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{{Short description|Village in Northamptonshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{infobox UK place
|official_name = Hellidon
|static_image_name = Hellidon church.jpg
|static_image_caption = St John the Baptist parish church
|coordinates = {{coord|52.2223|-1.2475|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference = SP5158
|population = 256
|population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 Census]])<ref name=ONS>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11124446&c=Hellidon&d=16&e=15&g=6450884&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1383129727755&enc=1 |title=Area: Hellidon (Parish); key figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics |work=[[Neighbourhood Statistics]] |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=30 October 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024232040/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11124446&c=Hellidon&d=16&e=15&g=6450884&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1383129727755&enc=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|unitary_england = [[West Northamptonshire]]
|lieutenancy_england = [[Northamptonshire]]
|region = East Midlands
|country = England
|constituency_westminster = [[Daventry (UK Parliament constituency)|Daventry]]
|post_town = [[Daventry]]
|postcode_district = NN11
|postcode_area = NN   
|dial_code = 01327
|london_distance = 
|website = [http://www.northantscalc.gov.uk/local-council-contacts/hellidon Hellidon (Parish Meeting)]
}}

'''Hellidon''' is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] about {{convert|5|mi|0}} south-west of [[Daventry]] in [[Northamptonshire]], England. The parish area is about {{convert|1600|acre}}.<ref name=RCHME>{{harvnb|RCHME|1981|pp=102–103.}}</ref> It lies {{convert|520|ft}} – {{convert|590|ft}} above sea level on the north face of an [[ironstone]] ridge, its highest point, {{convert|670|ft}} at Windmill Hill, being {{convert|0.5|mi|m}} south-east of the village. The [[River Leam|Leam]] and tributaries rise in the parish. The [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 Census]] gave a population (with Lower and Upper Catesby) of 256,<ref name=ONS/> estimated at 286 in 2019.<ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastmidlands/admin/E07000151__daventry/ City Population. Retrieved 29 January 2021.]</ref> The long-distance [[Jurassic Way]] footpath linking [[Banbury]], [[Oxfordshire]], and [[Stamford, Lincolnshire]], passes through. The origin of the name is unclear. "Holy Valley", "Haegla's Valley" and "Unstable valley" have been suggested, with the [[Old English]] "dun", meaning hill.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Northamptonshire/Hellidon |title=Key to English Place-names}}</ref>

==Manors==
The [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 omits Hellidon.<ref name=RCHME/> In the 12th century a [[Lord of the manor|manor]] of four [[Hide (unit)|hides]] (about 49 ha) at "Eliden" was recorded in the [[Fief|fee]] of [[Berkhamsted]].{{sfn |Adkins |Serjeantson |1906 |p=270}} From the 13th century Hellidon had two manors: Baskervilles and Giffords.<ref name=RCHME/>

The present [[manor house]] at the north-west end occupies the site of the Baskervilles.<ref name=RCHME/> Giffords Manor was on the north-east side – there are substantial rectilinear earthworks where the house is said to have stood.<ref name=RCHME/> It had been abandoned by the time of Hellidon's 18th-century land surveys.<ref name=RCHME/>

==Church and chapel==
===Church of England===
The [[Church of England parish church]] of St [[John the Baptist]] is [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic]]<ref name=Pevsner>{{harvnb |Pevsner |Cherry |1973 |p=252}}</ref> in style, and so from late 13th or early 14th century. The west tower survives in its medieval condition, but in 1845–1847 the [[nave]] and [[chancel]] were [[Victorian restoration|heavily restored]] for the Rev C. S. Holthouse under the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival architect]] [[William Butterfield]].<ref name=Pevsner/> Twenty years later Butterfield designed the north aisle and the parish school, both were built in 1867.<ref name=Pevsner/> In 1897 a north aisle was added to the chancel, designed by Matthew Houlding.<ref name=EH-Church>{{NHLE |num=1075284 |desc=Church of St John the Baptist |date=18 January 1968 |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> There is also a north [[transept]]. St John's is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade II* listed building]].<ref name=EH-Church/>

The west tower has a ring of five bells. Hugh II Watts, who had foundries at [[Bedford]] and [[Leicester]],<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/founders.php |title=Bell Founders |author=Dovemaster |date=31 October 2012 |work=[[Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers]] |publisher=[[Central Council of Church Bell Ringers]] |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> cast the fourth bell in 1615 and the second, third and tenor in 1635.<ref name=Dove>{{Cite web |url= http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Hellidon&numPerPage=10&Submit=Go&searchAmount=%3D&searchMetric=cwt&sortBy=Place&sortDir=Asc&DoveID=HELLIDON |title=Hellidon S John Bapt |last=Dawson |first=George |date=13 January 2012 |work=[[Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers]] |publisher=[[Central Council of Church Bell Ringers]] |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> The [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] cast the treble bell in 1993.<ref name=Dove/>

===Nonconformist===
Hellidon had a [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] chapel in Berry Lane.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} The building is now a private house.

==Economic and social history==
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Hellidon Inclosure Act 1774
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act for dividing and enclosing the Open and Common Fields, Common Pastures, Common Meadows, and other Commonable Lands, of and within the Parish and Liberties of Hellidon, in the County of Northampton.
| year                  = 1774
| citation              = [[14 Geo. 3]]. c. ''108'' {{small|Pr.}}
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 14 June 1774
| commencement          = 13 January 1774{{efn|Start of session.}}
| repeal_date           = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Current
| original_text         = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[File:Former Windmill, Hellidon - geograph.org.uk - 313106.jpg|thumb|Converted [[tower mill]] on Windmill Hill]]
Until the 1770s an [[open field system]] of farming prevailed. There were five such fields, mapped in 1726 as Further Field, Lower Field, Middle Field, Upper Field and Short Attle Field.<ref name=RCHME/> [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] passed an [[inclosure act]], the '''{{visible anchor|Hellidon Inclosure Act 1774}}''' ([[14 Geo. 3]]. c. ''108'' {{small|Pr.}}), for which it was surveyed in 1775.<ref name=RCHME/> There the earlier Middle Field was marked as Hill Field and Short Attle Field simply as Attle Field.<ref name=RCHME/>

On Windmill Hill a [[tower mill]] was built in the late 18th or early 19th century.<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1075291 |desc=The Windmill |date=24 February 1987 |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> By 1973 it was derelict, but it has since been restored<ref name=Pevsner/> as an ancillary building for the Windmill Vineyard planted around it.

A Hellidon [[friendly society]] called the Institute, founded in 1805<ref name=BoydHope89>{{harvnb |Boyd-Hope |Sargent |Newton |2007 |p=89.}}</ref> still existed to mark its centenary in 1905.<ref name=BoydHope89/>

The earliest record of a [[post office]] is from 1847. The first postmaster was John Wells,<ref>{{harvnb |Fell |2000 |p=111}}</ref> who described himself as a shoemaker in the [[United Kingdom Census 1841|1841 Census]], but a shopkeeper in 1849. By 1854 he appeared as "Postmaster and Letter Receiver".

The Grange, designed by William Butterfield and built for Rev. C. S. Holthouse,<ref name=EH-Grange>{{NHLE |num= 1075290 |desc=Church of St John the Baptist |date=24 February 1987 |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> has a small core of an older house that Holthouse bought. The enlargement took place in 1850 and again in 1861.<ref name=EH-Grange/> It is a Grade II* listed building.<ref name=EH-Grange/>

Hellidon's highest recorded population was 449 in 1861.<ref>{{harvnb |Fell |2000 |p=70}}</ref>

In August 1904 a fire in Cox's Lane destroyed three thatched cottages.{{sfn |Boyd-Hope |Sargent |Newton |2007 |p=85}}

===Railways===
The [[Great Central Main Line]] from [[Yorkshire]] to {{rws|London Marylebone}} was built in the 1890s. It passed through the eastern edge of the parish in the {{convert|2997|yd|km|1|adj=on}} [[Catesby Tunnel]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/tunnels/tunnels1.shtm |title=Railway Tunnel Lengths website, page 1 |publisher=www.railwaycodes.org.uk |date=28 January 1929 |access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref> and was completed in 1897. One of the tunnel's five air shafts is in the parish. Goods traffic commenced in 1898 and the nearest passenger station opened in March 1899 at {{rws|Charwelton}}, about {{convert|2|mi|0}} south-east of Hellidon. The station was closed in March 1963 and the line in September 1966.

From 1917 until 1961 the [[Park Gate Iron and Steel Company]] had a quarry about {{convert|0.5|mi|m}} south of the village, on the boundary with [[Charwelton]] parish.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#453,256,1 |title=New Popular Edition Maps |access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref> From there it ran a {{convert|1.5|mi|0|adj=on}} [[industrial railway|mineral railway]] down the Cherwell valley to take [[ironstone]] to the main line at Charwelton station.<ref name=KESR>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kesr.org.uk/stock-register/steam-locomotives/no-14-charwelton |title=No. 14 Charwelton |work=Steam Locomotives |publisher=Kent and East Sussex Railway |access-date=27 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204652/http://www.kesr.org.uk/stock-register/steam-locomotives/no-14-charwelton |archive-date=29 October 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> A steam locomotive called ''Charwelton'' was built for the line in 1917, worked it until 1942, and is now preserved on the [[Rolling stock of the Kent & East Sussex Railway (heritage)#Steam locomotives|Kent and East Sussex Railway]].<ref name=KESR/>

===Notable person===
*[[G. H. Dury|George Harry Dury]] (1916–1996), geographer and hydrologist, was born at Hellidon.

==Amenities==
[[File:Hellidon - geograph.org.uk - 478077.jpg|thumb|The Red Lion public house]]
Hellidon has a [[public house]], the ''Red Lion''. In January 2019 it still had a post office.

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{Cite book |editor1-last=Adkins |editor1-first=W.R.D. |editor1-link=Ryland Adkins |editor2-last=Serjeantson |editor2-first=R.M. |year=1906 |title=A History of the County of Northampton |volume=1 |series=[[Victoria County History]] |location=Westminster |publisher=[[Archibald Constable]] & Co |page=370}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Boyd-Hope |first1=Gary |last2=Sargent |first2=Andrew |last3=Newton |first3=Sydney |year=2007 |title=Railways and Rural Life: S.W.A. Newton and the Great Central Railway |location=Swindon |publisher=[[English Heritage]] and [[Leicestershire County Council]] |isbn=978-185074-959-2 |pages=85–89}}
*{{Cite book |last=Fell |first=Jenifer |year=2000 |title=Three Ells in Hellidon |publisher=self-published |isbn=0951565311 }}
*{{Cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |orig-year=1961 |year=1973 |title=Northamptonshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |edition=2nd |location=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-071022-1 |page=252}}
*{{Cite book |editor=RCHME |year=1981 |chapter=Hellidon |title=An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire |volume=3 – Archaeological sites in North-West Northamptonshire |location=London |publisher=[[Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England]] |pages=102–103 |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=126463}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hellidon|position=left}}
*{{oscoor gbx|SP515581}}

{{Daventry District}}

{{authority control}}

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