Irthlingborough
Irthlingborough is a town on the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England. As of 2021, it has a population of 9,325, and was at one point the smallest town in England to have had a Football League team, Rushden & Diamonds F.C. The parish church, St Peter, has a lantern tower, unusual for Northamptonshire churches, which was built to guide travellers across the Nene valley in foggy weather. It also has doors at the four cardinal points and has eight misericords in the chancel.
Irthlingborough railway station, opened in 1845 and closed to passengers in 1964.
History
The town's name origin is uncertain. 'Ploughmen's fortification', with the suggestion that oxen were once kept here. Perhaps, 'fortification of Yrtla's people'. Alternatively, the first element may be an Old English 'yrthling', a type of bird such as a wren, wagtail, or lapwing. Bird names are frequently used to form compounds with Old English 'burh'.Irthlingborough was called Yrtlingaburg in the 8th century, Erdiburn in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Artleborough later. King Offa of Mercia held court near Irthlingborough circa 790.
John Pyel, the mayor of London in 1372, is believed to have been born at Irthlingborough circa 1310.
In 1913, a feature film showing the Battle of Waterloo was made in Irthlingborough, using hundreds of local people as extras. The town was chosen as the Duke of Wellington had once observed that the local countryside resembled the Waterloo battlefield.
Irthlingborough Viaduct carries the A6 across the River Nene. Opened in 1939, the concrete viaduct is 31 span concrete viaduct over the river was opened on 23 October 1936 by Leslie Hore-Belisha, Minister of Transport. 75% of the £55,750 costs were paid for by Ministry of Transport. It formed a southern extension of Irthlingborough Bypass which opened 1932. The location was featured in promotional images for English rock band NUMB’s self-titled album in 2017, as well as images for three songs from A Transmission of Hope by English rock musician Tyler Quantrill.
Next to the A6 is Irthlingborough Bridge, a 14th century arched bridge over the River Nene. One of the five cutwaters bears the date 1668. The bridge was widened in 1754 and repaired in 1922. It is listed on the National Heritage List for England.
Mining
In the past, ironstone was mined near Irthlingborough, and as part of the local ironstone mine, a tunnel was bored between Irthlingborough and nearby Finedon. The tunnel still exists, but the Irthlingborough end has been landscaped over, and the Finedon end sealed with concrete.Iron ore was mined at Irthlingborough from 1918. The mine was owned and operated by Richard Thomas & Baldwin's Ltd., the ore being sent to RTB's Redbourne steelworks in Scunthorpe. The ore was extracted from a system of underground tunnels approximately 80–100 ft below the surface. The mine was closed down as no longer economic on 30 September 1965.
Quarrying
More recently, the River Nene floodplains between the town and its neighbour, Higham Ferrers, have been quarried for gravel. Quarrying in the area was extensive, stretching to Northampton in the west and Thorpe Waterville in the north-northeast. The quarries were later left to fill with water to produce artificial lakes.In 2012, the area was acquired by The Wildlife Trust, and has since been turned into Irthlingborough Lakes and Meadows, a nature reserve. It will be part of the Upper Nene Valley Special Protection Area.