Radstone

The land of the parish mostly falls from west to east from a hill whose highest point, about 520 feet (160 m) above sea level, is in Greatworth parish just beyond the field boundaries that form the western boundary of Radstone parish.

A stream forms much of the northern boundary or Radstone parish, flowing east to join the Great Ouse. Another tributary of the same river forms part of the parish's southern boundary. A third flows west–east across the parish and joins the first about 3⁄4-mile (1.2 km) east of Radstone hamlet. The parish is open farmland apart from Shortgrove Wood, which is in the northeast part next to the boundaries with Helmdon and Syresham.

The present hamlet of Radstone is a shrunken village, formerly called Upper or Over Radstone.^[2] There was a Lower or Nether Radstone about 4⁄5-mile (1.3 km) to the east, just downstream of the confluence of the two streams. It is now a deserted village.^[2]

Before 1900 an urn containing coins, presumably Roman, was found in the parish and placed in Northampton Museum.^[3] By the 1980s it had been lost.^[2]

The Domesday Book of 1086 records the toponym as Rodestone. Pipe rolls record it as Rodestona in 1163, Rodestūn in 1167 and Rudston in 1198. A Curia regis roll from 1201 records it as Rodestan. The name comes from the Old English words rōde meaning "cross" (see "Rood") and stān meaning "stone".^[4]

In the Norman era the manor was assessed at two hides.^[5][6] The Domesday Book of 1086 records Robert of Rhuddlan holding it;^[5] in the 12th century it was in the fee of Chester.^[6] In 1260 cultivation covered 22 virgates of land at Upper Radstone and 21⁄2 virgates at Lower Radstone.^[2]

The earliest parts of the Church of England parish church of Saint Lawrence are 12th-century.^[7] The Baptismal font is Norman.^[8] The gable-roofed west tower has characteristic Norman features including a round-headed arch to the nave.^[8] The chancel is Early English Gothic of the early 13th century, with single lancet windows in the north and south walls^[7] and a double lancet window to the east.^[8]

The west tower has two sets of bell-openings. The first set is early 13th-century and is now blocked; the second set is Decorated Gothic.^[7] Also Decorated Gothic are the north and south aisles added to the nave early in the 14th century, each with two- and three-light windows with reticulated tracery^[7] and a three-bay arcade with octagonal piers.^[8] Near the east end of the south aisle is a cusped and ogeed piscina for a side altar that would have been there before the Reformation.^[7] In the chancel is a monument to a John Blencow, who died in 1666.^[7] The church is a Grade I listed building.^[7]

St Lawrence's is now part of the parish of Helmdon with Stuchbury and Radstone,^[9] which in turn is part of the Benefice of the Astwell Group of Parishes.^[10]

St Lawrence's church has been closed for worship since June 2015 because Natterer's and other bats use it as a seasonal summer roost. The Astwell Benefice calls the colony an "infestation" and is seeking a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to have the bats permanently "excluded" from the building.^[11]