Fawsley

Fawsley
VSt. Mary's church, viewed from Fawsley Hall
Fawsley  Fawsley shown within Northamptonshire
OS grid reference	SP5657
District	Daventry
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Daventry
Postcode district	NN11
Dialling code	01327
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Daventry
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Fawsley is a hamlet and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England. The population at the 2001 census was 32.

The Domesday Book (1086) confirms the population of Fawsley as around 50, but the Knightley family of Fawsley Hall developed the sheep farming at the expense of their peasant tenants, who were all evicted by the turn of the 15th century. The hall and the church are all that remain of Fawsley.

Fawsley Hall and Landscape Park was created by the Knightley family. The Knightleys bought the manor of Fawsley in 1416 (and Badby after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539) and lived here for over 500 years.

Interior courtyard of Fawsley Hall

The Elizabethan hall, now a hotel and restaurant, was commissioned by Sir Edmund Knightley and was visited by Elizabeth I in 1575. More rooms, a new north wing and a fine red brick stable block were added in the early 18th century and the south-west corner of the house was rebuilt in the 1870s.

Standing isolated on a grassy knoll and surrounded by a ha-ha, St. Mary's Church contains the Knightley family tombs including effigies of the 16th century Sir Richard Knightley and his wife Jane. Dating to the early 13th century, the church has many fine features such as carved poppy heads and stained glass thought to be from Sulgrave Manor.

See also

• Knightley Baronets

External links

• Map sources for Fawsley