Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire

Description
Grafton Regis, a village and a parish in Northamptonshire. The village stands on the verge of the county, near the river Tove and the Grand Junction Canal, 3 1/2 miles S of Roade station on the L. & N.W.R., and 4 ESE of Towcester, had formerly a weekly market and two fairs, and gives the title of Duke to the Fitzroy family. It has a post office under Stony Stratford; money order and telegraph office, Potterspury. Acreage of the civil parish, 1415; population, 157; of the ecclesiastical, 280. The manor with most of the land belongs to the Duke of Grafton, and it once belonged to the Woodvilles or Widevilles, one of whom, Sir John Woodville, was created by Henry VI. Baron Rivers, Grafton, and De la Mote, and was father of the wife of Edward IV. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Alderton, in the diocese of Peterborough; joint gross value, £262 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church consists of nave, chancel, N aisle, and chapel, with western tower, was restored in 1889, and contains an altar-tomb of Sir Richard Wideville.