Helpston

Perhaps this location on the cusp of twolandscapes accounts for Helpston’s periodicchanges of administrative location. Sir NicholasPevsner, author of the historic ‘Buildings ofEngland’ series, was clearly confused by this ashe included Helpston first in his volume onNorthamptonshire, then Bedfordshire and finally Huntingdon!

Helpston’s history can betraced back at least toRoman times, when alarge villa stood one milesouth of the village,close to King Street, amajor Roman road. Thevilla dates from the 2nd

and 4th centuries andappears to have been alarge establishment withdecorated walls andmosaics. A piece ofmosaic was found nearthe site in 1827.

Helpston isn’t mentioned in the Domesday Book,but restoration work on St Botolph’s Church in1864/5 exposed evidence of Anglo-Saxonfoundations, so there was certainly a settlementof some sort here before the Conquest.

otolph’s BarnPAST • PRESENT • FUTURE

During the medieval period Helpston would havechanged little. Apart from St Botolph’s itself,Woodcroft Castle and Torpel Manor are likely tohave been the most important buildings in thearea. The Castle was built in the reign of Edward1, who also owned Torpel Manor. The Manor ofWoodcroft was held by the Woodcroft family fromthe 12th century for the fee of half a knight fromthe Abbot of Peterborough. The property waspurchased by the Fitzwilliam family in 1545 andremained in the same family until 1988.

Another of the village’s medieval structures is theMarket, or as it is known locally, ‘Butter’, Cross,which is believed to date from the 14th century.

From medieval times, Helpston would have beenpart of the Nassaburgh Hundred, the meetingplace of which was at the Langley Bush, nearSouthey Woods. The Hundred had jurisdictionover civil and criminal matters. Lord Exeter wassteward of the court and when it ceased to meetoutdoors (in the early 18th century), sessions wereheld in his house in Helpston, now the ExeterArms – with the lock-up next door, now Botolph’s Barn.

The village of Helpston lies at a junction of two contrasting landscapes. To the east are

the flat lands of the fens, formerly expanses of marsh and reed bed, now fertile farmland.

To the west is gentle, rolling and often wooded countryside with pretty limestone villages.

Woodcroft Castle

Helpston’s Butter Cross

St Botolph’s Church

Perhaps the beginnings of modern Helpston can be traced to the early

nineteenth century with the enclosure of the land and the opening of the road

across to Glinton in 1813.

Helpston in thenineteenth century

By the end of the 19th century, Helpston not onlyhad its own station, but also a thriving paper mill,opened in the 1850’s. Helpston’ s school openedin 1856 and the general store is mentioned in1876 with a Mr. William Shillaker listed as baker,draper and grocer. By 1898 a Mr. Young hadtaken over these functions, with the added title ofPostmaster.

As well as StBotolph’sChurch, whichbecame a unitedbenefice with StStephen’s atEtton in 1893,the village was also home to two Methodistcommunities. A new United Methodist Chapelwas built in 1863. This was followed in 1871 by aPrimitive Methodist (or Ranters) Chapel (now thevillage Scout Hut). Earlier in the century, JohnClare had attended services of both groups,writing of the Ranters, ‘at 7 o’clock they meet topray, at 9 they join the Class, at half past ten theyhear preaching, at half past two they meet againto pray and at 7 in the evening preaching again.’

In 1894 Helpston Parish Council was established.The Stamford Mercury wrote of the birth of thisnew organ of government, ‘May the villagers seizetheir opportunity and village life once more showsigns of flourishing.’

Helpston’s enclosure actwas passed in 1809,although the detailedAward was not until1820. Prior to enclosureagriculture would havebeen dominated by therotational three field

system, which was based on simple strip farmingand large areas of common land, shared forpasture and wood.

Whilst enclosure may have heralded the start ofmodern agriculture, (Earl Fitzwilliam is said to haveinvested £10,000 in enclosing the lands aroundHelpston and Maxey and made a 30% profit on hisinvestment), it was strongly resisted, not least inwords by John Clare who wrote:

Inclosure like a Bonaparte let not a thingremainIt levelled every bush and tree and levelledevery hillAnd hung the moles for traitors – thoughthe brook is running still

Equally dramatic was the arrival of the railway. AnAct of Parliament of 1845 allowed the MidlandRailway Company ‘to make a branch from the saidrailway near Syston, in the County of Leicester, tothe city of Peterborough’. In 1846 a further Actallowed the Great North Company to build themain north-south line.

otolph’s BarnPAST • PRESENT • FUTURE

Helpston railway station

Village water pump

Hay cart

Helpston in thetwentieth century

Like the nineteenth, the twentieth century was a time of great physical and

societal change in Helpston.

Perhaps most obvious has been the gradualexpansion of the village. Whilst its population hasgrown quite slowly (from 697 in 1851 to 870 in2005), the number of houses has increaseddramatically. Most recently 40 new houses are tobe built on the site of the former mill, whichclosed after 152 years of business in 2006.

In 1907, Helpston’s almshouses opened on WestStreet. These were endowed by Sir JamesBradford, son of a former landlord of the Blue Bell,and remain open today.

The subject of electric streetlighting for the village wasfirst raised in 1895, but aspecial public meeting in1914 voted to take nofurther steps. It was notuntil 1936 that the first fivestreet lamps were erected:on the Village Green, inWoodgate, by ‘Wind in theWillows’ on West Street,opposite Church Lane

junction on Maxey Road and by the school onStation (Glinton) Road.

The original school in Glinton Road closed in 1965with the opening of the current John Clare School.Another building to close during the century wasHelpston Station, the last train stopping there on4 June 1966.

otolph’s BarnPAST • PRESENT • FUTURE

Helpston was hardly on the front line in either ofthe World Wars, but many villagers served anddied for their country. In the Second World Warsome of the very first bombs dropped on Englandfell between the station and Etton, where therewas a dummy airfield. Later a stray German planeopened fire on the crossing.

Today's Helpston continues to develop and changesuccessfully. The village won the 1999 FairhavenTrophy for Cambridgeshire Village of the Year andthe Proby Trophy for Peterborough's Village of theYear from 1997-2000.

In 2005 the village celebrated the creation of anew nature reserve at Swaddywell Pit and in 2006Botolph’s Barn itself opened. In the same year,John Clare’s Cottage was purchased by the JohnClare Education and Environment Trust and willopen shortly as a centre for the celebration of thepoet’s life and legacies.

First combine harvester Special constables

Hilda Vergette up a pylon

Last Helpston train 1966

Helpston’s Beer andPublic Houses, 1851

In 1851 the village had a population of 697, ofwhom 367 were male and 330 female.

There were five beer houses and three publichouses. Beer houses were restricted to the sale of beer, ale and porter, cider and perry. The fivebeer houses have all become private dwellings.Two public houses, the Bluebell and the ExeterArms, remain.

The Exeter Arms, namedafter the Marquis of Exeter,who lived at nearbyBurghley House, had beenthe meeting place of thelocal hundred court sincethe early 18th century. In1851 the Blue Bell was runby William Bradford, whowas also a tailor. He was

the father of Sir James Bradford who laterfounded the Almshouses on West Street.

The Railway Inn on Glinton Road became an innfollowing the construction of the railway in the1840s. In 1865 its landlord, Joseph Fletcher, wasconvicted of receiving stolen wheat. His wife’sapplication to continue with the licence wasturned down by magistrates, as she was ‘no doubtaware of the transactions of her husband andtherefore was not a proper person to be entrustedwith the licence.’ It finally closed in 1958.

The Royal Oak in Woodgate was managed by JohnCluff, who was also a wheelwright employing four

men. It closed about1930.

The Prince of Wales,later known as “TheFeathers” in WestStreet, held a centralposition in thevillage. Similarly TheParting Pot, near The Nook, was built in 1819following completion of the road to Glinton in1813. William Charity was its landlord in 1851, aswell as being both a carpenter and butcher. Itchanged to residential use in 1955. The Queen’sHead, also in West Street became a privatedwelling in 1959.

The other beer house in 1851 was the FitzwilliamArms, although its location is unclear. In addition,at least two other ‘pubs’ have existed at differenttimes. In 1731, Wainfleet House on Woodgate wasa known as the Axe and Cleaver whilst the houseon the corner of Maxey and Glinton Roads wasboth a pub and a brewery, known as theCarpenters Arms, in the late 19th century.

This board is based on an article by local historianGeorge Boyden which appeared in the HelpstonChronicle in Autumn 1988.

otolph’s BarnPAST • PRESENT • FUTURE

The Queen’s Head, West Street The Royal Oak, Woodgate

The Blue Bell, Woodgate

Exeter Arms