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The village of Denton nestles in a dip of land formed by the brook which flows through its centre and which, historically, divided the village with the land one side being owned by the church and the other by Lord Northampton's family, the Compton Estate.
The village is able to retain a degree of peaceful charm as the main A428 trunk road from Bedford to Northampton, which used to wind rather hazardously through the village itself, had a bypass built in the early 1930s – one of the earliest villages to benefit from this, now more common, improvement.
The heart of the village centres round the village green overlooked by the church sitting impressively on higher ground to the South. The old school building with next door school house (used as the village primary school until 1982) remains, as do the original boys and girls separate playgrounds – still much used and enjoyed by the young of the community. The village pump survives as a legacy to ladies of the village who fought (almost literally) in the 1950's when the Water Authority, in its wisdom, decided the well water drunk by generations of villagers before mains supply was not suitable to leave in use and the pump needed to go!
The water trough constantly filled by the spring, and never having been known to run dry, was used in the past for replenishing steam vehicles as well as for animals to drink from. It is still well used for car washing and as a place for children to play and get suitably wet – indeed it is said to be a proper Denton resident you have to have been in the trough at least once – and many have!
An oak tree was planted on the green to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Victoria 28th June 1838. It is the one that now has a seat beneath and many years ago it had a circular fence all round it. There are thought to be few Victoria coronation trees - now over 170 years old - that remain.
Other commemorative trees also exist on the green. Further oaks commemorate the coronations of King Edward VII on 26th June 1902 and George V on 22nd June 1911. Much later a further tree was planted to commemorate when Charles was invested as Prince of Wales in 1969. The most recent addition is Copper Beech tree planted around a decade ago which was a prize won by Denton in a Tidy Village competition. It was planted by Edwin Cawley and Mrs Plaxton on behalf of the Parish Council. A further tree used to adorn the green, but was felled a few years ago as it was said to be diseased. It was a horse chestnut planted to acknowledge the retirement of schoolmaster, Mr George Battison around 1953.
The Red Lion, now the only pub remaining in the village, stands overlooking the green across to the attractive local stone houses and cottages crowned by the thatched Upper and Lower Gatehouses with the arch in between through which many a pair of coach horses would have passed in ancient times and which still sees a constant stream of passing feet from dog walkers and those who ascend the steep hill to the doctors' surgery, school or village hall.
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