Boughton is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is situated approximately from Northampton town centre along the A508 road between Northampton and Market Harborough. The parish area straddles both sides of the road, but the main part of the village is to the east. Boughton is on the northern fringe of the Northampton urban area and, together with the neighbouring village of Moulton, is an area for the expansion of the town. History Etymology Boughton has been recorded under various names, including Buchenho, Buchetone, Buchedone and Bochetone during the 11th century. This evolved into Boketon, Buketone and Buckton between the 12th and 15th centuries. The name is reportedly deriven from the Anglo-Saxon Bucca meaning 'he-goat' farm, presumably referencing farming practices that once existed in the village. However, there is also evidence of Prehistoric and Roman settlements close to the modern centre of the village and in the surrounding area. Historical A Bronze Age bowl barrow was found to the west of the A508 and the site is a Scheduled Monument. Archaeological finds in the south of the adjacent field have yielded both pottery and worked flints of Bronze Age type. An unscheduled barrow exists at Bunkers Hill to the north east of the village, within Boughton parish. In the Domesday Book, Boughton was described as a village comprising 39 households in the hundred of Spelhoe; the landlord of the estate following the Norman Conquest was Countess Judith of Lens, niece of William the Conqueror. While there has been little physical evidence, the Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record documents the presence of a possible Norman motte and bailey castle within the current Pocket Park, although it is unlikely to have been maintained long after the 11th century. Medieval During the medieval period, an early settlement existed around the now deserted Boughton Green to the east of the parish. A concentration of Neolithic arrowheads and Iron Age pottery has also been found around Boughton Green. The surviving fragments of St John's Church are to the north of the Green. The church has been in ruins since at least 1757, and was significantly damaged further in 1784 when the spire collapsed. Boughton Green was also once the site of a substantial three-day annual fair dating from at least 1353 when, to this end, Sir Henry Greene was granted a royal charter by Edward III. The fair was popular into the