Weedon Bec
Weedon Bec, usually just Weedon, is a village and parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is close to the source of the River Nene. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,706. Geography Weedon is around southeast of Daventry, west of Northampton. It was at the crossroads of the A5 and former A45 until a bypass opened on 15 November 2018. The Grand Union Canal (1796) and West Coast Main Line both pass through the village. Lower Weedon and Upper Weedon are to the south. The northern boundary of the village follows the old A45 to the west, then south to just outside Everdon. It skirts Everdon Wood and Everdon Stubbs, and borders Stowe Nine Churches to the southeast, and lies to a short distance east of the A5 up to the A45, next to Flore parish. Demographics The 2001 census the village had a population of 2,485, 1,248 male and 1,237 female, 1,237 households and average age 38.34 years. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,706. History The village's name comes from the Old English Wēo-dūn meaning 'heathen temple hill'. Just to the south of the parish is the Weedon Hill: this may be the hill in question. In the Domesday Book of 1086, the village is named 'Wedone' and located in the ancient hundred of Gravesend. In the 12th century, lordship of the village was granted to the monks of the abbey of Le Bec-Hellouin in Normandy. The 'Bec' part of the name 'Weedon Bec' is derived from the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin in Normandy, France, which owned most of the village until the dissolution of the monasteries, when King Henry VIII granted the village to Eton College. By the mid-12th century, Gravesend Hundred had been absorbed into Fawsley Hundred, The Fawsley Hundred was disused in the late 19th century as other administrative units superseded its functions, although it continued to appear on early 20th century censuses for statistical purposes. The ancillary villages of Lower Weedon and Upper Weedon formed south of Weedon Bec. The settlement along the A5, the Roman road called Watling Street, was known as 'Road Weedon' and earlier 'Weedon on the Street'. To avoid confusion with the village of Weedon Lois, the complete village name 'Weedon Bec' is used in many circumstances. The village is usually locally nicknamed 'Weedon' (closer to its ancient name) when including 'Lower Weedon' and 'Upper Weedon' with old 'Weedon Bec', which were three distinct villages now merged into one. The settlement patterns of the three villages have been distorted by the presence of the major road, canal, military establishments and railway station and present an unusual example of urban sprawl in an otherwise rural part of England. Experiments with radar in 1935 Arnold Frederic Wilkins demonstrated radar, from radio waves from the Borough Hill transmitter on 26 February 1935. It is often stated as taking place near Weedon Bec, but actually took place in a field just off the A5, towards Litchborough, in the parish