Population and work

Today the latest census figures show Denton Parish as having a population of 744 people (2021).

How does this compare with earlier years?

Listed below are to the totals for each census:

1801  -  378             1811  -  379                     1821  -  475                  1831  -  527

1841  -  557             1851  -  595                     1861  -  578                  1871  -  619

1881  -  547             1891  -  487                     1901  -  439                  1911  -  416

1921  -  381             1931  -  414                     1941  -  not available    1951  -  449

1961  -  414             1971  -  650                     1981  -  779                  1991 - not available

2001 -  767              2011  -  739                     2021  -   744

This displays a pattern of quite volatile numbers and it is difficult to interpret the underlying causes. Obviously in the more recent years the construction of new housing is clearly reflected.  Major developments comprising new houses on Northampton Road, The Leys, Leys Close,  Grange Close, Fishpond Close and Dovecote Drive took place in the period between 1961 -1971 and these 90 or so extra houses would have added say 230 to the Denton population.

Similarly the Bridge Meadow development of around 35 houses was completed in 1976/7 and being, on average, larger houses they may have added just over 100 more people in the years between 1971 and 1981.

The line of the houses on the North side of Northampton Road were built by Northampton builders Adkins and Shaw in the early 1960's whilst the older houses on the same road further towards the centre of the village were originally council houses (although most are now privately owned) and were built just before the Second World War in 1938/9.    

In fact the Chronicle and Echo newspaper reported in 1970 that in the early 1960s Denton had between 140 and 150 houses and so the total of around 100 new ones built in that decade increased Denton’s size by around two-thirds.

A SNAPSHOT OF SOCIAL HISTORY

Census returns allow an insight into how much life has changed over the last, say, 100 years. A comparison between the information shown on the 1901 census and the present day gives a graphic picture of just how much change there has been.

Of the 439 total in 1901 just under one-third (138) were aged under 18, compared with now when out of the 136 total 744 are under 18, meaning that roughly 1 in 5 are under 18. This clearly reflects the trend towards smaller family units over the years partly because the rate of mortality in early years is now much lower than 100 years ago.

When it comes to those working we can only look at the 1901 figures as present statistics are not publicly available. However we know that 189 of the 311 over 18 year olds in 1901 were gainfully employed - today with a lot more older people this proportion is likely to be lower.

However out of these 189, no less than 160 were male and only 29 female - that split today would be very different indeed!

Even more different would be the nature of employment. It seems unbelievable to us that over half of those in work in 1901 were engaged on the land as farmers or agricultural workers of some kind - in today's world of mechanisation the number could probably be counted on the fingers of two hands!  There were 97 out of 189 workers employed on the land in one way or another.

Of the remaining 92 Denton residents shown as in work in 1901 there were 16 engaged in stone masonry or bricklaying, 15 in domestic service, 14 general labourers and 10 involved in the boot and shoe industry with the rest spread across many other activities including publicans, clergy, schoolteachers, dressmakers, carpenters, tailors, lacemakers, shopkeepers, carriers and hawkers.

If one were compiling a similar list today no more than a handful of present residents would have employment under these headings. It is reasonable to assume almost all working Denton villagers would have worked within the parish as transport would still have been mostly by horse or on foot. What a change today when, apart from an increase in number of homeworkers in the last decade on the back of the development of computers and E-Bay, the vast majority of village residents work elsewhere, most in nearby towns but many much further afield.

Equally as different would be the proportion of people living in Denton who were born there. In 1901 of the total 439 residents no less than two-thirds (289) were born in the village. It would be very interesting , but probably impractical, to find out today's figure -  but one thing is certain, it would be only a fraction of what it was.

Whilst of interest, these statistics do no more than reflect the change in social trends nationally, and what is  important is that those living in Denton value and appreciate their community ás much today as records suggest they did in the year Queen Victoria died and Edward V11 came to the throne. 

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE -FAMOUS FOR ITS BOOTS AND SHOES.

 Statistics from census returns can generally be regarded as accurate and complete as they are official documents but when looking at information separated by decades it can hide short term trends.

A good example is found in the boot and shoe trade on which much of Northamptonshire's fame and fortune was based. Eminent local historian Victor Hatley prepared a statistical analysis of Shoemakers of Northamptonshire - 1762 -1911 which shows the following.

In 1841, Denton had just 6 residents working in the boot and shoe industry and this had only increased to 11 by 1851. However in the next decade  the numbers grew greatly so by 1861 there were no less than 47 . Furthermore it was a decade when,  for some reason,  population had actually decreased from 595 to 578.

So can we find out the reason for this? Northamptonshire already had a long history of shoemaking dating back to the mid -18th Century. This was centred around the larger centres of population such Northampton, Wellingborough and  Kettering. Demand was high as, apart from domestic consumption, large quantities of boots and shoes were needed during the American War of Independence 1775 -83. Later, other conflicts such as the 1793 war with Revolutionary France and The Napoleonic Wars of 1799 -1815 kept demand for supply of military footwear high and bolstered the industry locally.

Merchants found the London based makers were beginning to charge over the odds and hence started seeking alterntive sources of manufacture further afield and,as Northamptonshire had a good system of turnpiked roads (whose surfaces were better for commercial transport than lesser roads), it was a natural area to be developed (see Roads and transport). Gradually the capacity for production in the towns alone became insufficient and so the system of 'outworking' developed. This involved the manufacturer having an arrangement with individuals in outlying villages whereby stocks of material were regularly delivered by carrier, worked on at the home of the craftsman, and then the finished items were collected and taken back to the employer's premises for sale and despatch. In those days shoemaking was still very much a hand process and so lent itself well to this system of manufacture. Carriers were often also shown 'shoe agents' which meant they conveyed the materials and, later, finished goods to and fro.

Available labour seemed no problem either as there had become an oversupply of men of working age in the rural villages and those who were working on the land were tempted by the potentially less physical work and better pay the shoe industry offered.

A local estate agent and surveyor, writing in 1852, said :

"The present flourishing state of the shoe trade, which is the chief manufacture of the county, tends to keep up the price of agricultural labour, is evident from the great number of youths, who, tempted by better wages, desert the land for the last"

Indeed it seems that quite a lot of younger workers entered the trade as the figure for Denton in 1861 shows that, of the 47 total (39 male and 8 female), 12 were under the age of 18. Exactly how they were trained on how to become proficient is something of a mystery but most likely they were taught by their parents or other established local workers in the industry. 

However things were to change significantly in the succeeding years. Mechanisation of the shoemaking process came about and these machines were housed in the large new factories being built in the towns. Outworking was in decline and instead of the work coming out to the villages the villagers would have had to travel to the town if they were to continue in the trade. Although the railway had opened by then, in 1872, motorised bus transport would not have been in existence so it may have forced some people to move from the villages to the town which could be an explanation for the total population figures (per table above) showing a decrease each decade from 1871 through to the post First World War period in 1921.

So Denton folk employed in the shoe trade numbered 11 in 1851 and this total was virtually unchanged at 10  in 1901, half a century later. However in between there was a whole story to tell and at one time it is clear boots and shoes were a major product of Denton village.

DENTON WOODS

Timber came from the area as well - there were more mixed woodlands in those days offering both softwood and hardwoods but the main timber around Denton was oak.  In 1770 at the time of the Inclosure Act (See Ancient history) half of the whole parish was covered by woodland or common and waste ground. By 1901 the proportion of woodland had reduced greatly but Yardley Chase in the South East corner of the parish still has several hundred acres of woodland  much of which is within the Ministry of Defence training area. Around 1930 there was a major felling of Denton Woods to provide good English Oak and this was done by a firm from the Gloucester area and the timber was taken out by rail back to the Forest of Dean. It was a fairly contentious issue at the time.

Denton Woods before the felling were particularly beautiful, and on Easter Monday Bank holiday a char-a-banc was arranged to bring people in from Northampton to see the magnificent display of primroses there. Local Denton man Jack Jones had an ice cream making machine and he used to go to the wood and do a good trade from his cart.

Denton residents have a long established right, agreed with the owners Compton Estates, to walk along certain specific ridings in Denton Woods which are nor public rights of way. The old stipulation is that under no circumstances are dogs permitted to be taken. A map of the paths in question (seen right - double click to enlarge) shows these paths.