Irthlingborough

"IRTHLINGBOROUGH, a parish in the hundred of Huxloe, county Northampton, 2 miles N.E. of Higham Ferrers, its post town, 5 N.W. of Wellingborough, and 15 from Northampton. The village, which is considerable, is situated on the river Nen, and consists principally of one street nearly 2 miles in length, and is a station on the Peterborough branch of the London and North-Western railway. The inhabitants are principally employed in boot and shoemaking, parchment-making, and lace manufacture. In the reign of Edward III. a college for secular canons was founded here by John Pyel, Lord Mayor of London. An allotment of land was assigned in lieu of tithes and moduses under the Enclosure Act of 1808. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £266. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure, with a tower surmounted by a lofty octagonal lantern, and containing a clock and six bells. It is built in the form of a cross, and has two chantry chapels. In the interior are effigies of John Pyel, his wife, and a knight. Near the church is a stone cross 13 feet in height, by which the land measurers of the neighbourhood regulate the length of the pole. The church of All Saints has long since been demolished. The parochial charities produce about £37 per annum, of which £27 is the endowment of Trigg's free school. There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans."[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868). Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]