Irchester

Irchester is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, 2 miles south-east of Wellingborough and 2 miles south-west of Rushden. The population at the 2011 Census was 4,745. Little Irchester and Knuston also lie in the parish.HistoryIrchester was spelt Yranceaster in 973 and Irencestre in the 1086 Domesday Book. A. D. Mills wrote that name was formed from the Old English personal name Ira or *Yra with the suffix ceaster denoting a Roman station, but another theory is that Iren Ceastre was an Anglo-Saxon name meaning "iron fortress". In the 11th century, it was spelt Erncestre or Archester and had evolved to Erchester by the 12th century.Chester FarmChester Farm is one mile north of the village of Irchester, with the A45 road to its south and the River Nene to the north. The area "represents a unique piece of historic landscape of high importance... preserving in a small area a wide range of historic features spanning several thousand years" and is a scheduled monument protected by law. Mesolithic flints have been found, with signs of later prehistoric settlement and a "nationally important" walled Roman town.The Roman name of the settlement has been lost, but evidence has been found of many buildings, a cemetery, occupation outside the town walls, and a causeway across the Nene floodplain. A Romano-Celtic temple was recorded inside the town boundary. Square-shaped, it faced south-east; its outer portico measured 38 feet square and the inner cella about 17 feet square. The walls were around two feet thick. The tombstone of a Strator Consularis - 'a transportation officer of the consular governor' - was also found at the town, and an inscription found at Irchester suggests evidence of an organised horse breeding operation.