ABTHORPE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union and hundred of Towcester, S. division of the county of Northampton, 3 miles (W. S. W.) from Towcester; containing, with the hamlets of Charlock and Foscot, 449 inhabitants. This place was formerly a chapelry dependent upon the vicarage of Towcester, from which it was separated by act of parliament in 1737, and constituted a distinct parish. It is situated on the right bank of the river Tow, which bounds it on the north-west ; and consists of 1895a. 3r. 17p. Limestone is quarried. The living is a vicarage not in charge ; net income, £184 ; patrons, alternately, the Bishop of Lichfield, and Samuel Blencowe, Esq., and others, to whom the impropriation also belongs. The tithes were partially commuted for land under an inclosure act in 1822 ; and those of the Bishop have been recently commuted for a rent-charge of £220; there are about 50 acres of appropriate glebe. Mrs. Jane Leeson, by will dated in 1646, bequeathed certain property to the poor in this and other villages, and also for the instruction of children in a school-house here, previously erected at her expense: the estate at Abthorpe comprises a dwelling-house and about 60 acres of land, together with an allotment of nearly 57 acres under the act of inclosure.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis Fifth Edition Published London; by S. Lewis and Co., 13, Finsbury Place, South. M. DCCC. XLV.
