Harpole

Harpole is a village 4 mi west of Northampton, in the West Northamptonshire district, in Northamptonshire, England, along the A4500 road (formerly the A45) about 1 mi east of the M1 Motorway junction 16. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1546.

The village's name means "filthy pool".

Governance
Prior to from 1974 to 2021 it was in the district council area of South Northamptonshire where it was part of Harpole and Grange ward, together with the parishes of Milton Malsor, Kislingbury, Rothersthorpe and Gayton. It was also in the area of Northamptonshire County Council and is in the Parliamentary Constituency of Daventry. The MP is currently Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative).

Geography and history
The M1 London to Yorkshire motorway junctions 16 and 15a are 2 mi west and 3 mi south of Harpole respectively. It is 69 mi north of London and 42 mi southeast of Birmingham.

A Roman mosaic floor uncovered in 1846-48 identifies the site of a Roman villa north of the village.

In April 2022 archaeologists found an Anglo-Saxon woman's grave, the Harpole bed burial, at a site in Harpole being developed for housing by Vistry. The discovery was announced in December 2022 and described as "the most significant early medieval female burial ever discovered in Britain".

Demographics
2001 census data shows 1,547 people resident in the Parish Council area consisting of 755 males and 792 females (the 2009 estimated population is 1,557 ), in 636 households, of which 82.6% were owner occupied or being purchased with a mortgage.

Village events
Harpole hosts a scarecrow weekend in September. There is also an event in December where Santa drives around the village, as in, following him.

Harpole bed burial
An early Christian Anglo-Saxon era burial site of a woman of high social standing was found in Harpole in spring 2022.