Boughton, Northamptonshire 3.61

Boughton is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire, England, about 4mi from Northampton town centre along the A508 road between Northampton and Market Harborough. The parish area straddles both side of the road but the main part of the village is east. It is on the northern fringe of the Northampton urban area and, together with the neighbouring village of Moulton is in the preferred area for the expansion of the town.DemographicsThe 2001 census shows a population of 951, 459 male and 492 female in 369 dwellings, increasing to 1,112 at the 2011 census.GovernanceBoughton Parish Council has 9 members elected every 4 years. The local authority is Daventry District Council and the village is part of Northamptonshire County Council.BuildingsBoughton Park lies between the village and the A508 road. It has a notable collection of 18th and 19th century follies, including The Spectacles (twin towers with a Gothic arch), Bunkers Hill Farm (1776), New Park Barn (1770) which resembles a fortified castle (now called Fox Covert Hall and converted into a house) and the castellated Hawking Tower (1756 or earlier), the main gate lodge on east side of the A508 main road. There is also a grotto north of the house and an obelisk to the south (1764) near Obelisk Rise, a large 1960s housing estate in Northampton. The follies were built by William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722–1791), a friend of Horace Walpole in the late 18th century. The setting of the follies may be affected by the proposed construction of Northampton's northern ring-road and the expansion of the town.