Brockhall, Northamptonshire
Encyclopedia
Brockhall is a civil parish and village
in the Daventry district
of Northamptonshire
in England
. Brockhall, like many estate villages, is a small settlement based around the hall. The village - Brocole in Old English, which means Badgers Hill - was recorded in the Domesday Book
.
Brockhall Hall was originally built by Edward Eyton who later in 1625 sold the house to Thomas Thornton of Newnham who was a lawyer and also the Recorder of Daventry. Mr Thornton supported Oliver Cromwell
and was later pardoned by King Charles II
.
Since the Civil War
, five Thorntons have held the position of High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. The first was John Thornton who assumed the post in 1672; the last was Colonel Thornton who held the position in 1946.
Brockhall's hall and its grounds were used by the American Office of Strategic Studies, an early predecessor of the CIA. Saboteurs were airlifted to Europe from nearby Harrington airfield where the Carpetbagger Museum commemorates their contributions to the war effort.
The Thornton family lived at Brockhall Hall until 1969 when it was sold to Peter Lee after the death of the last male heir. Brockhall Hall is now divided up into a number of residential flats.
A descendant of the original owner, Thomas Reeve Thornton (d. 1862), married Susannah Fremeaux, the heiress of her grandfather James Fremeaux of Kingsthorpe
(d. 1799). Fremeaux was a Huguenot
merchant who had been naturalised as a British citizen in 1752 and had through marriage acquired the Cooke estate at Kingsthorpe in 1762. The Thorntons remained at Brockhall until 1969. In 1978, upon the death of Col. Thomas Anson Thornton, the male line became extinct.
The house is reputed to be haunted by a white lady - this might be an owner's wife who committed suicide in the 1780s.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the Daventry district
Daventry (district)
The Daventry district is the largest local government district of western Northamptonshire, England. The district is named after the town of Daventry which is the administrative headquarters and largest town...
of Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Brockhall, like many estate villages, is a small settlement based around the hall. The village - Brocole in Old English, which means Badgers Hill - was recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
.
Brockhall Hall was originally built by Edward Eyton who later in 1625 sold the house to Thomas Thornton of Newnham who was a lawyer and also the Recorder of Daventry. Mr Thornton supported Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and was later pardoned by King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
.
Since the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, five Thorntons have held the position of High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. The first was John Thornton who assumed the post in 1672; the last was Colonel Thornton who held the position in 1946.
Brockhall's hall and its grounds were used by the American Office of Strategic Studies, an early predecessor of the CIA. Saboteurs were airlifted to Europe from nearby Harrington airfield where the Carpetbagger Museum commemorates their contributions to the war effort.
The Thornton family lived at Brockhall Hall until 1969 when it was sold to Peter Lee after the death of the last male heir. Brockhall Hall is now divided up into a number of residential flats.
A descendant of the original owner, Thomas Reeve Thornton (d. 1862), married Susannah Fremeaux, the heiress of her grandfather James Fremeaux of Kingsthorpe
Kingsthorpe
Kingsthorpe was once a Northamptonshire village but is now an extremely affluent suburb to the north-west of the major town of Northampton, England. The River Nene flows through the area to the west...
(d. 1799). Fremeaux was a Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
merchant who had been naturalised as a British citizen in 1752 and had through marriage acquired the Cooke estate at Kingsthorpe in 1762. The Thorntons remained at Brockhall until 1969. In 1978, upon the death of Col. Thomas Anson Thornton, the male line became extinct.
The house is reputed to be haunted by a white lady - this might be an owner's wife who committed suicide in the 1780s.