Northborough / Northburgh

"NORTHBOROUGH, (or Northburgh), a parish in the liberty of Peterborough, county Northampton, 2 miles S. of Market Deeping, its post town, and 7 N.W. of Peterborough. The river Welland, which passes at Deeping-St. James, within a mile of the village, is navigable for barges as far as Stamford. The parish, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. It was formerly written Yortkburh by the Saxons, and part of it borders on the Fenny district. The soil is fertile, consisting chiefly of clay intermixed with sand and gravel. The tithes have been commuted for land, and the glebe consists of 20 acres. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough, value £100, in the patronage of the dean and chapter. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient stone structure, with a tower containing two bells. The interior of the church contains tombs of the Claypoles, and other memorials. In it once resided Elizabeth, the favourite daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who married John Claypole, subsequently created a baronet in 1657, and master of the horse and a lord of the bedchamber to the Protector. The parochial charities produce about £25 per annum, realised from lands. The venerable seat of the Claypoles, in the decorated style of domestic architecture, has been converted into a farmhouse." [Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]