Raunds

Raunds is a  market town in North Northamptonshire, England. It had a population of 9,379 at the 2021 census.

Geography
Raunds is situated 21 mi north-east of Northampton. The town is on the southern edge of the Nene Valley and surrounded by arable farming land.

Nearest civilian airports are Luton 50 miles and East Midlands 65 miles.

Raunds is close to Stanwick Lakes, a country park developed from gravel pits and managed by the Rockingham Forest Trust. This park is internationally recognised for its birdlife and can be reached on foot from Raunds along Meadow Lane bridleway.

On 9 August 1911 Raunds recorded 36.7 C, then the highest temperature recorded in the UK. The town jointly held the record with Canterbury, Kent for 79 years, only being broken in 1990.

History
In the mid-1980s, during sand excavations in the Nene Valley, the remains of a Roman villa were discovered. Excavation of the area, near Stanwick, was delayed by several years while archaeologists studied the remains. In 2002 Channel 4's Time Team excavated a garden and found remains of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery.

The place-name Raunds is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of c. 972–992, where it appears as Randan. It appears as Rande in Domesday Book (1086); and as Raundes in a later survey of Northamptonshire. The name is the plural of the Old English rand, meaning "border".

Raunds played a role in the boot and shoe industry until its decline in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1905 a dispute arose about wages to be paid to army bootmakers, which culminated in a march to London in May that year. Several factories remained into the early 1990s but all are now closed, with many being demolished and housing estates built. The Coggins boot factory was the last to go, and the site of it is now Coggins Close. The land on which the shoe factory and the original Coggins houses stood (not Coggins Close), was purchased by Robert Coggins on 25 February 1899 from the Duchy of Lancaster, for the sum of £14.10s.0d (£14.50). The houses are still there, but were sold to Charles Robinson of Wellingborough in 1934. Robert Coggins lived in the hall where his picture hangs in the meeting room, and he is buried in St Peter's Churchyard. There is no industry in the town now, although there are some industrial sites on the outskirts.

Raunds once held the record for the highest temperature in Britain at 36.7 °C, set on 10 August 1911, which stood until 1990.

Notable buildings
The Historic England website contains details of a total of 19 listed buildings and six scheduled monuments at or in the vicinity of Raunds. Amongst them are:
 * St Peter's Church, Church Street.
 * The Manor House, 2 Manor Street.

St Peter's, CoE is in the Diocese of Peterborough and St Thomas More's, RC is in the Diocese of Northampton.

Demography

 * In 1801 there were 800 persons
 * In 1831 there were 1,370 persons
 * In 1841 there were 1,653 persons
 * In 2011 there were 8,641 persons
 * In 2021 there were 9,379 persons

Road
Raunds is adjacent to the A45 and close to the A14 jct 13. Access to the M1 and A1 is close and the A14 runs from Britain's largest container port at Felixstowe in Suffolk to join the M6. Consequently, the area attracts distribution companies warehouses.

Bus
Bus services are limited, the X46 links the town with Wellingborough, Rushden and Northampton, running hourly. There are intermittent routes to Huntingdon and a local service termed the 'Raunds Rover'.

Rail
Connections are provided by East Midlands Railway from Wellingborough and Kettering railway stations, for direct trains to London St Pancras International, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.

There was once a Raunds railway station, on the Midland Railway's cross-country line from Kettering to Huntingdon, closed in September 1959, and which gave access to St Ives and Cambridge, though Raunds station was sited $1 1/2$ miles from the town. It was also planned that the Midland's Wellingborough to Higham Ferrers branch, also closed in 1959, would continue to Raunds, but landowners prevented it.

The Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (the forerunner of the Great Central), proposed a line from Doncaster to Raunds in an early version of its bid to build a trunk line to the capital. This line never came to fruition, and the company eventually built its London Extension via Nottingham, Leicester, Rugby and Brackley.

Waterways
Stanwick Lakes are within walking or cycling distance of Raunds, and river ways connect to the Nene Valley river section. By boat, Oundle can be reached in a day. The Nene Valley river section connects to the Middle Level Navigation System, making it possible to reach Cambridge and Peterborough. The nearest marina is Willy Watt's in Ringstead, Northamptonshire.

Trade
There are many small businesses and many people commute to larger centres for work. Raunds is home to a Hotpoint distribution centre, and depots for Robert Wiseman Dairies, Avery Dennison, DPD, Howdens Joinery and Dr. Martens, all located on the Warth Park estate. Raunds Co-operative Society ran a supermarket and department store and had 4,000 members until 2007 when it merged with the larger Midlands Co-operative Society. There is also an Asda store in the town, which opened on 24 April 2017. The shops still operate.

A market is held on Fridays in the square. Regular stalls include butchers, plant stockists, home-made jewellery and confectioners. Local organisations and clubs can also set up a stall.

Education
Raunds has:
 * a day nursery
 * a playgroup
 * an infant school
 * a primary school
 * a junior school
 * a secondary school,

Culture
Raunds holds an annual music festival over a weekend in early May. Events include: rock, jazz and folk concerts starring nationally and internationally known artists, performances by Raunds Community Choir and Raunds Temperance Band, song and tune sessions, dancing displays, a ceilidh and an annual youth dance competition.

Raunds Music and Drama Society (MADS) holds several stage performances throughout the year.

The town holds a Christmas festival in the square. Continental markets are held annually to celebrate neighbouring countries.

Woodbine Working Men's Club (1901-2005) and the Conservative Club (1920 to date) have offered community and recreational facilities.

For the past few years, an annual beer festival has been held at the cricket club. This features a range of local beers and ciders, as well as traditional world beverages, accompanied by local music artists.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter.

The town’s local radio stations are BBC Radio Northampton on 103.6 FM, Heart East on 96.6 FM and Smooth East Midlands (formerly Connect FM) on 97.2 FM.

Local newspapers are the Northampton Herald & Post' and Northamptonshire Telegraph''.

Football
Raunds Town F.C. are at Kiln Park and play in the United Counties League. As well as the first team, they also have reserve, women's and youth teams. Raunds Tigers F.C. focus on junior football and have several youth teams.

Cricket
Raunds Town Cricket Club have a ground in Marshalls Road. The team plays in the Northamptonshire Cricket League.

Archery
Archers of Raunds meet at Manor School and Sports College.

Mayors of Raunds


In 2005, Raunds Town Council decided to elect a Mayor rather than having a chairman of the council.

Holders of the post have been:
 * 2005-06: Lisa Costello
 * 2006-07: Dudley Hughes
 * 2007-08: Michelle Goring
 * 2008-10: Peter Wathen
 * 2010-13: Michael Clements
 * 2013-14: Pauline Williams
 * 2014-15: Louisa Thomas
 * 2015-17: Helen Howell
 * 2017-18: Nicholas Beck
 * 2018-20: Richard Levell
 * 2020-22: Sylvia Hughes
 * 2022-23: Richard Levell
 * 2023- : Paul Byrne

Saxon Ward

 * Bill Cross
 * Ollie Curtis
 * Helen Howell
 * Dudley Hughes
 * Magdalena Levell
 * Lee Wilkes

Windmill Ward

 * Rosalie Beattie
 * Paul Byrne (Mayor)
 * Kirk Harrison
 * Richard Levell
 * Trevor Swailes
 * Vacancy

Notable former residents

 * Ada Salter (1866–1942), environmentalist
 * Sir David Frost (1939–2013), television personality

Nearby settlements
Ringstead, Keyston, Stanwick, Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Thrapston, Hargrave, Wellingborough, Irthlingborough, Chelveston