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Badby, or, as it is called in Domesday Book, Badebi, is bounded by Newnham on the east; by Daventry on the north; on the west by Staverton; and by Fawsley on the south. It contains 2370 acres, and its population in 1801 was 462 ; in 1831, 583 ; in 1841, 624; in 1851, 596; in 1861, 618; and in 1871, 608 souls. The gross estimated rental of the parish is £4098, and the rateable value £3575. Newnham is considered a parochial chapelry in this parish, but in the parliamentary returns is recognised as an independent parish. The lordship of Badby is hilly ; the prospect from Badby Down is extensive and beautiful, and Badby Wood, containing about 180 acres, lies on a hill at the other side. Arbury Hill, supposed to have been an ancient Roman encampment, is about a mile westward of the village. The site of the camp occupies the whole summit of the hill, which was surrounded by a wide ditch, 20 feet deep, enclosing an area of about 10 acres. This earthwork is 804 feet above the level of the sea, and some assert that it is the highest point of ground in England. The soil of the downs is a red sand, and of the lower parts of the parish a grey loam. There are quarries of hard blue ragstone, and numerous springs of excellent water in the parish. Sir Rainald Knightley is lord of the manor, and the largest proprietor. Manor.-"The manor of Badby was given by one Norman, a sheriff, to the Abbey of Croyland, and the grant was confirmed by Witlaf and Beorred, Kings of Mercia in the years 833 and 868, when the manor contained 4 hides of arable and and 30 acres of meadow. About three years afterwards, King Beorred, under pretence of enabling him to carry out the war against the Danes, who had made a sudden irruption into Mercia, seized the whole Isle of Ely, and the lands and revenues of several religious houses. Most of these, however, were redeemed, in 948, by the favour of Edrid, King of Britain, at the solicitation of Turketul, Abbot of Croyland, the King's Chancellor, and the manor of Badby among the rest. In 1013, when the Danes renewed their hostilities under Sweyn, the Abbot of Croyland, having no money to purchase assistance, stipulated with Norman, the son of Leofric, Earl of Chester, who was one of the greatest military officers under Edric Earl of Mercia, .to settle on him the manor of Badby for a hundred years to hold of St Guthlac, by a peppercorn rent, on condition of his agreeing to defend and protect the abbey from its enemies. But Norman and Edric were both slain in 1017 by King Canute, who seized all the lands belonging to Norman but restored them afterwards to his brother and heir, the Earl Leofric, who assigned the manor of Badby to the Abbey of Evesham for the residue of the term. In 1018, King Canute gave the lordship of Badby and Newnham to the monks of Evesham, but this was only a ratification of the grant previously made by Earl Lcofric. Though Badby was in the possession of the Abbey of Evesham at the time of the Domesday survey, it is returned by mistake amongst the lands of Croyland Abbey, and certified to contain 4 hides of land, a mill worth 2s. yearly, and 30 acres of meadow, with a wood 4 quarentines of furlongs in length, and 2 furlongs in breadth. The whole was valued then, as in the Confessor's time, at £8 yearly. In the 30th of Henry III. (1246), the abbot of Evesham and his successors obtained a charter of free warren in Badby and Newnham, a member of the said manor, and in the same year he received of the king the additional privilege of enclosing Badby Wood for a park. In the 3d of Edward III. (1330), the abbot was called upon to show his authority for the claim he laid upon his privileges here, but it was found by the jury that he held of the king in capite, and that he and his predecessors had done so " time out of mind ;" that he had a court leet, assize of bread and beer, and everything pertaining to these liberties, with free warren in all his demesne lands within the said manor, and that he made a yearly payment of 4 marks and 5s. into the king's exchequer for the enjoyment of these liberties in this his manor of Badby and Newnliam. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the united lordship of Badby and Newnham, which was valued at £54, 6s. 2d., fell to the crown, and in the 33d of Henry VIII. (1542) was granted to Sir Edmund Knightley, in ex change for the manor of Blisworth, and on his decease without issue, it passed to Sir Valentine Knightley, of Fawsley, whose descendant, Sir Charles Knightley, Bart., came into possession in 1812, and was succeeded in 1864 by his son, Sir Rainuld Knightley, Bart, of Fawsley Hall, the present proprietor. The manor-house, or court-house, formerly the grange of the Abbey of Evesham, stood eastward of the village green, and was encompassed by a moat on all sides but the west, where a brook ran which supplied the moat with water. The Village of Badby stands on the ascent of a hill, formerly part of the sandy heap called Badby Down, about 2 miles S.W. from Daventry, 4 W. from -the Weedon Station, 15 N.N.E. from Banbury, 12 N.W. from Towcester, and 12 S.W. by W. from Northampton. The Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, stands at the north-west end of the village, and consists of a nave and side aisles, south porch, chancel, and a tower containing five bells. The tower was rebuilt in 1707, the former steeple having fallen down in 1705. The chancel is entered through an open pointed arch ; the eastern window of the chancel is a beautiful pointed one of three lights, with mullions trefoiled ; in the north aisle is a trefoiled piscina cut out of the eastern pillar, and in the south wall of the chancel are two seats under uniform arches, supported by circular columns, and adjoining them is a piscina under a cinquefoil-headed arch. The living is a discharged vicarage united to that of Newnham, in the deanery of Daventry, rated in the king's books at ,£14. and now valued at, £400 a year. It is in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, and incumbency of the Rev. William Scratton, M.A. The registry of the church has the following melancholy record:- " Simon Marriott, Robert Marriott, his son, and Thomas Borros, killed altogether with thunder and lightning, 27th July, and buried 28th July, 1691." The impropriate rectory consists of 223a 19p.; and the Badby glebe with Newnham, including 16 acres at Priors Marston, in Warwickshire, comprising 165 acres, were allotted by the Commissioners of Enclosure in lieu of glebe lands and vicarial tithes. The Vicarage House stands eastward of the church, and has been partially rebuilt by the late vicar. An Independent Chapel has just been erected here at the expense of Mr Briggs of Daventry, which will seat more than 200. The Rev. William Eagles is the minister. Badby House the residence of the Hon. John George Hugh Massey, is a handsome building, pleasantly situated on an eminence about a mile south of Davenlry. The Village Green is ornamented with a charity school, called Lady Knightley's school from its foundress, which is supported by Sir Rainald Knightley It is a small Gothic building, cruciform in shape, from a design by Wyatt and being almost entirely coveted with ivy, presents a very pretty appearance : nineteen poor girls are taught free here. The other Charities of the parish are, the interest of £191 17s. 3d, in the 3 per cen annuities, for the support of the Sunday-school (which is also used as a day school) left by the Rev. Sir John Knightlcy, in 1813 ; and an annual rent charge of £3, 18s to be distributed in threepenny loaves to six of the poorest inhabitants of the parish, left by Thomas Coles in 1733. There are also £20 in the 3 per cent, annuities, left by Miss Ann Hanson of Birmingham, 1852 in aid of the Church of England schools of this parish. Post Office -William Foster, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Daventry at 8A.M., and are despatched thereto at 7.30 P.M. Daventry is the nearest Money-Order Office. Barnes Mr Josephus Bird Joseph, boot & shoemaker Bromwich Mrs Hannah, vict Malsters Arms Bromwich Miss Emily, school-mistress Capell Mrs Rebecca, vict. Windmill Douglas Benjamin, butcher Douglas Mrs Francis Dudley Jph. Boot & shoemaker Eagles Rev.William (Indepnt.) Flowers Mrs Ann, schoolmrs. Foster William Tailor Frost James, vict. Bridge Inn Goodman John, farm bailiff Green William, shopkeeper Grose Jph, wheelwt. & carpter. Homan MrsCharlot. wheel wrgt. Hudson John, bricklayer Massey Hon. John George Hugh, Badby House Masters John, shopkpr. & baker Phillips Mr James Powell John, cart-owner Scratton Rev. Wm.M.A.vicar Sutton William, butcher Walker Edward, blacksmith and shopkeeper Walker Thomas, blacksmith Wills John, carpenter Wadsworth William, baker Farmers and Graziers. (Marked* are yeomen). Bird William Goodman Bromwich Bede Lewin John Lindsay William Phillips James *Phillips Thomas Francis *Turner William Edward Warner George Youmans Richard Carriers..Mrs Mary Ann Blundell, to Daventry, Wed. & Fri., & Northampton, Saturday.
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