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THE PARISH AND ITS AGRICULTURE - AN OVERVIEW
Some explanation of how the local land was owned and divided in earlier years is given in the section on ‘Ancient History’ (click on Ancient history). It follows that the farms were owned by either the Church or the Marquess of Northampton. Generally speaking the brook running through the village was the dividing line. Farms to the East of the stream tended to be in the ownership of the Marquess of Northampton's estate (and still are to this day) whilst those to the West were owned originally by the Church (and are now all privately owned).
Early records show that a farm of about 64 acres was given to the Rector of Whiston and another of about 140 acres to the Rector of Yardley Hastings. It is difficult, however, to attribute these to specific present day farms.
Denton has always been a truly rural village with relatively little industry or commerce unrelated to the land. Prior to the days of mechanisation where so many tasks needed to be done by hand the local farms employed a large number of Denton villagers (see Population and work).
An early directory of 1849 describes the ground as a cold stiff loam with a light black surface to the South of the Parish. There are however some deposits of sand along watercourses that were used for local building work. Of the total 1970 acres comprising the parish, 340 acres is recorded to be woodland and the remainder principally grassland. By 1869 however, the principal use of the land is recorded as being used for growing cereals and the acreage adjusted to 1555.
 Most of the names were descriptions of the field's appearance or a comment on its use or nature e.g. Brown Hedges, Open Freewood, Bottom Stoney and Sheep Walk. The map left (courtesy of NRO)shows the names being used in 1932 - (double click to enlarge the view). It may be thought such names would be of very ancient origin passed down from generation to generation.
However there is evidence that at the time of the Inclosure Act 1770 (See - Ancient history) 26 fields were named and hardly any of those names directly correspond to the 1932 map names.
FARM BY FARM
The farms within the parish were Church Farm, Manor Farm, Grange Farm, Chase View Farm, Denton Lodge and Mere Barn plus The Elms along the Horton Road, originally a farm, but for many years now primarily a racehorse stud farm and training facility. Missing from most maps are Doctor's Farm and Wareing Farm which disappeared long ago as working farms and Vicarage Farm House building remains, but with its acreage now farmed from Manor Farm. In addition Dentonwood Lodge was once a farm and still remains, but now used by the Forestry Commission and, finally Denton Barn, in the extreme North of the parish, is no longer a working farm in itself but some derelict buildings remain while the land is now farmed from Whiston.
Some historical notes on each of these farms are detailed below.
CHURCH FARM.
Church Farm (pictured right) has a mullion windowed farm house situated at the North end of
 Main Street - it is built in attractive banded limestone and darker ironstone and its date stone shows 1675 making it one of the oldest houses left in the village. Whilst the house is most impressive it is the smallest farm in the parish having just 24 acres of land in total.
The available history of its past ownerships makes interesting reading and the following information has kindly been provided by the current owners.
Normally ownerships or tenancies of farms tend to alter infrequently and then often the change is only from one generation to another. However the history of Church Farm contradicts this assumption.
It starts with an intrigung situation in that in 1881 a 72 year-old Richard Robinson, born at Barton Seagrave, is shown as head of the household running 25 acres of land with 1 employee. He had also appeared in 1851 so may well have been at Church Farm for some time.
However by 1881 it looks as if he had remarried as his wife is shown as Mary Ann Robinson - aged just 31, with her daughter Mary Jane aged 7, and 3 young sons Richard, Thomas and Samuel aged 6, 4 & 1 year respectively. If this is correct Richard, senior sounds quite a man!
By 1901 Mary Ann Robinson was still at Church Farm, unsurprisingly now a widow. Her family now comprised Mary Jane, Richard and Thomas all in their twenties with the boys working on the farm. What is really confusing is that Samuel is no longer shown - he would have been 21 so could have left home or died but the real intrigue is that there was now shown another son James, aged 7, who was born in Lavendon - what could be the background to that situation!
The Robinson's were almost certainly tenants as when the farm was sold on 20th February 1904 the vendor was shown as 'Rev William Chadwick and others'. The purchaser was a William Edward Wren who was probably the first private individual ever to own Church Farm as it had, from very ancient times, always been in the ownership of the church. He paid £801 for the farm house and land.
He then tried to sell it in 1915 but the sale particulars of that date are noted that it went to auction but was withdrawn when the bidding only reached £780. William Wren was noted asowner but not occupier as the sale information says the property was tenanted by Mrs M. A. Robinson who was paying an annual rental of £30 for a yearly tenancy. The sale particulars noted Mrs Robinson had been the tenant 'for a considerable number of years'. We know from the above that she had been there as long back as 1881 and possibly before.
However just 2 years later, in 1917, a successful sale took place and the purchaser was the Northampton Co-operative Society Ltd who paid £950. It is interesting that such commercial transactions still went on even in war-time, as this was towards the end of World War 1. During it's term of ownership the Co-Op created a pond on the land which, at one time, was popular with the local children for bathing in.
It is not clear if the tenant, Mrs Robinson, remained or if her tenancy ceased. She still appears as a farmer in Denton in 1920 (which farm is not recorded) and then again in 1926 by which time she was at Manor Farm and would be then have been aged 76.
This purchase proved to be a very shrewd move on the part of the Co-op as only six years later, in 1923, they sold Church Farm on to a Mr Foster who paid £1625 for the privilege! A profit of over 70% looks good by any standards. Furthermore, at the same auction the Co-op also offerd for sale Grange Farm (including the Nursery and Glasshouses) and Denton Lodge Farm.
This sparked off a period of very frequent changes in ownership of Church Farm summarised as follows : -
1924 Mr Foster sold to Mr Norton for £1850
1926 Mr Norton sold to Mr West for £1775
1926 Mr West sold to Mr Capt Leonard for £1550
1936 Capt Leonard sold to William Etchells for £1250
1946 William Etchells sold to Mr Cook for £3350
1946 Mr Cook sold to Mr Scott for £4000
1957 Mr Scott sold to Mr Catt for £5200
1959 Mr Catt sold to Mr Johnson for £6250.
This list makes very interesting reading. Here was a 20th century period during which property prices fell by one-third in 12 years between 1924 and 1936 - this was of course the effect of the Depression. Then there was the other extreme where immediately post Second World War a price was paid of more than 250% more than 10 years before in the pre-war period.
The property having arrived in the Johnson family hands in 1959 has then remained there via succeeding generations (including the last Mrs Johnson to live there who reached age 101) to date albeit that active farming of the 24 acres has long since been sub-let to the tenants of Manor Farm. In recent years the property has been let as a private house and in very recent times a tasteful development has taken place in the form of a new house being built on the land immediately adjoining Church Farm to the South-West.
An eccentric military man at Church Farm.
As listed above one of the owners of the farm was was Capt Herbert William Leonard who bought it in 1926 and sayed for 10 years. He was a slightly eccentric retired military man who had come to farming quite late in life. He farmed the relatively small Church Farm acreage with a few livestock and sold some milk from his 2 cows. There was an area at the back of his land used as a village rubbish tip and one day he found a local lad, Jack Whyman, scrabbling through the rubbish. He duly confronted him and warned him off doing it again; but gave him sixpence. A short while later the incident was repeated as Jack thought he was on to a good earner but this time he got a clip from the Captain's riding crop, which he carried much of the time.
On 24th May, Empire Day, each year Capt Leonard would leave his house and march smartly in his riding breeches along Main Street and up to the school at the top of the Green. The flag pole outside the school would have had the Union Jack raised for Empire Day and the Captain would halt, salute the flag and right turn before marching back down to his home. The school children were under strict instructions to behave during this episode.
MANOR FARM
Manor Farm with its imposing farm house (pictured below right) and substantial outbuildings stands almost opposite Church Farm on the other side of Main Street just before the road to Whiston takes a sharp left hand bend as it leaves the village. It is, and has been for a very long time, the largest farm in Denton, owned by Lord Northampton's Estate and farmed by a number of tenants over the years. The house has a date stone of 16.. It has been difficult as yet to track down the very early tenants but it is known that Mary Ann Robinson (formerly of Church Farm - see above) was the tenant by 1936 at which date she would have been aged 86 so in practice it
 was probably one or more of her sons who would have been doing the work. By 1940 she had presumably retired or died as Thomas Robinson was tenant at Manor Farm. He was the 4 year- old lad at Church Farm in 1881 so by now would have been 63. Thomas 'Dick' Robinson had married a lady also, confusingly, called Mary Ann and they employed 5 workers on the farm which was a mixed one with a large dairy herd with the milk going in churns to Northampton Co-Op. At one time although Tommy Robinson was the tenant his brother and sister lived at Manor Farm.
In 1954 the tenancy passed to Bill Penn and later to his son, David, who runs the farm to the present day.
GRANGE FARM
The other farm within the main part of the village is Grange Farm on the corner of The Lane and Northampton Road. There used to be substantial outbuildings all of which were demolished in the early 1970s and provided the land on which the Bridge Meadow development now exists.
The picture, below right, taken around 1960, shows the extent of these .
It is difficult to trace the exact age of the buildings but the cast iron porch on the house looks to date from the early 19th century and the window styles would be consistent with this era.
As early as 1847 records show a Joseph Sargeant being a farmer and maltster in Denton with
 By 1861 Joseph had also gone and was replaced by a Thomas Sargeant - whether he was a son, brother or other relation has not been possible to identify.
Thomas Sargeant had also been born in Brafield in around 1838 and was therefore aged 43 in 1881 when records show him farming 264 acres and employing 11 men. He was single and lived with his sister, Sarah Sargeant, younger brother John and a young domestic servant. Twenty years later in 1901 he was still there with his now elderly older sister but brother John had gone and a young niece, Edith Sargeant, aged 27 and born at Great Houghton had joined the household.
What happened next is unclear but in February 1906 there are sale records showing Grange Farm was sold by a Joseph Sargeant to Henry George Belgrove. As Thomas had not married and therefore had no offspring it is difficult to know what relationship he was to the vendor Joseph who presumably may have inherited the farm on his death. It would also be interesting to know where the sister and niece went.
Henry Belgrove was born in Soulbury, Bucks in 1863 and was married to Edith from Milton Ernest, Beds and they had 3 sons who were all employed on the farm in 1911. They had previously lived at Clapham and nearby Milton Ernest in Beds. They also had 2 young female domestic servants, much the same age as the farmer's 3 young, and single, sons. Whether this created any problems we shall probably never know! One of these servants was Lottie Maria Onley -born in 1891 at Brafield. Onley is a name that continued in Denton subsequently as the family who ran the butcher's shop in the post war years.
Henry Belgrove stayed until at least the outbreak of war in 1914 but by 1920, shortly after the war had ended, he was no longer the owner. The next owners were Northampton Co-operative Society who probably bought Grange Farm around 1917 as this was when they also bought Church Farm as mentioned above. Around this time Grange Farm was a mixed farm with 3 employees and a large milking dairy herd - (naturally supplying the Co-op). Opposite the farm buildings on the other side of Northampton Road where houses now stand was 'Sheep Hook' - the name given to a yard area where sheep were take during bad weather. The land called Home Close also extended in that area to include the dovecote, fishpond and sheep wash on which The Leys estate was to be built much later. Reference is also made to a double stone-built cottage and a separate cottage in an open field - these have all now gone.
However the Co-Op only kept their properties for a few years as Grange Farm (combined with Mere Barn at the time), with its 227 acres, was offered for sale by them, along with Church Farm, Denton Lodge Farm and the Nurseries in one auction on 24th March 1923. However, although it known Church Farm was sold it looks as if Grange Farm with Mere Barn along with the Nurseries were not sold as the eventual conveyance by the Co-Op to James Arrowsmith, a member of a prominent local farming family, was dated 1st October 1925 and the nurseries were still owned by the Co-Op in 1926.
This purchase was the start of a long, and almost unbroken, association between Grange Farm and the Arrowsmith family. James ran the farm until his death in 1935. James and wife Annie had 2 sons, Samuel Charles and Edwin Swinerton, and a daughter, Ella, who married and became Mrs Halden.
Samuel Charles Arrowsmith came to run Grange Farm whilst his brother was running the acreage attached to Mere Barn which adjoined. James's widow, Annie, lived in a wooden bungalow (see picture below right) on
 In 1946 Samuel sold Grange Farm with 140 acres of land to John Arthur Ching causing a brief interlude in Arrowsmith ownership. However just 12 years later in 1958 Mr Ching sold the farm back into the family, the purchaser being Samuel's brother Edwin who by that time was living at Grange Farm in Little Houghton.
Edwin Arrowsmith and wife Margaret had 4 sons all of whom followed him onto the land. One was Robert Duncan Arrowsmith and his father sold the house of Grange Farm to him in November 1971.
In the next year or two there followed a complicated series of transactions involving both Edwin and Robert. They sold Grange Farm house and buildings together with parcels of the land on which the Bridge Meadow development was eventually to take place to development companies. In turn the land passed through several developers hands until in 1975 it was bought by builders, Alfred James Ltd of Wootton who began building the Bridge Meadow houses in 1976.
Meanwhile, in the early 1970's Robert Arrowsmith had built a bungalow, New Grange Farm, on part of the remaining Grange Farm land so the house was again attached to its acreage rather than being split off as had happened when the by-pass was built in the early 1930's. His family have lived there since although, sadly, Robert died in 1998 aged just 58. His grandfather James and grandmother Annie are also buried in Denton cemetery.
MERE BARN FARM
It can be seen from the notes above that at one time Mere Barn and its land was treated as one holding with Grange Farm. When the Northampton Co-operative Society tried to sell both in 1923 the accommodation was described as 'a cottage of six rooms, two pantries, with coal barn, W.C, large garden, well of good water and pump'. In addition there were the working buildings described as 'Mere Barn Buildings' comprising foddering yard, beast yard, foaling box and cow house, large barn, 6 berth cart horse stable, implement shed and rickyard.
It is difficult to establish much earlier history of Mere Barn but in 1901 the cottage there was occupied by a John Fitzhugh (a common Denton surname) aged 39, his 31 year old wife Florence and their 5 children Eliza, Samuel, Phoebe, Harry and Florence aged 11,8,6,3 and 1 respectively. John and 4 of the children had been born in Denton, his wife came from Yardley and, for some reason, son Samuel was born in Brafield.
Importantly, John is shown as an employed agricultural labourer so it is clear that his employer was elsewhere, almost certainly the owner of Grange Farm at the time - an elderly Thomas Sargeant (see notes on Grange Farm above).
How long the Fitzhughs were there is difficult to establish but we know that Grange Farm was sold by the Sargeant family to Henry Belgrove in 1906 and he, in turn, disposed of it to the Northampton Co-Operative Society Ltd some time around the years of the Great War. It is reasonable to assume Mere Barn land, farm buildings and cottage passed with the Grange Farm ownership at each change. So as established in the Grange Farm details above James Arrowsmith would have farmed the land from Grange Farm, helped by his 2 sons. After his death in 1935 one of these sons, Edwin, went to Mere Barn and farmed it from then until his death in 1982 at age 73. He was a well-known farmer in the area who was at one time was Chairman of the Northampton branch of the National Farmers Union and District Ayrshire Cattle Breeders' Club. The other son, Samuel stayed at Grange Farm.
Edwin did, however, let the farm out at one time to Albert Corbett as tenant ( he was there in 1973) before it returned to Arrowsmith family occupation later and remains so until today.
THE CONUNDRUM OF DENTON LODGE AND DENTONWOOD LODGE.
Denton Lodge is a farm that lies to the West of the Horton Road about half a mile due South of the village. It's situation nestling in a dip in the land means it is not visible from the Horton Road and many Dentonians have probably never seen it. It is pictured below in its present state.Tracking its history is particularly difficult because, confusingly, there is another property that used to be a farm called
 Denton Lodge was once owned by the church and is described as ' part of the Glebe Land of the Parish of Denton’. Glebe Land was owned by the Diocese in order to provide income to pay the parochial clergy. It first passed into private ownership 15th April 1920. Around that time Denton Lodge was a mixed farm with a couple of employees and it supplied milk to the Co-op (as did many other farms around). It totalled around 143 acres and comprised a 3 bedroom stone and brick farm house plus homestead buildings including an open yard, three bay hovel, large stone barn, loose boxes and stabling, substantial cow house, pig stys and cart storage. It also had its own water supply - of excellent quality - via a well.
Prior to 1920 the occupants would have been tenants of the church. The earliest records traced say that in 1851 a Thomas Robinson was there. The surname Robinson is one of the commonest Denton names and other Robinsons occupied different farms (for instance see the notes above regarding Church Farm and Manor Farm). Whether they were closely related or not cannot be established. By 1869 a James Robinson had taken over but again it cannot be definitely established that this was Thomas' son - although it does seem likely.
The 1911 census return has a 31 year old, M. Pierre Marcus Giraud, as living there with his wife Lottie and 2 sons William aged 9 and Conrad aged 2. It is no surprise M. Giraud was a Frenchman, born at La Ciotot who had presumably come to England and married as his wife was from nearby Stoke Goldington. What is really intriguing however is that the children were born in Australia, the older son in Melbourne and the younger in Sydney so this was a really well travelled family.
Now the confusion with Dentonwood Lodge starts. This farm (later used by the Forestry Commission) has for many centuries, and still is, owned by Lord Northampton's estate. Confusingly however the 1881 census does record James Robinson age 54, wife Elizabeth aged 61 and daughter Eliza aged 15 living as 'Denton Wood Lodge' and quoting 2 employees and 88 acres. So it brings into question if there were different Robinsons at both farms. This census has, however, proved to be incorrect in many other instances so it still be that Denton Lodge Farm is being referred to. For example elesewhere it has a family of 7 headed by John Rainbow as being at Denton Lodge Farm House (Barn) and employing 19 men and 640 acres! There is was no Denton farm of this size although there is the possibility that John Rainbow was farm manager for acreage in an adjoining parish but simply lived at Denton.
Separately there was a family of 10 headed by William Hick, a gamekeeper, listed at Denton Wood Lodge (Keepers) and that probably refers to what is now called Stonepit House - the building just on the edge of the village in a dip on the by-pass. Of his 9 childlren (and he was only 34 at the time!) all but the youngest two (aged 2 and 1) had been born elsewhere so the family could only have moved to Denton a short time before 1881.
Then just to muddy the waters even further yet another family is listed as being at Denton Wood Lodge namely George Gibson, an agricultural worker aged 42, his wife Ellen and their five children. It suggests there were several different houses or cottages in use at Dentonwood Lodge -hopefully it may be possible to unravel the mystery in due course.
In post-war years Dentonwood Lodge was occupied by Mrs & Mrs George Eaton and their son, Bill. It had previously been primarily a pig farm but they employed one worker and ran it as a mixed holding with a dairy herd supplying milk to the Co-Op.
Returning to what can be more definitely established we know the Northampton Co-Operative Society Ltd had bought Denton Lodge Farm in 1920 and put it up for auction on 24th February 1923. Whether or not it sold then is not known (we do know Grange Farm offered for sale at the same auction by the same vendors failed to sell) but by 1926 Denton Lodge Farm is shown as being occupied by Alfred Comber, presumably as owner rather than a tenant of the Co-Op. He was still there in 1936 on one record but not another of the same year suggests the next change took place than. Certainly by 1940 occupation of the farm had changed to Charles Russell. This was immediately pre-war and comes within the recollection of some Dentonians still alive today. On Charles Russell's death his son Gerald took on the farm.
Eventually, however, the buildings became unoccupied and have now been so for some years. The land attaching to the farm is however still used for livestock pasture.
CHASE VIEW FARM & DOCTORS FARM.
Chase View Farm is few fields South of Denton Lodge Farm and the most Southerly farm in the parish. It it also the newest farm in respect of its name and buildings but it has a longer history than it seems at first sight.
Just to the West of the Chase View Farm buildings is a pond and site of an old barn. The field names map shows the name of the field in which they stand as Doctor's Close and before Chase View Farm existed Doctor's Farm stood on the same area covering an area of around 110 acres. It has not yet been possible to identify any owners or tenants of Doctor's Farm when it was under that name.
The relatively short history of Chase View Farm is, however, easier to track.The house at Chase View Farm was built in 1959/60 by John & Ruth Franks who had previously farmed at Station Farm in Horton parish, barely a mile further down the Horton Road. When John Franks died, in due course, Ruth remarried Alex Harding. In 1970 they sold the farm to John Frost who, with his wife, ran the farm (which a livestock only operation) until 1998 when, on his father's retirement, it was taken on by Tim Frost and his wife Jane. who are there to the present day.
MARKET GARDENING IN DENTON - THE NURSERIES
The Nurseries may not be a farm in the true sense of the word but are undoubtedly part of Denton's agricultural history.
The plot of just over 17 acres was originally part of the Grange Farm acreage and exactly when ownership was first divided off is difficult to date precisely.
However it is known the Nurseries went through the same changes in ownership as Grange Farm (detailed earlier) and therefore were up for auction in March 1923 when the Northampton Co-operative Society were looking to sell. The glasshouses were referred to as having been 'recently erected by Wm. Duncan Tucker & Sons Ltd'.
There were two tomato houses each 120ft x 27ft and a cucumber house 120ft x 12ft plus the market garden and pasture area to a total of 17.267 acres.
The details are worth reproducing in full and show the extent of the enterprise.
The GLASSHOUSES are erected on brick foundations, and fitted with slatted staging, forcing frames, water tanks, ventilating gear, and 4 in. heating pipes.
The brick-built and slated buildings comprise engine house, with 3 h.p. International petrol and oil engine, potting house house, storeroom, coke house, a 9ft. 8ins. No. 3 pattern 2 C ring joint Rochford tubular boiler and furnace, and large galvanised water tank.
There are also an old guard's van mess room, w.c., and 7-light forcing frame.
The MARKET GARDEN is in a high state of cultivation, and the following fruit trees, etc, are included in the sale, viz : -
1035 apple, 193 plum, 28 pear, 118 damson, 6 golden bullace, 600 black currant, 960 red currant, 300 gooseberry, 2000 raspberry, 2000 strawberry, and 59 bush rose trees.
The Narcissus bulbs (best varieties) straight from Holland, planted last autumn, the growing crops, acts of husbandry, pots, plants and poles in the Glasshouses to be taken by the Purchaser at a valuation.
It seems likely the property did not sell at the 1923 auction however as the Co-Op are still shown ás owners in 1926.
The Nursery must have sold eventually as in 1936 Robert Edgar Nevins Bramsden had taken over. Until this point is is likely that who ever was runnning the Market Garden was living elsewhere as there is no reference to any house or other permanent habitation being on the site. This may explain why Mr Bramsden cannot be found on Denton resident lists of the time. Again in 1940 a Louis Fisher is shown as a nurseryman in Denton - he may also have been an owner or manager living outside the parish.
In the 1970's however the business was in the hands of Charles Griffiths and he had a bungalow built on the site around 1969/70 which was occupied by his family and their son remains there to date following the deaths of Mr & Mrs Griffiths.
THE ELMS - DENTON’S CLAIM TO EQUINE FAME
The Elms, on the Horton Road just out of the main village, was originally a farm and latterly has had a long and rich history of success within the horseracing, training and breeding world.
In Kelly’s Directory 1869 The Elms is shown as being occupied by Charles Morris who can be found on the 1851 census and on the 1841 census his father, John Morris, is listed as a farmer so the Morris family may have been at The Elms for some time. Kelly’s Directory of 1885 shows a Joseph Morris occupying an un-named farm – possibly the son of Charles above? Up to this time it seems The Elms was farmed traditionally.  The main house is shown right as it is today. There are also substantial yards, stabling, bothy, separate cottage and accommodation for workers. The connection with the equestrian world arrived with the Bletsoe family who were in residence by 1898 and the 1901 census return shows us just what major employers the farms were in those days. As well as (John) Bernard Bletsoe there was his wife Maria and his four sons and 2 daughters ranging in age from 11 to 25. (A further son, also named John Bernard Bletsoe, was a trooper and mounted military policeman who had been killed in action during the Jameson Raid of 1896.)
In addition to the family there were a number of others in the household.
There were two young women in domestic service as cook and housemaid; rather intriguingly there was a house ‘visitor’, Sidney Phipps who was shown as an author.(The only reference found to his work is an article dated 30th November 1892 in a popular magazine of the time called ‘Chums’ which dealt with the subject of ‘Eugene Sandow – Boy’s Muscle’ referring to a legendary muscle man of this era.) Then there were no fewer than 9 people involved with the stables and land ranging from a farm manager down to a 14 year old stable lad. In all therefore the household comprised 20 people.
Bernard Bletsoe was the owner and trainer of Grudon, a very successful steeplechaser born at The Elms in 1890, sired by Old Buck, one of the Bletsoe’s noted stallions. In the early days he was used as a hunter by one of Bernard Bletsoe’s daughters. Grudon won 13 steeplechases in his career but his main claim to fame was that he ran 3 times in the Grand National. He finished seventh in 1898 and sixth in 1900, when he was ridden by Bernard Bletsoe’s son Morgan.
Then he won the race in 1901 at odds of 9/1 ridden by a well known jockey of the time Arthur Nightingall (this was his third National win). The race was run in a blinding snow storm and the tale is told that owner Bletsoe rubbed butter into the horse’s hooves to prevent the snow balling in them thus giving him better grip and an advantage over the rest of the field. Soon after his National win Grudon broke down and was retired to stud at The Elms.
Further Grand National success came to the Bletsoe family when son, Henry Bryan Bletsoe, won the 1908 Grand National on Rubio, a real outsider at odds of 66/1. This horse had an unusual training regime in that after a fall in an early race he was put to work pulling busloads of drinkers from the station to the Prospect Arms in Towcester. However this was not such a short-sighted move in that canny trainer Bletsoe had realised pulling the bus would help the horse’s damaged legs to recover.
Clearly Bernard Bletsoe had an excellent eye for a good horse as he owned and bred a great number of successful other horses including many bred from horses which, themselves, had had relatively unsuccessful careers.
The next occupants of The Elms were probably Walter Philip & Son who went there some time between 1920 and 1926. Little record of their period of tenure can be found but one insight into them comes from a lifelong Dentonian who does recall 'Gath' Philips and his rather 'modern' wife who sported an 'Eton crop' hair style, short skirts and rather more racy clothing than was normal at the the time.
Apparently Gath was also a flamboyant character. One Sunday morning in winter there had been a hard overnight frost followed by heavy rain which had immediately frozen leaving the roads covered in sheet ice. Gath celebrated by deciding to skate along the road all the way to Northampton and later reported it was perfectly icy all the way and only began to get a bit slushy at The Plough Inn which used to stand opposite Midsummer Meadow just before the sharp bend at Becket's Park. The Philips' period of tenancy must have been fairly short as in 1931 Cliff Beechener took over what was by now an established racing stables and he was to remain there for 43 years until 1974. There is also the possibility that during the six year period there may have been one or more other short term tenants.
By way of illustration as to the difficulties of tracing past records Whipple's directory of 1936 shows Cliff Beechener as being at The Elms on that date and this is consistent with a newspaper report dated 27th November 1974 saying he was retiring after 43 years there and so would have gone to The Elms in 1931. However Kelly's Directory, also of 1936 says a Major Kenneth William Milnes M.C was there in 1936. they can't both be correct and no-one seems to recall a Major Milnes - but some element of doubt is inevitable.
Mr Cliff Beechener was called the ‘guvnor’ and combined a successful training career with riding as an amateur jockey and he rode over 50 winners. His burning ambition however, was to follow Grudon’s example and win the Grand National. He rode in the race four times; twice on a horse called Holmes and twice on one called Schubert.
These two horses had contributed 20 of his 300 winners as a trainer and were probably his two best horses but he could not win the National on either of them. Schubert did however finish fourth, at odds of 100/1, in the first post-war race of 1946.
Perhaps equally notable in the many equestrian achievements of Cliff Beechener was the part he played in starting the career of one of racing’s greats. It was in 1952 when Beechener met up with a fellow jockey after Huntingdon races. The man’s 10 year old son was showing off his pony and Beechener asked him what he wanted to be - ‘A jockey’ came the immediate reply. ‘When do you want to start?’ asked Beechener – ‘next week’ the boy replied. ‘Fine’ said the trainer and the deal was done. That 10 year old who came to Denton was Josh Gifford - now MBE – a man who went on to be Champion jockey four times. He was a jockey for over 20 years riding no less than 642 winners including success in almost all of the leading races. He then had over 30 years as a top trainer before his retirement on 2003 when his trainer's licence passed to his son Nick who now runs the famous Findon yard.
The young man started his 3 year apprenticeship at The Elms living in the main house with Mr Beechener and his wife - he recalls that it was rather dark and only candlelit. The other, slightly older, stable lads lived in the outbuildings attached to the main house.He spent a couple of terms at Denton School but formal schooling came a distant second place to his main ambition to ride and much of his time was spent away riding and learning his trade. He did then have some education at Eaglehurst College, a private boys' school in Northampton and he recalls, with affection, going there on the bus with his friend from Denton, Robert Arrowsmith - who was in later life to run Grange Farm in the village. They also went together to cub scout meetings at Houghton and kept in touch during their later adult lives.
The young Gifford stayed at The Elms for 4 years before he left for a job at Newmarket at the grand old age of 14! Another well-known name who had a spell at the Elms was Bob Turnell who later became one of the leading trainers of all time and sadly died prematurely in 1982. Also recalled by Josh Gifford is Hugo Bevan who went on the become one of the best known clerks to many leading race courses, including Towcester.
Cliff Beechener meanwhile ceased training at Denton in 1968 to concentrate on the stud farm aspect of the business and had a high class stallion called Waterfall. However in the mid 1970’s economic depression hit the racing industry, and when Waterfall was recalled to Newmarket by his owner Cliff decided that, at the age of 72, it was time to call it a day and he retired in 1974. One of Cliff's other claims to fame was that he owned the first tractor in Denton, an Allis-Chalmers.
He was replaced as leaseholder for The Elms by Richard Bowers - another man with horses in his blood. His father was a keen horseman who encouraged his four sons and one daughter to ride from an early age. Richard couldn’t wait to leave school as he loved the horses much more than the school room and he left at age 14 to pursue a career riding and breaking young horses and at the same time enjoying being an enthusiastic point-to-pointer. However, he realised as he got older this lifestyle could not continue for ever and this led him to taking over The Elms in 1974 after Cliff Beechener retired. He continued the sequence of top quality stallions who stood at The Elms - Jupiter Island, Neltino and Netherkelly were some of the best together with Broadsword, owned by Lord Northampton.
The legendary Sir Peter O'Sullevan entrusted a great stallion he owned called Be Friendly when he was retired to stud having won the King's Stand Stakes at Ascot and the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. He also sent the little gelding Attivo, winner of the 1974 Triple Hurdle at Cheltenham to Richard Bowers care at The Elms for a time.
In January 2000 , shortly before his retirement after 25 happy years at Denton,
Richard Bowers won a prestigious award, the Duke of Devonshire Bronze, presented at the Thoroughbred Breeders Association Award Dinner. After his retirement he returned to his home village of Grendon and remains living there to the present time.
Shortly afterwards in August 2000 Stephen and Louise Kemble took over the lease of the stud farm with its 200 acres and run it to the present time. It continues to be in the forefront of British horse breeding activity with Louise Kemble holding the post of Chief Executive of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. Another record was claimed by The Elms in 2006. The mare Magical Romance had distinguished herself in September 2004 winning the £110,000 prize for the prestigious Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. Then in December 2006 she went to auction, consigned by Stephen and Louise Kemble on behalf of local owner, Con Wilson, and was sold, for a world record price at the time for a broodmare of £4,600,000 guineas, to the Rothschilds Waddeston Stud.
WAREING'S FARM.
Probably less is known about this olf farm then any of the other Denton farms despite the fact it is the nearest farm to the centre of the village. Most people are probably unaware of the fact that the attractive mullion windowed old house on the left hand side of Wareing Lane (heading towards the by-pass) was once a farm house. There are very few records however but it seems it was a relatively small farm probably just comprising just the immediate area round the house (where later there was Perrett's Yard and later still the 'new' Wareing Lane houses) plus a couple more fields to the South - now on the other side of the bypass which was, of course, not built then.
It is remembered to have been a mixed farm selling its butter, eggs and milk in the village -as did most of the small farms - and it is said to have been run at one time by Freddie Robinson, one of the many different Denton Robinsons. It is on the Compton Estate side of the village.
Incidentally the name Wareing or Wareings or Wareing's Lane is a bit of a mystery in that it appears at different times spelt in any one of the different ways above. Present road signs show Wareing Lane but the derivation is unknown. There is no record of any person with the name of Wareing in the area and the name does not appear at all until recent years. It is not in the 1901 census as one of the recorded streets so must have been known by another name. Sometime before 1936 however the name came into use.
VICARAGE BARN FARM
This predominantly brick-built house is at the top of Vicarage Lane. It was built by Lord Northampton's Estate in 1898, allegedly from the building materials left over a few years earlier on the completion of Compton House. It is, and always has been, an estate owned property.
Whilst it did have a small agricultural acreage it was occupied almost from its completion by Denton born William Smart and his family, who was there in 1901.William was aged 50 ,wife Esther, 53 and with them lived their oldest son Simeon, aged 28 his wife Rachel 29 plus their 2 year son William J. and finally the Smarts' younger son Edwin.
The family had an unhappy history as Esther died in June 1901 i.e. very soon after they came and in 1908 Simeon's wife Rachel died at age 36 leaving her husband with a 9 year old son. Simeon remarried in due course however and lived until 1952 when he died at the age of 79. his second wife Edith having pre-deceased him 6 years earlier.
William used Vicarage Farm House as a base for his successful business as a Drainage and Waterworks contractor. The remaining family stayed a long time and were still there in wartime in 1940 although by then William Smart had probably died (as he would have been 90 by then) and his younger son Edwin had taken over the now expanded business still under the name of William Smart and Son, now described as well sinkers, road, sewer and water works contractors. It seems Edwin was also working the small amount of attaching farmland as he is further described as a dairyman (and, incidentally, clerk to the Parish Council). Although almost all the farms had some milking cows most either supplied the Co-op direct in bulk or offered milk for sale at the farm door. Edwin Smart, however, had a cart that he took round the village on which hung 1pt and 1/2pt measures which were used to measure out the milk into customer's own jugs. He employed one worker on the farm but there would have been considerably more men employed on the contracting business. Indeed Smarts were probably one of Denton's larger employers said at one time to employ 28 men.
In due course the Smarts moved on and for a time the land was farmed as a small mixed farm and in 1953 Frank & Phyl Marshall moved there as new tenant of the Estate. Subsequently however the farming was incorporated into the land worked from Manor Farm and there have been a succession of later tenants of the estate there using the house purely as a private dwelling. In 1980 there was a small development of a few new houses in the area to the South of the house.
DENTON BARN
The final farm in the parish was Denton Barn Farm and again is a place many Dentonians pass regularly but may not know of its existence. It is right at the North tip of the parish on the left of the road approximately halfway between Denton and Whiston.It was presumably once owned by the church as it is on thechurch side of the brook but records cannot be traced of its history beyond the fact that Arthur William Woods spent a long time there - whether as owner or tenant is not known. He was there in 1910 and still there in 1940. He was married and had a son who both
 Eventually the farm buildings comprising a stone built house and with attaching yard and brick built barns, were abandoned and fell into disrepair. As pictured above they remain today as a derelict reminder of what was there before. The land formerly attaching is now farmed from Whiston.
FARMS FOR THE PEOPLE!
It would be negligent not to include a section on Denton's various allotments. Before the days of supermarket deliveries families had to be much more self-sufficient. The local farms supplied milk and butter etc but most Denton households had a well-tended garden - more geared to food production than creating a place to sit! Not only were the gardens important but a high proportion of families also had a separate allotment patch used for growing crops of all sorts and often including keeping some chickens and often a pig.
Church Close was field name for the area on the Whiston Road at the second bend on the left where an old established set of allotment gardens was located.As the name says there were allotments owned by the church.
A second area is behind 'The Maltings' - up the path betwen the Bungalow of that name and 'The Old Butcher's Shop' in Main Street. These allotments are in the ownership of Compton Esates and, sadly, only a few are cultivated at present - maybe this will change as the resurgence in self-sufficiency and organic foods continues. The third area where the some cultivation still takes place
is on the East side of the Horton Road just after the turn from the By-Pass. Interestingly these may be the oldest established as they are the only ones marked as 'allotments' marked on a map of 1884.They predate the building of the by-pass, of ocurse, and were originally quite large. They are on estate land.
There are then two areas where allotments used to exist but are now under housing. Firstly there was an area af 1.5 acres called Norman's or Narman's which stood on the North side of Northmapton Road running from just to the West of what is now Dove Cottage to the bend in Northampton Road where the 1960's houses start. The area ran back from the road towards the fishpond (where Fishponds Close is now). Finally the ground between the By-Pass and Northampton Road was once allotment gardens which became abandoned and then the area was built on in 1982 when the houses opposite the 1960's development were constructed. Intriguingly, although both these areas are to the 'church' side of the brook both were in the ownership of the Compton Estates.
THE AGRICULTURAL CENSUS OF 1952
An interesting insight into the type and variety of agriculture carried on by Denton farms can be found in the form of an agricultural census taken in June 1952. This gives a detailed breakdown of activity at the time. In summary 1211 acres were under crops and grass – the principal crops being wheat (158 acres), barley (138 acres), oats (68 acres) and mixed corn (46 acres) with grass for hay (158 acres) and a further 430 acres of grazing grass. The remaining 213 acres was made up of smaller areas of clover for mowing and grazing, fallow land and a variety of vegetables. On the livestock count cattle and calves totalled 337, pigs 149, sheep and lambs 534 with 1147 fowl and only 8 horses – that final number would surely have been very different a generation earlier.
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