Irchester

History

Chester Farm is one mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Irchester, with the A45 road to its south and the River Nene to the north. It "represents a unique piece of historic landscape of high importance... preserving in a small area a wide range of historic features spanning several thousand years." It is a scheduled monument protected by law. Mesolithic flints have been found, with signs of later prehistoric settlement and a "nationally important" walled Roman town. The Chester House Estate is also the location of the Fourteen Arches Viaduct. The 107m long viaduct runs over the River Nene, taking the Leicester to St Pancras mainline across the river between Irchester and Wellingborough. Contractor Thomas Brassy oversaw construction and the west viaduct opened in 1857. The east viaduct was later opened in the late 1870’s, when the line quadrupled, and has a steel girder section across the river. The location was used for the album art and music videos for A Transmission of Hope (2024) by English rock musician Tyler Quantrill. The Roman name of the settlement has been lost, but there is evidence of buildings, a cemetery, occupation outside the town walls and a causeway across the Nene floodplain. A road running north–south through the site and three oblong buildings to the west of the road have been identified. As only one Roman road has been found leading south, it is thought highly likely that the river served as a means of communication with other Roman settlements at Duston to the south-west and Thrapston to the north-east. Next to the Roman town are remains of a medieval hamlet, Chester by the Water, which may have arisen in Anglo-Saxon times. The later Chester House and Farm had gardens and parkland. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ironstone…

Geography

Irchester lies to the south-east of Wellingborough and to the south-west of Rushden, in the east of the county of Northamptonshire. It is north-east of the county town of Northampton and a beeline north-west of central London. The border of the parish is formed by the River Nene in the north and west; adjacent parishes are Wellingborough (north-west), Great Doddington (south-west), Wollaston (south), Podington in Bedfordshire (south-east), and Rushden (east). The height above sea level ranges from 40 metres (131 feet) in the river valley to 91 metres (298 feet) south of Irchester village.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,596
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,991
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,838
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,632
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,577
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,488
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,923
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,776

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2022-02-21
  5 km N of Hockley, United Kingdom
• M 3.1 — 2020-09-22
  5 km N of Aylesbury, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2020-09-08
  2 km WSW of Pitstone, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2015-09-22
  2 km W of Cottesmore, United Kingdom
• M 3.8 — 2015-01-28
  2 km WSW of Market Overton, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom