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Woodford Halse is a village in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire in England, and is situated about 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Daventry and 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Banbury. The village is one of three in the parish of Woodford cum Membris, the others being Hinton and West Farndon; these are separated from Woodford Halse by the infant River Cherwell. The parish as a whole had a population of 3,456 at the 2001 census; Woodford Halse on its own accounted for less than half of this figure, Hinton being the largest of the three villages. West Farndon lies on the route on the Jurassic Way long distance footpath. Woodford Halse also contains a primary school, Woodford Halse C of E School. The school has one of the largest playing fields of any Northamptonshire school, and holds an annual cross-country race, attracting over 700 competitors from more than thirty schools.
The village can trace its origins back to Domesday when there were "two serfs and one bondswoman and eleven villeins". Until the 19th century it was a farming community (you can see the evidence of medieval "ridge and furrow" in fields around the village). Later the Enclosures of the mid-18th century that gave us the patterns of fields we still see today,. The villages of Woodford Hinton and Farndon had links to the Spencers (John Spencer bought the manor of Hinton in 1510) and later to the Drydens at Canons Ashby.
The oldest building we see in the village today is the Church of St Mary. It dates, at least in part to the 12th century. Other stone houses around High Street, Parsons Street, South Street, School Street and Pool Street can trace their histories back to the late 1600's.
The village became notable for the role it played as an important railway centre. Originally it seemed destined not to have a railway at all, as the nearest stations were at Byfield (about two miles west), and Moreton Pinkney (three miles south-east), both on the East and West Junction Railway (later part of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway), opened in July 1873, and no other lines seemed likely to be built in such a thinly populated area. However, in the late 1890s the village found itself on a major trunk route, the Great Central Railway (GCR), the last main line to be constructed from the north of England to London (Marylebone), opened in March 1899. The station was originally called Woodford & Hinton, but was renamed Woodford Halse in November 1948.
As well as making connections with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway, there was also an important section built to connect the GCR with the Great Western Railway at Banbury. A major locomotive depot and marshalling yards were also sited at Woodford Halse – plans to construct carriage sheds there too were dropped. Several rows of terraced dwellings to house the railway workers were built, together with a street of shops. This gave a small village an industrial look that seemed alien to its surroundings. The parish's population eventually peaked at just under 2,000, at which time Woodford Halse had its own cinema.
The GCR was, at times, a busy route and the depot and yards at Woodford Halse were a hive of activity, but not busy enough to ensure survival when the Beeching Axe closures of the 1960s took place. It was originally hoped that the line south of Woodford Halse to Aylesbury would remain open. The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway had already closed in April 1952 and, in September 1966, most of the GCR was closed, including all the lines converging on Woodford Halse. All tracks and most railway buildings were cleared leaving behind a wasteland. The population fell sharply, as many former railway workers and their families left the area, but new developments in later decades have increased it. Where the GCR's line, depot and yards were sited is now a tree plantation and a small modern industrial estate. Woodford Halse is once again a quiet place where visitors may still see evidence of its railway past.
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