Earls Barton
| Earls Barton | |
|---|---|
 Earls Barton
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| Earls Barton shown within Northamptonshire | |
| Population | 5,387 (2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | SP8563 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Northampton |
| Postcode district | NN6 |
| Dialling code | 01604 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Earls Barton Parish Council |
Earls Barton is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, notable for its Anglo-Saxon church and shoe-making heritage. The village is in the Borough of Wellingborough. At the time of the 2011 census, the population was 5,387. Earls Barton is renowned for its remarkable Anglo-Saxon heritage.
The first Anglo-Saxon settlement at Earls Barton was one of various settlements built on a spring-line on the northern bank of the River Nene. The site is on a spur above the flood plain. Originally (i.e. before 600 AD) the Anglo-Saxon village was known as Bere-tun - which means "a place for growing Barley." Following the Norman invasion, the Domesday Book records the village as being called Buarton(e), with Countess Judith, the King's niece is listed as both the land and mill owner. She married Waltheof, son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria who in 1065 AD became Earl of Northampton - it was from these links and with another Earl - the Earl of Huntingdon, that gave the village its prefix "Erles" from 1261 AD.
In The King's England: Northamptonshire, edited by Arthur Mee, it notes that:
It was here when The Conqueror gave these lands to his niece the Countess Judith, and except for the clock and the battlements it looks today as it looked then... It is called Earls Barton because it was the Earl of Huntingdon's barley farm; his house stood where the church stands and the remains of its moat can be seen.
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Wikipedia