England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Newton in the Willows St Faith

The Parish

The parish of Newton in the Willows, hereafter simply Newton, lies in northern Northamptonshire roughly 4 miles north of the town of Kettering, Newton sits just under a mile west of the A43 road which links Kettering with Stamford in Lincolnshire. Newton is a tiny place of just a few farms and cottages sitting on the northern banks of the River Ise, it sits barely a half mile west of Geddington and the two are effectively a single unit. Newton does have one claim to fame, or perhaps notoriety, as, on an island in the middle of the Ise, it is alleged the Gunpowder Plot was hatched in a summer-house, now demolished, of one of the perpetrators. Otherwise Newton was a typical small farming parish, some variety was produced in the economy as the local limestone was quarried but most were engaged in a mixture of pastoral and arable methods. Newton is drained initially eastwards by the Ise before it turns southwards, passing Kettering to meet the Nene at Wellingborough and resume an easterly course, the Nene heads through Peterborough, crosses Fenland and reaches the North Sea through The Wash.Newton is suted at around 80 metres above the sea in its valley setting, away from the Ise heights of closer to 110 metres are regularly found in gently rolling terrain. Newton parish was a small parish of just under 1,200 acres which would have supported barely 100 parishioners. Domesday Newton was shared between Countess Judith and one Gunfrid de Chocques and offered 6 ploughs backed by typical meadows and woodland and there was a mill plus a half share in a second, a typical small rural manor.

The Church

The former church of St Faith, it has been deconsecrated after being declared redundant and was used as a field centre until that closed in 2018 leaving the church disused, sits southeast of the small village (in the willows as per the parish's name). The church is accessed by a lengthy dead-end lane and stands close to the Ise. This is a church which was much renewed in Victorian times, the main original medieval fabric being the Perpendicular western tower from the 15th century, the tower comes complete with a recessed broach spire. The nave is earlier in its origin and from the early 14th century, traces of its Decorated styling remain despite the heavy Victorian touch. The restoration of 1858, however, totally rebuilt the chancel removing all medieval traces from that element. From the farm that marks the start of the surfaced track a white sign points the way to "Newton Field Centre", the track crosses fields and ends in a small parking area, the former churchyard has large trees at each corner which do somewhat interfere with the photographers angles but they are easily avoided.