Kilsby

Kilsby is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire, England. It is situated a short distance south of the border with Warwickshire approximately five miles southeast of Rugby.

Kilsby
Kilsby Main Road
Kilsby Location within Northamptonshire
Population	1,221 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SP562712
Civil parish	Kilsby
District	Daventry district
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RUGBY
Postcode district	CV23
Dialling code	01788
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Daventry

According to the 2001 census Kilsby had a population of 1,221, including Barby Nortoft but decreasing to 1,196 at the 2011 census.[1] The village has grown moderately since the 1960s, with a mix of new housing developments and a degree of in-filling. It retains a historic core of attractive buildings including some fine examples of Northamptonshire rubble stone construction, and a number of thatched properties. A Conservation area was designated in the village in 2018, and many of the village's more attractive properties are listed for their historic interest.

Amenities include an Ofsted "Good" rated primary school, two pubs, The Red Lion and The George (currently closed) and two churches - Church of England and URC. The Village also has a volunteer-run, community-owned shop in the car park of the Red Lion pub. This warm community spirit is also evident in a number of thriving community groups, including Womans Institute, Brownies, Girl Guides, as well as a good neighbour community support scheme born out of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and the Kilsby Kronicle village newspaper.

The parish's eastern side is bounded by the old route of the Roman Watling Street, and the village itself is sited on the crossing of two former mediaeval drove-routes.[2] It gives its name to the Kilsby Tunnel on the West Coast Main Line. The tunnel measures 1 mile 666 yards (2,216 m). Between 1881 and 1960, the village used to have a railway station Kilsby and Crick station but this was on the Northampton Loop about a mile (1.5 km) from the village.

The village is circa 10 minutes from both Long Buckby and Rugby stations, the latter offering direct services into London Euston in 49 minutes.

One of the village's more unusual claims to fame is that the A361 road terminates here at a junction with the A5. The A361 runs to Ilfracombe in Devon making it the longest 'three-digit' road in Britain. A consequence of these roads is that the majority of through traffic bypasses the heart of the village ensuring the main road through the village is relatively quiet.

Kilsby's name comes from Anglo-Saxon cildes + old Norse býr, literally meaning "child's dwelling", but "child" here probably means "young nobleman".[3] Its church, St Faith's, may originally have been the daughter chapel of the neighbouring parish of Barby.

"Kilsby Jones" is the name by which James Rhys Jones is usually known. He was a Welsh congregationalist minister and writer in Kilsby from 1840 to about 1850, when he moved to Birmingham.[4]