the parish, 978 male, 1,037 female in 885 dwellings. The 2011 Census showed that the ward had expanded rapidly to 11,180.
The 2021 census showed that 8,591 people lived in the parish, a rise from the 2011 census figure of 8,376 and the 2001 census figure of 5,563.
Facilities
There is a community centre, a recreation ground with a multi-use games area, a Working men's club; opticians and a medical centre.
Wootton has two pub/restaurants – "The Yeoman of Old England" in the centre of what was the old village. The second, "The Queen Eleanor" together with a Premier Inn hotel are both on Newport Pagnell road near the Queen Eleanor junction of Mereway and the A45. There is a shop, butcher, chemist and a large British Garden Centres Garden Centre in Newport Pagnell Road. Waitrose also said they would like to build a supermarket on the road but this was opposed in a report commissioned by the West Northampton Development Corporation. However, in 2013, plans were approved for a new Waitrose store which was opened by Christmas, 2013.
The village primary school is Wootton County founded in 1873. A modern all-through Caroline Chisholm School for young people aged 4–19 is located on Wooldale Road. The private Northampton High School for girls is located along Newport Pagnell Road.
Notes
References
External links
- Northampton Borough Council
- Northamptonshire County Council
- Caroline Chisholm School in Wooldale Road, Wootton
- Pocket park website
- Preston Hedges Primary School, Wootton Hope Drive
- Wootton St George Football club
- Wootton & East Hunsbury Parish Council