Badby, Northamptonshire

Badby is a village and a rural parish of about in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England.LocationBadby is about 2 miles south of Daventry, on the A361 Daventry to Banbury road, which still follows the route of the Lutterworth-Daventry-Banbury turnpike as approved in 1765. The parish is bisected west to east, at about 395ft above sea level, by the upper reaches of the River Nene. The village is mainly south of the river, where the land rises to Badby Down at 610ft.DemographicsIts population has fluctuated between 450 and 625 from 1801 to 1971, with a low point of 410 in 1901, then to a high of 720 in 1991 and back through 645 in 2001 to 632 in the censuscensus] as average occupancy fell due to house prices increasing and a resulting older population.NameBadby is spelt in various ways since Saxon times, through the Norman period, until printing stabilised it in the present form. Badby, Badbye, Baddebi, Baddeby, Badebi and Badeby are all found. Baddanbyrg or Baddan Byrig were used in the 944 AD charter, but these more likely refer specifically to Arbury Hill (see below).HistoryThere are several mediaeval charters referring to the area around Badby, but some are suspect. The land around Badby and Newnham changed hands frequently as the swirling forces of Mercia and the invading Danes ebbed and flowed across middle England.