Weston Favell

Weston Favell
Weston Favell  Weston Favell shown within Northamptonshire
District	Northampton
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NORTHAMPTON
Postcode district	NN3
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Northampton
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

Weston Favell is a former village in the English town of Northampton, Northamptonshire.

Location

Since the Industrial Revolution and 20th Century, the town of Northampton has grown closer and closer to the village boundaries, such that it is an outer district of Northampton, near to several other suburban areas. The village itself has also grown, and now includes, at its edges, several newer developments including Park Way, Graspin Lane, Pyket Way, Edgemont Road and Thorburn Road (often referred to locally as 'Beverley Hills'). Still, the village centre retain a distinct feel, and are clearly marked by the old boundary posts. Its most famous former resident was the late Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

Inside the Village

Although Weston Favell's main street (the High Street) was populated by various shops in former years, it is now reduced to a single one. The Weston Favell General Stores lost its Post Office as part of the national scheme of closures in early 2008, despite protest by local residents. Other local amenities include two public houses (the Bold Dragoon and the Trumpet), and a primary school. The school recently moved into new, larger premises, outside the village boundary. The new school was designed by the local architect Maurice Walton, whose work also includes the Northampton Guildhall extension.

The parish church (St. Peter's, Weston Favell) lies at the centre of the village, at the intersection of the High Street and Church Way. Late 2007 saw the installation of the new Rector, the Reverend David Kirby. The oldest part of the Church's graveyard, upon which the tombstones have now all but crumbled away, is known at St Peter's Patch and is used by villagers as a free space for games, picnics and summer fetes.

The nearest large park is Abington Park, which is accessed via the notably long and straight Weston Way, leading from the outskirts of the village to the stone gates to the town of Northampton, and the Abington Estate. Weston Favell is also the home of the Northamptonshire County Lawn Tennis Club, the Weston Favell Garden Society and the 11th Division of the Northamptonshire Scouts.

History

Known formerly as Westone (xi cent.) and then Weston Fauvelle (xiii cent.), Weston Favell, although likely much older, can trace itself with evidentiary certainly as far back as the Domesday Book of 1086, when there is evidence of the overlordship of Weston Favell being awarded to the Count of Mortain. It subsequently passed through the families of Mundeville and d'Avranches into the possession of the Crevecoeurs, under whom the lord of the manor was then John Fauvelle, hence the name.

The church building as it presently stands can be dated to a similar period. Indeed, the tower is of the late 12th century, of Transitional Norman character, and the chancel belongs mainly to the first half of the 13th century, being a rebuilding at that time of a 12th-century chancel, the priest's doorway of which was retained. This doorway is earlier than the tower and indicates the existence of a mid-12th-century building.

Extended Weston Favell

Some institutions in the suburbs at the edge of Northampton have adopted the name 'Weston Favell' despite in fact being many miles from the village boundaries, these include a secondary school called Weston Favell School. Further to this is the Weston Favell Shopping Centre, a large facility, built during the early 1970s and opening in 1974.