an enclosure act for Hellidon, for which it was surveyed in 1775. There the earlier Middle Field was marked as Hill Field and Short Attle Field simply as Attle Field. On Windmill Hill a tower mill was built in the late 18th or early 19th century. By 1973 it was derelict, but it has since been restored as an ancillary building for the Windmill Vineyard planted around it. A Hellidon friendly society called the Institute, founded in 1805 still existed to mark its centenary in 1905. The earliest record of a post office is from 1847. The first postmaster was John Wells, who described himself as a shoemaker in the 1841 Census, but a shopkeeper in 1849. By 1854 he appeared as "Postmaster and Letter Receiver". The Grange, designed by William Butterfield and built for Rev. C. S. Holthouse, has a small core of an older house that Holthouse bought. The enlargement took place in 1850 and again in 1861. It is a Grade II* listed building. Hellidon's highest recorded population was 449 in 1861. In August 1904 a fire in Cox's Lane destroyed three thatched cottages. Railways The Great Central Main Line from Yorkshire to was built in the 1890s. It passed through the eastern edge of the parish in the Catesby Tunnel, and was completed in 1897. One of the tunnel's five air shafts is in the parish. Goods traffic commenced in 1898 and the nearest passenger station opened in March 1899 at , about south-east of Hellidon. The station was closed in March 1963 and the line in September 1966. From 1917 until 1961 the Park Gate Iron and Steel Company had a quarry about south of the village, on the boundary with Charwelton parish. From there it ran a mineral railway down the Cherwell valley to take ironstone to the main line at Charwelton station. A steam locomotive called Charwelton was built for the line in 1917, worked it until 1942, and is now preserved on the Kent and East Sussex Railway. Notable person George Harry Dury (1916–1996), geographer and hydrologist, was born at Hellidon. Amenities Hellidon has a public house, the Red Lion. In January 2019 it still had a post office. References Sources External links Civil parishes in Northamptonshire Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District