The Northamptonshire Village Book

Titchmarsh

The passer-by approaching Titchmarsh, especially from the Oundle-Thrapston road, is soon aware of the village's outstanding feature, the square and pinnacled 15th century tower of the church of St Mary the Virgin, crowning the ridge on which the village stands, between the A604 and the A605 (Huntingdon) road. 

Apart from its spectacular tower, the church has many interesting features, including the ha-ha which marks the churchyard boundary on west and south sides. There is a fine ring of eight bells, used regularly by the local team and visiting ringers from far and wide. 

The domestic architecture of Titchmarsh ranges from 17th and 18th century cottages, some thatched, through to 20th century barn conversions on two sites in the village. 

It is a village with historic connections; John Dryden, the 17th century Poet Laureate, spent his boyhood here, and in 1668 Samuel Pepys came to Titchmarsh to the marriage of his friend John Creed to 'Betty' Pickering, only daughter of Sir Gilbert and Lady Elizabeth Pickering. In the church there are fine memorials to members of the Pickering and Creed families, two painted by Elizabeth Creed, (nee Pickering) at an advanced age. 

As an agricultural. village, Titchmarsh had its heyday in the mid 19th century, when the whole population was engaged either in food production or in the 'service industries' of a self-sufficient community. Now although farming is still very important, many householders are employed outside the village. It remains nevertheless an integrated whole, with several active societies, a village store, two public houses, a thriving village hall, (the 'Club Room' dating from 1862), and the school, first opened in January 1843.

(The above extract from 'The Northamptonshire Village Book', compiled by the Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes, is reproduced by kind permission of the publishers, Countryside Books, Newbury, Berkshire)

A class at Titchmarsh School c.1890