Helmdon

"HELMDON, a parish in the hundred of King's Sutton, county Northampton, 5½ miles N. of Brackley, its post town, and 7 S.W. of Towcester. It is an extensive village, situated on the river Tove. The parish is within the duchy of Lancaster, for which a court-leet is held here by the crown. There are some excellent stone quarries, at one time worked to a considerable extent, but now only used occasionally. A large portion of the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of lace. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment under an Enclosure Act in 1758. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £267, in the patronage of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, is a stone edifice with a pinnacled and embattled tower containing six bells. In the chancel are sedilia and a piscina. The charities produce £1 per annum, the bequest of Mrs. Jane Leeson, which is distributed to the poor in money at Christmas. There is a National school, also a place of worship for the Baptists. In the churchyard is a yew tree of great size, its trunk measuring 21 feet in diameter. The Provost and Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford, are lords of the manor."[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868). Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]