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Far Cotton

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Coordinates:52°13′11″N0°54′13″W/ 52.21961°N 0.90356°W/52.21961; -0.90356
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Not to be confused withFar Coton.

Far Cotton
St. Mary's church, Far Cotton
Far Cotton is located in Northamptonshire
Far Cotton
Far Cotton
Location withinNorthamptonshire
OS grid referenceSP750585
•London67 miles
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNorthampton
Postcode districtNN4 8
Dialling code01604 66-, 70- or 76-
PoliceNorthamptonshire
FireNorthamptonshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Northamptonshire
52°13′11″N0°54′13″W/ 52.21961°N 0.90356°W/52.21961; -0.90356

Far Cottonis a village and neighbourhood ofNorthamptonand formercivil parish,now in the parish ofFar Cotton and Delapre,in theWest Northamptonshiredistrict ofNorthamptonshire,England.

Location

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Far Cotton is due south of the town centre, beyondCotton End- hence the 'Far' - and just south of theRiver Nene.It is roughly rectangular in shape with the river and Northampton branch of theGrand Union Canalforming its northern boundary. The railway line, part of theNorthampton Loop Linejust south ofNorthampton railway stationis on the western edge. TheA5076 ring roadis the southern boundary andDelapré Abbey's park forms the eastern boundary up to theA45 road.

Administration

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From elections on and after 2011, Far Cotton was in the Parish of St Mary and Delapre Ward of theNorthampton Borough Council,and onNorthamptonshire County Council,the Delapre and Rushmere Division. As of 2021, followinglocal government reorganisation,the parish now forms part of the Delapre ward ofWest Northamptonshire Council.[1]

History

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Far Cotton was first recorded in 1196 under the name Cotes. That name derived from the Old English "Cot" meaning a cottage or hut, Cotes being a plural form. Cotton derives from the same word and is also plural and thus meant "cottages" or "huts."[2]Historically Far Cotton was a hamlet in the parish ofHardingstone.It expanded with the arrival of theNorthampton and Peterborough Railway,opened in 1845.[3]The original line, on whichNorthampton Bridge Street railway stationwas situated, was entirely south of the Nene while the medieval town was north of the river.

St Mary's Church was built in Towcester Road in 1885 to the design of Matthew Holding.[4]

There was an iron ore quarry at Far Cotton from 1883 to 1889 run by the Hunsbury Hill Iron Company. The quarry was bounded by Rothersthorpe Road on the north, Towcester Road on the east and the main railway on the west. At the southern end of the quarry it extended across the top of the northern end of the railway tunnel. Much of the site is now built on. The ore was taken by horse-drawn tramway through a bridge under Rothersthorpe Road to the Northampton Blisworth Railway west of the junction with the line linking Bridge Street with the present station (Castle Station.). From there it was taken by rail to the company's ironworks near Duston Mill.[5]

A house in Far Cotton in 1939

Governance

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There are two tiers of local government covering Far Cotton, at parish and unitary authority level: Far Cotton and Delapre Community Council andWest Northamptonshire Council,based in Northampton.

Administrative history

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Far Cotton and neighbouringCotton Endwere both in the ancient parish ofHardingstone.TheNorthampton parliamentary constituencywas extended south of the River Nene in 1868 to include the Cotton End and Far Cotton areas of the parish. In 1871 the parts of the parish within the Northampton constituency were made alocal government districtcalled Hardingstone, despite the village of Hardingstone being in the part of the parish outside the local government district.[6]The Hardingstone district was enlarged in 1874 to take in theecclesiastical parishofSt James,which had been created in 1872 covering the growing western suburbs of Northampton.[7][8]

Local government districts were reconstituted asurban districtsunder theLocal Government Act 1894,which also said that parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. Hardingstone parish was therefore reduced to cover just the part of the parish outside the urban district, whilst the part inside the urban district became a parish called Far Cotton. The confusion of having a Hardingstone Urban District which did not contain Hardingstone itself did not last long; in 1896 the urban district was divided into two urban districts called Far Cotton and St James.[9]The Far Cotton Urban District was short-lived; it was abolished four years later in 1900 and absorbed into thecounty boroughof Northampton. The civil parish of Far Cotton continued to exist until 1932, but as anurban parishit did not have a parish council, always being directly governed by the urban district or borough councils above it.[10]In 1931 the parish had a population of 7268.[11]Far Cotton is in theecclesiastical parishof St Mary.[12][13]

From 1900 onwards Far Cotton was therefore part of Northampton. A newcivil parishcovering the area was created in 2020 under the name "Far Cotton and Delapre", as part of the preparation for the abolition of the borough of Northampton the following year to become part of West Northamptonshire.[14]

More recent developments

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As part of the regeneration of the town, overseen by theWest Northamptonshire Development Corporation,manybrownfield sitesin Far Cotton underwent redevelopment in the first decade of the twenty-first century including the new housing estates of Riverside Wharf, Cotton End and Southbridge. Extensive development was to occur on former disused warehouses east of Far Cotton. Nunn Mills was to be developed to build over 3,000 new houses on a brownfield site. There will also be an improved Marina in and around Becket's Park and Midsummer Meadow.

The main shopping sector of Far Cotton is St Leonard's Road which connects Towcester Road and London Road. There are also shops on Gloucester Avenue. There is a local shop just south of Far Cotton in Mereway and a supermarket in Cotton End on Ransome Road. A supermarket opened in nearby Newport Pagnell Road in 2013 next to a garden centre.

As of 2010, Far Cotton was set to double in population in the next ten years with development of housing, much of this having already taken place in theCotton Endarea.

1998 floods

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In April 1998, many residents of Far Cotton had to leave their homes (albeit temporarily) and seek temporary accommodation elsewhere, after part of Far Cotton, along with another part of Northampton,St. James,suffered flooding, when theRiver Nene broke its banks.Flooding occurred onGood Friday,10 April 1998, a day which became known locally as "the long Good Friday". Since that time river banks have been raised and flood mitigation lakes created west of the town.

Notable residents

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Robert Adams,a sculptor and designer was born in Far Cotton.

Chief InspectorWalter Dew,who was involved in the hunt for bothJack the RipperandDr. Crippen,was born in the village in 1863.

References

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  1. ^"Councillors by Ward".West Northamptonshire Council.Retrieved20 March2023.
  2. ^Mills, A.D. (1991).A Dictionary of English Place-Names.Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 92.ISBN0-19-869156-4.
  3. ^Brosnan, Anna (8 November 2010)."Snapshots from history of Far Cotton".Northampton Chronicle & Echo.Johnston Publishing.Retrieved25 October2013.
  4. ^Pevsner, Nikolaus (1971). Cherry, Bridget (ed.).Northamptonshire.The Buildings of England (Second ed.). London: Penguin. p. 351.ISBN0-14-071022-1.
  5. ^Tonks, Eric (1989).The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands:Part 3 the Northampton Area.Cheltenham: Runpast. pp. 106–108.ISBN1-870754-03-4.
  6. ^"No. 23797".The London Gazette.17 November 1871. p. 4717.
  7. ^"No. 23886".The London Gazette.13 August 1872. p. 3593.
  8. ^"Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 4) Act 1874".legislation.gov.uk.The National Archives.Retrieved7 November2023.
  9. ^Annual Report of the Local Government Board.London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1896. p. 368.Retrieved7 November2023.
  10. ^"St James Urban District".A Vision of Britain through Time.GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.Retrieved7 November2023.
  11. ^"Population statistics Far Cotton PA/CP through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved18 July2023.
  12. ^"Far Cotton PA/CP through time: Relationships and changes".A vision of Britain through time.University of Portsmouth.Retrieved25 October2013.
  13. ^Sessional Papers, Volume 120.H.M. Stationery Office. 1902. p. 13.Retrieved25 October2013.
  14. ^"Council report, 7 September 2021"(PDF).Far Cotton and Delapre Community Council.Retrieved7 November2023.
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