Editing Braunston

{{Short description|Village in Northamptonshire, England}}
{{about|the village in Northamptonshire|the village in Rutland|Braunston-in-Rutland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | official_name            = Braunston
 | static_image_name        = Church and Manor.JPG
 | static_image_caption     = All Saints' Church and Braunston Manor
 | coordinates              = {{coord|52.292|-1.209|display=inline,title}}
 | population               = 1,759
 | population_ref           = ([[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 Census]])
 | os_grid_reference        = SP5366
 | civil_parish             = Braunston
 | unitary_england          = [[West Northamptonshire]]
 | lieutenancy_england      = [[Northamptonshire]]
 | region                   = East Midlands
 | country                  = England
 | post_town                = DAVENTRY
 | postcode_area            = NN
 | postcode_district        = NN11
 | dial_code                = 01788
 | constituency_westminster = [[Daventry (UK Parliament constituency)|Daventry]]
}}

'''Braunston''' is a village and [[civil parish]] in the [[West Northamptonshire]] unitary authority area of [[Northamptonshire]], England,<ref>{{cite web |title=List of settlements |url=https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/neighbourhood-planning/list-settlements |publisher=[[West Northamptonshire Council]] |access-date=8 March 2025}}</ref> next to the border with [[Warwickshire]]. At the [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 Census]], the parish had a population of 1,759.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/braunston-e05005947#sthash.drnU7PqX.dpbs|title = Braunston - UK Census Data 2011}}</ref> Braunston is situated just off the [[A45 road|A45]] main road and lies between the towns of [[Daventry]] and [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]]. Braunston is a hilltop village, most famous for its [[canal]] junction between the [[Oxford Canal]] and the [[Grand Union Canal]], and associated [[marina]].

==Description==
The villages name means 'Brant's farm/settlement'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Northamptonshire/Braunston|title = Key to English Place-names}}</ref>
[[Image:Braunston windmill 26g07.JPG|thumb|The former windmill in Braunston]]
The main village of Braunston is situated on a hill above the road and the canals, and formerly had a [[windmill]], the building of which still stands but without any sails. The village contains several [[pub]]s (''The Boathouse'', ''The Admiral Nelson'', ''The Plough'', and ''The Wheatsheaf''), a selection of shops - excellent butchers, hairdressers and village stores incorporating the post office, a fish and chip shop, car servicing garage and a primary school. The Braunston Manor Hotel has now closed with the main house reverting to residential use and the outhouse buildings redeveloped for a housing development. In 1374, the manor itself was the subject of one of a number of property disputes involving the landowning [[Roger Corbet (died 1395)#Background|Corbet family]].

Braunston's main claims to fame are its [[canal]] and church.

==Church==
All Saints' Church Braunston has overlooked the village and the villagers for over 10 centuries and the canals and the boat people for over 300 years.

Otherwise known as the "Cathedral of the Canals", it has existed since the early 13th century. However, the land on which is stands has been sacred for longer still, as it was used as an ancient [[tumulus]] for the local farmsteads as early as the 10th century, although little evidence to this time is available.
[[File:Braunston-All Saints Church - geograph.org.uk - 842683.jpg|thumb|left|All Saints Church]] 
Although the original [[Norman architecture|Norman]] structure was nearly demolished when the site was polluted by several murders in 1290, the church was later rebuilt in the 14th century. The second incarnation of the church served the area for over 400 years, until the site was demolished, with authority from Rev. Alfred Butler Clough in 1848, due to dilapidation of the structure.<ref name=auto1>{{cite web |url=http://www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk/history/all-saints-church.htm |website=www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk |title=All Saints Church|accessdate=2023-05-08}}</ref>

The third incarnation of the church cost £6,800, money raised primarily through donations and aided by grants from the [[Church Building Society]] and the [[Peterborough Diocesan Society]]. Notable contributors to the funds also include Her Majesty the [[Queen Dowager]] and the [[Oxford Canal Company]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk/history/all-saints-church-braunston/nineteenth-century/cathedral-of-the-canals.htm |website=www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk |title=Cathedral of the Canals |accessdate=2023-05-08}}</ref>

In outline the new church was similar to its mediaeval predecessor in having no north [[chancel]]. The body of the church was made wider to provide accommodation for the enlarged population which had followed the coming of the canals. The new church had the number of seats increased from 363 to 732. Despite the overwhelming impression of space and light the interior design of the church was rather austere.
The biggest change made was in the appearance of the chancel itself which was transformed by redecoration. This was the work of the leading High Church designer, [[William Butterfield]], architect of [[Rugby School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk/history/all-saints-church-braunston/nineteenth-century/art-and-beauty.htm |website=www.allsaintsbraunston.org.uk |title=Arts and beauty |accessdate=2023-05-08}}</ref>

Today the church still provides regular services to the area, and often allows visitors to tour the ancient grounds, on non-service days.
Several relics have been kept by the church since its original incarnation, such as:

*A sculpture, almost certainly in memory of William, Fourth Baron Ros, who died on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1352. The De Ros family held the Braunston Manor from 1200 to 1508.
*The Church Chest, which once housed the Parish Records dating from 1538 and now deposited in the County Records Office in [[Northampton]].
*The Norman Font, the only remaining part of the first church on the site.
*The Piscina, a stone basin used for draining water used in the Mass pre-Reformation.
*The Head of the Churchyard Cross, possibly fourteenth century which has on the four sides the remains of carvings of the Crucifixion, the Madonna and Child, a robed ecclesiastic and a warrior.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Canals==
[[Image:Braunston Marina.jpg|thumb|The marina at Braunston]]
The canal alongside Braunston is a junction between the [[Oxford Canal]] and the [[Grand Union Canal]], which was once an important part of the national transport system. Many former boating families have links to Braunston, the churchyard in the village having many graves of boatmen and women.

The village thrived for over 150 years on the canal trade<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.braunston.org.uk/|title=Braunston Village|website=Braunston Village}}</ref> - carrying goods from the Midlands to London. Now it is a centre for leisure activities and boasts by far and away the busiest stretch of canal anywhere in the country.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

The unique triangular junction between the two canals has two bridges made at [[Horseley Ironworks]] carrying the towpath over the canal. This was not the original meeting point of the [[Grand Junction Canal|Grand Junction]] and [[Oxford Canal|Oxford]] Canals: the junction was moved in the course of improvements to the [[Oxford Canal]] in the 1830s, prior to which the junction was near where the [[marina]] is today, and where a third Horseley Ironworks bridge can be seen.

The canals are no longer used for carrying freight, but are now used mostly by pleasure boats. Braunston has a [[marina]] filled with these pleasure boats and is usually quite busy.

From the marina, six [[canal lock|locks]] carry the [[Grand Union Canal]] up to [[Braunston Tunnel]], some {{convert|2,049|yd|m}} long.

==Railways==
Despite its small size, Braunston was once served by two [[railway station]]s, both now closed. The first, [[Braunston London Road railway station|Braunston London Road]] was on the former [[LNWR]] [[Weedon to Marton Junction Line|Weedon to Leamington Spa]] branch line, via Daventry, was located near the marina and closed in September 1958. A couple of miles north-west of Braunston was [[Braunston and Willoughby railway station|Braunston and Willoughby station]] on the former [[Great Central Main Line]], which served Braunston and the village of [[Willoughby, Warwickshire|Willoughby]], which it was closer to. This was the last main line to be constructed from the north of England to [[London]] and opened in March 1899. Braunston and Willoughby station closed in April 1957 and the line itself in September 1966. To the south of the station was the 13-arch Willoughby viaduct crossing the [[River Leam]]: the viaduct was demolished about 1980.

==Braunston Primary School==
Braunston C.E. Primary School is located in the middle of the village.
It is a one form entry school. It has one class for each age group from Reception to Year 6, with the capacity for 30 children in each class. The curriculum is divided up into stages according to age: Foundation Stage – The Reception Class, Key Stage 1 - Years 1 and 2, Key Stage 2 - Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.<ref>[http://www.braunstonprimary.com/ Braunston Primary School]</ref>

==Nearby settlements==
Nearby is the small [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of Little Braunston. Also close to the village are the three lost settlements of [[Braunston Cleves or Fawcliff]], [[Braunstonbury]] and [[Wolfhampcote]].<ref>An Inventory of Archaeological Sites in North West Northamptonshire, Page 22, Fig 27. {{ISBN|0-11-700900-8}}</ref>

==Twin village==
The village is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with [[Quincy-Voisins]] in France.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*''At the Heart of the Waterways: The story of the canals in the village of Braunston, Northamptonshire'', by David Blagrove, third edition, Buchebroc Press, 2003, {{ISBN|1-871918-05-7}}.
*''Images of Old Braunston'', Braunston History Society, Beaublade Limited, 2006.
*''Braunston Yesterday and Today'', Braunston History Society, 2010.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Braunston}}
*[http://www.braunston.net/ Village website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090821090058/http://vision.edina.ac.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=7620&st=braunston Gazetteer entry from 1870&ndash;72]

{{Daventry District}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Northamptonshire]]
[[Category:West Northamptonshire District]]