King's Sutton

Coordinates: 52°01′23″N 1°16′34″W / 52.023°N 1.276°W / 52.023; -1.276

King's Sutton
King's Sutton  King's Sutton shown within Northamptonshire
OS grid reference	SP4936
Parish	King's Sutton
District	South Northamptonshire
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Banbury
Postcode district	OX17
Dialling code	01295
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Daventry
Website	King's Sutton online
List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire

King's Sutton is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England in the valley of the River Cherwell. The village is about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of the Oxfordshire town of Banbury. The parish includes the hamlets of Astrop contiguous with eastern end of King's Sutton and Upper Astrop about 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of the village.

History

Blacklands, in the parish 0.5 miles (800 m) north of the village, is the site of a Roman town.^[1][2] Coins from the 4th century AD have been recovered from the site.^[3]

The infant Saint Rumwold (or Rumwald, Rumbold or Rumbald) is said to have lived and died at King's Sutton in AD 662. Rumwold is said to have for only three days but professed his faith continuously during his life.

The font^[3] and much of the chancel of the Church of England parish church of Saints Peter and Paul are Norman.^[4] The north aisle was added in the 13th century and the south aisle early in the 14th century.^[3] The bell tower and most of the windows are Decorated Gothic.^[4] The spire was added to the tower probably late in the 14th century, raising the steeple to a height of 198 feet (60 m).^[4] The architectural historians Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and Bridget Cherry considered "one of the finest, if not the finest, spire in this county of spires".^[4] The south porch, north aisle west window and very fine east window of the chancel are Perpendicular Gothic.^[4] Ss. Peter & Paul parish is now part of a single Church of England benefice with the parish of Newbottle and Charlton.^[5]

The Court House was built in about 1500, partly of stone and partly of timber-framed construction.^[3] It was altered in the 16th and 18th centuries.^[3] The manor house was built in the middle of the 17th century.^[3]

The Oxford and Rugby Railway between Oxford and Banbury was built between 1845 and 1850, passing through the west of King's Sutton parish between the village and the River Cherwell. The Great Western Railway had taken the line over by the time it opened, and in 1872 the GWR opened King's Sutton railway station for the village.^[6] Chiltern Railways trains to London, Birmingham and Oxford now serve the station.

King's Sutton Heritage Trust Fund has been formed with a Mission Statement which reads: To promote, protect and enhance the history, facilities, structures, and amenities of the village of King's Sutton and the surrounding area for the benefit of its inhabitants.^[7]

Olga Kevelos (died 28 October 2009) lived in Kings Sutton. Miss Kevelos worked at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich^[8] until 1943, when she became one of hundreds of women volunteers who worked narrowboats on Britain's inland waterways until the end of the Second World War. She then became a competition motorcyclist who rode in trials, scrambles and races^[9] and in 1949 and 1953 won gold medals riding in the ISDT.^[10] In the 1960's she was landlady of The Three Tuns in Kings Sutton.^[11] In 1978 she was a contestant on BBC Television's Mastermind.^[8]

Amenities

Kings Sutton has a Primary School in Richmond Street.^[12] It recently^[when?] celebrated its centenary. Previously the school was in Astrop Road. Its former premises are now a private house.

King's Sutton has three public houses:

• The Butchers Arms (Hook Norton Brewery)
• The Three Tuns
• The White Horse

The village has a lawn tennis club.^[13]

The village holds an annual classical music festival during the summer that draws performers from around the World.^{[citation needed]} It also holds an annual Literary Festival,^[14] usually in March. The annual village party, open to all villagers, is held in the grounds of a large private house near the railway station.

Sources

• Compton, Hugh J. (1976). The Oxford Canal. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 117. ISBN 0 7153 7238 6. 
• Deegan, Alison; Foard, Glenn (2008). Mapping Ancient Landscapes in Northamptonshire. English Heritage. pp. 118-119. ISBN 9781905624423. 
• Grogarty, Paul (31 May 2003). "England: Adapting to life in the slow lane". Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/riversandcanals/727566/England-Adapting-to-life-in-the-slow-lane.html. Retrieved 10 November 2009. 
• Lambert, Angela (6 July 1992). "The truth about the 'Idle Women' of the canals". The Independent on Sunday. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-truth-about-the-idle-women-of-the-canals-some-extraordinary-wartime-volunteers-are-together-again-after-45-years-angela-lambert-joins-them-1531552.html. Retrieved 8 November 2009. 
• "Wartime boatwoman, Olga Kevelos has died". Northampton Chronicle & Echo. 7 November 2009. http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Wartime-boatwoman-Olga-Kevelos-has.5803894.jp. Retrieved 8 November 2009. 
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1973). The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 278-279. 
• TP-Jamieson, Susan. "History of Fast Women". The Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article1139445.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2. Retrieved 8 November 2009. 

References