Daventry

Daventry is overlooked by the 653 ft-high (199 m) Borough Hill on the eastern edge of the town. The hill has been the site of human activity dating back into prehistory: remains have been found of two Bronze Age barrows, two Iron Age hill forts – one of which is the fourth largest found in Britain, and a later Roman villa and farming settlement.[15][16]

According to local folklore Daventry had Danish (Viking) origins, this was partly due to the old pronunciation of Daventry as Daintry, which was interpreted as "Dane Tree", however in more modern interpretation the town's name is thought likelier to be Anglo-Saxon in origin: "Dafa's tree" (Dafa being a founding father or paterfamila) and there was very likely a meeting tree, possibly on Borough Hill. Thus the name may have been formed on lines similar to Coventry ("Cofa's tree", i.e. "tree of Cofa").[17] Another theory which was popular in the 19th century, was that of Thomas Pennant, the Welsh naturalist and antiquarian, who acknowledged the town's 'considerable antiquity' and speculated that the name was Brythonic, dwy-avon-tre (town of two rivers), a derivation seemingly supported by the town's topography, situated as it is between the sources of the River Leam, which flows west, and the River Nene which flows east.[18][19] This theory however is now discredited.[17]

Daventry was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Daventrei.[20] It was recorded as belonging to Countess Judith, niece of William the Conqueror.[21]

In around 1108, Daventry Priory a small Cluniac priory was founded at Daventry, alongside the parish church.[21] The priory was closed in 1526 by Cardinal Wolsey who granted its assets to Christ Church, Oxford.[22]

In 1203 a market was first recorded at Daventry. The market benefited from Daventry's location upon the main road (now the A45 road) linking the important city of Coventry with Watling Street (now the A5 road) which was the main route from the Midlands to London, which brought in much passing trade.[21]

In 1576 Daventry grammar school was founded by William Parker, a woollen draper and native of the town. The original schoolhouse on New Street, dating from around 1600 still stands, although it is now a private house. That same year Queen Elizabeth I granted Daventry borough status.[23]

The town was mentioned by William Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part I (Act IV, Sc II), which refers to "the red-nosed innkeeper of Daventry". Shakespeare would have known Daventry due to its relatively close proximity to Stratford-upon-Avon, and its position on the main route from the Midlands to London.[24]

During the English Civil War, the army of King Charles I stayed at Daventry in 1645 after storming the Parliamentary garrison at Leicester and on its way to relieve the siege of Oxford. The King stayed at the Wheatsheaf Inn, whilst his Royalist army camped on Borough Hill.[25]

According to local legend, it was during his stay at the Wheatsheaf Inn in Daventry that Charles was twice visited by the ghost of his former adviser and friend, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who advised him to keep heading north and warned him that he would not win through force of arms.[26]

However, Parliament's newly formed New Model Army, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, was marching north from besieging Oxford after being instructed to engage the king's main army. Fairfax's leading detachments of horse clashed with Royalist outposts near Daventry on 12 June, alerting the king to the presence of the Parliamentary army. The Royalists made for their reinforcements at Newark-on-Trent but after reaching Market Harborough turned to fight, which resulted in the decisive Battle of Naseby, in which the Royalist army was heavily defeated by the Parliamentarians. The village of Naseby is approximately 14 mi (23 km) northeast of Daventry.

English Dissenters founded a Dissenting chapel in the town around 1722 in buildings opposite The Wheatsheaf on the southern end of Sheaf Street. Later in 1752 a Dissenting Academy was moved from Northampton to this site. The chemist and theologian Joseph Priestley studied there from 1752 to 1755. In 1789, the Academy moved back to Northampton.[27]

The Dun Cow, an old coaching inn, a grade II listed building

Daniel Defoe described Daventry as a "considerable market town which subsists chiefly on the great concourse of travellers on the old Watling Street way."[28]

During the Georgian era of the 18th and early 19th century, a national system of turnpike roads with improved road surfaces developed, this in turn allowed the development of a national system of mail coaches and long distance passenger stagecoaches. Daventry, being located on the main roads linking London with the West Midlands, Holyhead and Lancashire, flourished as a coaching town. There were many coaching inns in the town including the Wheatsheaf the Saracen's Head the Plough and Bell the Dun Cow and the Brown Bear.[29]

At the zenith of the coaching era in the 1830s, Daventry had become a major hub of the national network, with more than 250 coaches passing through the town every week, including services between London, Warwick, Birmingham, Liverpool and Holyhead, and Birmingham and Cambridge.[29]

Reflecting Daventry's prosperity, many of the town's finest building were constructed during this period, including, most notably, the Holy Cross Church of 1758.[28]

Map of Daventry from 1946

The Industrial Revolution largely passed Daventry by, owing to its failure to become linked to the newer transport networks: The Grand Junction Canal (now Grand Union) had opened in 1796, and passed a few miles north of Daventry. An arm from the canal to Daventry was proposed, and was included in the Act of Parliament authorising it, however this was never built.[30]

The opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838 signalled the beginning of the railway age; almost immediately the coaching trade slumped and Daventry entered a long period of stagnation and decline which lasted for over a century: In 1841 Daventry had a population of 4,565, from thereon it went into steady decline until 1911, when it bottomed out at 3,516, and then slowly recovered, reaching 4,077 in 1951, but did not recover to the 1841 level until later in the 1950s.[31][32]

The London and Birmingham Railway passed a few miles to the east of the town through the Watford Gap. A branch line to Daventry was included in the original Act of Parliament, however, despite several earlier attempts, the line was not built until 1888, when a short branch was built from Weedon to Daventry railway station. In 1895 the line was extended to Leamington Spa. However being only a branch line this did little to revive the town's economy.[31] The only significant industry to develop in the town during this time was shoemaking, which at its height in the 1870s employed around 700 workers.[31]

The former transmitter station on Borough Hill, around 1990

In 1925, the newly created BBC constructed a radio transmitting station on Borough Hill[33] just outside the town. Daventry was chosen because it was the point of maximum contact with the land mass of England and Wales. From 1932 the BBC Empire Service (now the BBC World Service) was broadcast from there. The radio announcement of "Daventry calling" made Daventry well known across the world. It was the BBC's use of the literal pronunciation in this call-sign that resulted in the widespread displacement of the historical pronunciation "Daintree" (ˈdeɪntri). The transmitting station contributed to the town's population revival, as a number of BBC staff and their families moved into the area.[34]

At its height by 1990 the station had 43 radio masts, however the station closed in 1992 and all but one of the radio masts was taken down, with most of the land being sold to Daventry District Council who opened it up to the public as a country park. A commercial unit of the BBC remained based locally for a few years after.[34] A busy directional radio beacon (VOR), identifier "DTY", for aircraft is situated approximately four mi (six km) south of the town. The town also gives its name to the busy Daventry air traffic control sector.

On the early morning of Tuesday 26 February 1935 the radio transmitter at Daventry was used for what became known as the "Daventry Experiment" which involved the first-ever practical demonstration of radar, by its inventor Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Frederic Wilkins. They used a radio receiver installed in a van at Litchborough (just off the A5 about six mi (ten km) south of Daventry) to receive signals bounced off a metal-clad Handley Page Heyford bomber flying across the radio transmissions. The interference picked up from the aircraft allowed its approximate navigational position to be estimated, and therefore proved that it was possible to detect the position of aircraft using radio waves. The success of the experiment persuaded the British government to fund the development of a network of full scale radar stations on the south coast of England, known as Chain Home, which provided a decisive advantage to the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940.[35][36]

Birth of Radar memorial

75 years to the day of the original launch, on 26 February 2010, teams from the Coventry Amateur Radio Society & The Northampton Radio Club re-enacted the 'Daventry Experiment'. Signals from GB75RDF at Borough Hill, reflected from aircraft (all of which were flown by radio hams), were detected in a receiving set housed in a replica Morris van. The receiving station set up in the field that is the home to The Birth of RADAR memorial at Litchborough. The team was led by Brian Leathley, known as Andrew G8GMU.[37]

Borough Hill was also the site of the Gee Eastern chain master transmitter mast: this was part of a radio navigation system used by the Allies during World War II.[38] Borough Hill Roman villa is also located here.

The modern growth of Daventry occurred from the mid-1950s onwards. Real growth started in 1955 when the tapered roller bearing manufacturer British Timken opened a large factory in the town (the factory closed in 1993 although the distribution Centre stayed open until 2000).[39]

The town's fortunes were also boosted when the first phase of the M1 motorway was opened nearby, giving the town a direct motorway link with London, with the expansion of the motorway network connecting it to the north of England within a decade.

Despite the growth of the town, Daventry railway station was closed to passengers in 1958, with the line closing to freight in 1963.[34]

In 1961, Daventry was designated as an 'overspill' to house people and industry relocated from Birmingham, as government policy of the time favoured moving population and industry away from Birmingham. Although Daventry was not formally designated as a New Town, its expansion bore many similarities to such developments: A planned expansion of the town was carried out as part of a three-way agreement between Birmingham City Council, Daventry Borough Council, and Northamptonshire County Council: Birmingham's role was to buy land, and build houses and industrial estates, Northamptonshire provided roads, schools and libraries, whilst Daventry provided drainage and sewage disposal.[40]

Construction of houses in Daventry in 1967

Work on the official expansion of Daventry began in the second half of the 1960s, when Birmingham City Council purchased nearly 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land to be developed for housing and industrial use.[40] The first phase of this expansion was constructed on the south-east slopes of Borough Hill and was named the Southbrook Estate. It was designed and laid out by the architect J A Maudsley[41] for City of Birmingham Architects Department. This began in 1966.[41] and is designed with short terraces of dwellings grouped around a series of cul-de-sacs[41] grouped around a large looped access road around the edge of the hill. There is a central focal point which has schools for children from early years to senior level. There are several service shops and originally there was an estate public house but that was demolished in the mid 1990s. There is also a community centre.

The plan got off to a good start, and by 1972 more than 1,000 new families had moved to Daventry, along with many new industries. However by the mid-1970s growth had slowed sharply, due to a combination of the faltering national economy and public spending cuts. The planning agreement had originally been intended to last for 30 years (until 1991) however Birmingham City Council decided to pull out of it half way through in 1976, due in part to spending cuts, but also as it had become clear that the town's plan was falling short of expectations: The target population had been 36,000 by 1981, but actual growth was much slower than this, nevertheless, between 1961 and 1981 the population had nearly tripled from 5,860 to 16,178; Subsequent growth in the following decades has been slower and driven mainly by private developments. The population had reached 22,367 by 2001, and by 2011 it was 25,026.[40]

Modern map of Daventry, following its urban expansion

Daventry was struck by an F0/T1 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.[42] In 1995 RAF Daventry was listed as a USAF communication facility by the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces Nicholas Soames in answer to a question from Max Madden.[43] RAF Daventry is most likely the transmitter base at a former WW1 isolation hospital site on the Staverton to Newnham road which was eventually sold by the Ministry of Defence in 2007.

In 2006, the outdoor pool – which had been built and funded by Daventry residents in the 1950s following the drowning of three children in the local reservoir – was closed due to funding difficulties.[44] In 2007, Daventry began plans to modernise the town with a futuristic personal rapid transit system that would link outer estates to the town centre, and a canal arm with marina next to the former site of the outdoor pool. In May 2018, the District Council dropped the building a canal arm and marina scheme in favour of achievable projects.[45]

In March 2018, the town's High Street was used as a filming location for the feature film, Nativity Rocks!.[46]

Daventry is near the M1 motorway with access to two junctions: 18 to the northeast and 16 to the southeast of the town.

The A45 runs around Daventry; eastbound it connects it with the A5 and the M1 at junction 16, and then Northampton. To the north-west it connects to Rugby, Coventry, and Birmingham.

The A425 connects Daventry with Southam, Leamington Spa and Warwick to the west.

The A361 connects Daventry to the A5 at Kilsby to the north, which then gives access to junction 18 of the M1. To the south-west the A361 connects Daventry with junction 11 of the M40 and then Banbury.

These roads all converge on the town's outer ringroad.

Local and regional bus services are provided by Stagecoach Midlands[59] from their bases in Northampton, Rugby and until December 2016, Leamington Spa. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire provides an hourly service to Banbury. Villages without a regular connection to Daventry had a bookable County Connect[60] bus service run by Centrebus under a County Council contract until 1 September 2014 when the operator changed to Kier Fleet Passenger Services. All subsidies for bus services in Northamptonshire have been discontinued due to financial mismanagement at Northamptonshire County Council meaning most of these bus services will end.[61]

The nearest railway station to Daventry today is Long Buckby railway station about 4 miles (6 km) northeast, where West Midlands Trains provide services via the Northampton loop of the West Coast Main Line, northbound to Rugby and stations to Birmingham New Street, and southbound to Northampton and stations to London Euston.

Daventry railway station operated between 1888 and 1958, it is now demolished

Daventry once had its own railway station on the former London and North Western Railway branch-line from Weedon to Leamington Spa, which opened in 1888 and was closed on 15 September 1958 and is now demolished. Daventry is now one of the largest towns in England without its own railway station.[62]

In addition to this the former Braunston and Willoughby railway station on the Great Central Main Line which ran to the west of Daventry, was originally called Willoughby for Daventry when it opened in 1899, despite the station being around five miles north-west of Daventry in neighbouring Warwickshire. It was later renamed Braunston and Willoughby for Daventry in 1904, before the reference to Daventry was finally dropped in 1938. The station itself closed in 1957, and the line in 1966.[63]

The nearest major international airports are Birmingham Airport and East Midlands Airport.

The estimated population of Daventry in 2020 was roughly around 27,586 people.[2] In 2011, the population sat at around 25,026 when the census was conducted that year.[2]

Daventry is an ethnically homogenous town with a White majority of 95.4% in 2011, however this majority has slightly declined from when census figures for ethnicity were first collected in 1991. In the District of Daventry in 1991, whites made up a near unanimous 99% of the population however declining to 96.5% by 2011. Asian British people have increased in proportional size, making up 0.5% in the district rising to 1.5% in 2011. In the town proper, this is 2.3%. Other groups such as Mixed people, Black British and Other ethnicities have also increased in size, migration being the main reason behind growth for the latter two.

The country of birth complexion in Daventry is as follows for 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021:

Country of birth	1991[65]		2001[67]		2011[68]		2021[69]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
United Kingdom	17,367	96.1%	20,794	95.7%	22,864	91.4%	23,529	83.7%
European Union	–	–	391	1.8%	–	–	2,472	8.8%
EU-14	–	–	–	–	–	–	424	1.5%
EU-8 (A8)	–	–	–	–	–	–	1300	4.6%
All other EU countries	–	–	–	–	–	–	748	2.7%
Europe (Other)	–	–	162	0.7%	1,336	5.3%	1023	3.6%
Africa	–	–	124		296		389	1.4%
Middle East and Asia	–	–	220		384		539	1.9%
Americas and Caribbean	–	–	89		118		124	0.4%
Antarctica and Oceania (or Other)	–	–	55		28		50	0.2%
Outside the United Kingdom	708	3.9%	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	18,075	100%	21,734	100%	25,026	100%	28,126	100%

The religious composition of Daventry for 2001 and 2011 is as follows:

Religion	2001[70]		2011[71]
	Number	%	Number	%
Holds religious beliefs	16,026	73.7%	15,584	62.3%
Christian	15,717	72.3%	14,977	59.8%
Buddhist	54		107
Hindu	71		136
Jewish	13		20
Muslim	74	0.3%	192	0.8%
Sikh	47		91
Other religion	50		61
(No religion and Religion not stated)	5,705	26.3%	9,442	38%
No religion	4,167	19.2%	7,846	31.4%
Religion not stated	1,538		1,596
Total population	21,731	100%	25,026	100%