About Whilton

Whilton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. The population at the 2011 Census was 271. The village is in West Northamptonshire. Whilton is 75 miles (121 km) northwest of London, 9.75 miles (15.7 km) west of Northampton and 15.5 miles (24.9 km) southeast of Rugby. The village lies 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of the nearest town of Daventry. The nearest railway station is at Long Buckby for the Northampton loop of the West Coast Main Line which runs between Rugby, Northampton and London. The nearest airport is Birmingham Airport. Whilton gives its name to the nearby Whilton Locks and Whilton Marina on the Grand Union Canal.

The village's name means 'Wheel farm/settlement', either alluding to the circular hill on which the village stands or the bending course of the stream here.

Whilton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1068, where it is listed under the name of ‘Woltone’. The main tenant landowner was Robert, Count of Mortain who was the half-brother to William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy and later king William I of England.

Whilton gives its name to a book described as a Social-Legal Study of Dispute Settlement in Medieval England, called 'The Whilton Dispute, 1264 to 1380', written by Robert C Palmer, in which the Whelton family was engaged. The Mortimer & Montgomery families were also involved.

Amenities

The nearby Whilton Marina is close to Whilton Locks on the Grand Union canal. It was dug out in 1971 by the Steele family who still own and operate the business. The marina has over 200 moorings. The village also has a karting track nearby called Whilton Mill.