As I walked through the High Street of Duddington village on the morning of the 30th of October, 2025 - a Thursday - I encountered a number of displays for Halloween!

We visited Tixover on Sunday 26th October, 2025 - around 1 pm. The clocks have just changed so the UK is now back on GMT. We are staying in Market Overton for five-days (25.10.2025-3010.2025) - sponsored by Diane Wyles. Tixover Lodge is a working farm with about ten houses attached. Perhaps it is a hamlet - but the road into the place - just over the bridge at the West-end of Duddington, literally runs-out into a dirt-track where St Luke in the Field Church is located. This is a church built on a field surrounded by a rectangular stone-wall. We last visited around 2009 (but we seem not to have photographed or filmed) as a small number of "Wyles" people have either lived here - or married someone from here. I think there are two adjacent places similarly named just up the road as "Tixover Grange" and *Tixover Lodge" - the former I think is a small row of houses (I have a dim memory of visiting some time ago). 

When we visited around 2009 - we had to acquire the church-key from the local farm. At that time, the church appeared to be locked. However, upon this visit in 2025, a sign on the church-door stated that the church is always open during day-light hours. Perhaps so few people visit - or when we visited - it was a time of year when few people visit. Even today - I think many might be put-off by the rather rustic nature of the dirt-track - as any approaching vehicle would require a stout suspension. The inside of the St Luke's Church is very simplistic and austere - what would be expected from a "Protestant" church following the stripping of the altars in the early 1500s. The attitude of the Anglican Church is that simplicity - free of the clutter of Papism - allows the average practitioner to commune with their "god" in a more direct manner.

I was surprised to see this level of destruction in this beautiful and usually sedate village (in the High Street between Todd's Hill and Todd's Barn) - but of course - I do not live their today despite my ancestors being present in the place over the last four or five-hundred years (and perhaps longer). Over the week between July 26th - August 2 (2025) - we visited the village of Duddington many times as a matter of historical and genealogical research. In many ways - this was a pivotal time that has added substantial data to our records. I have emailed the building company involved (with no reply) - and have also emailed the Planning Department of the North Northants Council - again, with no reply. Of course, the owners of the property can do what they want - just as we are free to report on it. We can only hope that something good will come from it all.

I visited Duddington village on a daily basis between July 26th - August 2, 2025. I tried to explore every area over this time, photographing and videoing as I go along. The purpose of this is to use our ever-improving camera technology to improve our archive of Duddington footage. We have been performing this documentary function since around 2008 - and even so - by looking at Duddington via Google Earth - we have discovered to old lanes that we have not yet explored after all this time! Rest assured, these areas will be explored during our next visit. Meanwhile, whilst walking just passed the Manor House (on the corner with Todd's Hill) I was startled and surprised to see what I think was a row of old houses completed demoished with building machinery resting upon the rumble!

The videos and photographs on this post were taken during the evening of the 30.7.2025. Opposite the Manor House - depicted above - there is the impressive "Old Stage Coach House". This looks like a place that might have served the Lord of the Manor - looking after horses, carriages, and staff, etc, or perhaps it served the entire community as an Inn. Of course, this building could have carried-out both these functions simultaneously. The above video and photographs were recorded on the 30.7.2025. The below photographs were taken on the 31.7.2025 -  whilst video was recorded on the 30.7.2025.

I have emailed the building firm, to enquire as to the nature of the work it is currently undertaking. As many of the buildings in Duddington are Grade II listed buildings - I was taken aback with the destruction that I saw. It could be the case that some type of improvement is being carried-out - but from the nature of the total destruction - it is difficult to see what type of improvement it could be. On the other hand, for planning permission to be granted by North Northants Council - certain strict building rules must be followed. I will update this post if I receive a reply.

I was walking around Duddingyon village at 18:45 hrs on Tuesday July 29th - 2025. I had a sense it was good - and immediately sent a copy to Gee who was in the Highfield area of (North) Duddington - looking after Kai-Lin who was enjoying herself in the play-ground. This was taken with my Honor X6 mobile telephone camera - which is excellent! There were a few takes before and after - but this central effort (which I think is the best picture I have taken involving a broad interpretation of Duddington) - seems to be perfectly balanced - like a Zen painting. Perhaps we night call this picture the "Zen of Duddington" or "Duddington Zen"! Either way, this picture records St Mary's Church as being a majestic centre-piece of the village! 

We stayed in Easton-on-the-Hill for a week between Saturday July 26yj - Saturday August 2nd - 2025. This allowed boots-on-the-ground, so-to-speak, every single day! We visited Duddington once or twice a day - using our up-to-date cameras to produce superb (new) videos and photographs. We are always going over our previous work - creating layers of clarity and new discoveries. Even so, we have since discovered two lanes we have never explored - which are tucked away - and not explored by the Ordnance Survey of 1988. As this has served as the blue-print for our explorations - we did not know of these tucked away areas. Gee discovered these areas whilst accessing Google Earth when researching the Duddington Royal Observer Corps Bunker which was closed in 1991 (more on that in a later post). Interestingly, St Mary's Church was visited and listed on the 27.5.1967 - just one-week before I was born during the Summer of love!

The Following is the Ordnance Survey of St Mary's Church discovered by Diane Wyles - taken on the 23,5,1967:

St Mary’s Church 1967
 
Home: England Northamptonshire Duddington-with-Fineshade
Church of St Mary
A Grade II* Listed Building in Duddington-with-Fineshade, North Northamptonshire
Longitude: -0.5432 / 0°32'35"W
OS Eastings: 498774
OS Northings: 300884
OS Grid: SK987008
Mapcode National: GBR FWG.1JD
Mapcode Global: WHGM2.MZKM
Plus Code: 9C4XHFW4+PP
Entry Name: Church of St Mary
Listing Date: 23 May 1967
Last Amended: 31 March 1988
Grade: II*
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1040104Heritage tourism packages
English Heritage Legacy ID: 232955
Also known as: St Mary's Church, Duddington
ID on this website: 101040104
Location: St Mary's Church, Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
County: North Northamptonshire
Civil Parish: Duddington-with-Fineshade
Traditional County: Northamptonshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Northamptonshire
Church of England Parish: Duddington St Mary
Description
DUDDINGTON CHURCH STREET
SK9800 (North side)
9/90 Church of St. Mary
23/05/67
GV II*
Church. Mid and late C12, C13, C14, chancel rebuilt, and church restored c.1844
by Bryan Browning. Regular coursed and squared coursed limestone, part rendered,
with lead and Collyweston slate roofs. Aisled nave, chancel, south parch, north
vestry and south-east tower. South elevation of chancel of 2-window range of C19
lancet windows with 2-stage buttress between; similar buttress at corner. Gabled
roof with Collyweston slates and ashlar parapet with finial. C19 three-light
east window set in a plate surround with shafts. Shallow flanking buttresses and
buttress below the window are from the original chancel. C19 quatrefoil circle
in apex of gable. North elevation of chancel of 4 bays, 3-window range of lancet
windows, all similar to south elevation. Bay to far right is blank. 2-stage
buttresses between bays. South aisle of 3 bays, 2-window range of 3- and 4-light
square head windows. 3-light window, to left, has transom with castellations.
Lean-to roof with plain ashlar parapet. The south wall of the aisle is rendered.
C14 gabled porch breaking forward from centre bay has single-chamfered outer
doorway with 2-centred arch-head and polygonal responds. Inner doorway is late
C12 with retrains of 2 orders of shafts with waterleaf capitals and 2-centred
arch-head with roll moulding. Plank door with 4 large strap hinges. Ashlar gable
parapets and 2-light square-head window on return wall. West elevation of south
aisle is blank. North aisle of 3 bays, 2-window range of 3-light square-head
windows with moulded surrounds and hood moulds. Lean-to roof with ashlar gable
parapet. C19 gabled vestry breaks forward from centre bay. Each face has
single-light windows with cusped treads. Shallow gabled roof with plain ashlar
parapets. 2-light east window has quatrefoil circle. West elevation of north
aisle is blank. West elevation of nave has large central lancet with flanking
C19 two-stage buttresses. Moulded string causes, below parapet, follows the line
of the gable end. Nave clerestory of 3-window range of 2-light square-head
windows. Those on the north side have plate surround and those on the south side
have plate surround with raised moulding and carved label stops. Shallow gabled
roof with castellated ashlar parapet. South-east tower is attached to east end
of south aisle. Late C12 base with C13 upper stages. 2-stage ashlar angle
buttresses to corners of lower 2 stages. Late C12 south doorway has chamfered
surround with semi-circular head. Single-light windows, with similar heads,
above and to lower stage of east face. Lancet window, to south face of second
stage. 2-light bell-chamber openings, to each face of upper stage, have
2-centred outer arch and central column, parts restored C19. Short, ashlar,
broach spire with 2 tiers of lucarnes; each with central shaft similar to bell
chamber openings. C17 inscribed tablets to Wyles family set in base of vestry;
similar C19 tablets alongside. Interior: 3-bay nave arcade. Centre and east bay
of north arcade are mid C12 semi-circular arches with roll moulded underside and
zig-zag decoration to both faces of outer angle. Central, circular, pier with
square scalloped abaci. Similar responds, with nook shafts, facing into the
nave. West arch is late C12/early C13. Double-chamfered semi-circular arch
with semi-circular responds. The pier between this bay and the other 2 bays is
formed from 2 responds. South arcade is also probably late C12/early C13.
Double-chamfered, semi-circular, arch with semi-circular responds. The pier
between this bay and the other 2 bays is formed from 2 responds. Soutn arcade is
also probably late C12/early C13, double-chartered arches with circular piers
and semi-circular responds. East pier and respond have waterleaf capitals.
Double-chamfered chancel arch with polygonal responds. Triple-chamfered tower
arches from south aisle and chancel. Arch into chancel has cluster shaft respond
and arch into south aisle has half bracket respond, to north, and part cluster
shaft to south. Nave and north aisle roofs have some original timbers. Other
roofs are C19. Trefoil head piscina to soutn wall of south aisle; fragment of
rood loft stair in south wall of north aisle. C13 octagonal font supported on
octagonal base with Y polygonal shafts C18 communion rail with turned
balusters. Stained glass: C19 east window. Pews to west of nave and north aisle
incorporate some C17 panelling. Other pews, with doors, are of 1844. Monuments:
William Jackson, d.1792, inscribed tablet to south wall of chancel, probably
reset. Thomes Jackson, d.1792, inscribed marble tablet to north wall of chancel.
Various C19 and C20 inscribed tablets to Goddard-Jackson family who live at
Duddington Manor
 
Buildings of England: Northamptonshire: p194;RCHM: An Inventory of
Architectural Monuments in North Northamptonshire: p44)Heritage tourism
 
Other nearby listed buildings
 
II Pair of Chest Tombs Approximately 10 Metres North of Chancel of Church of St Mary
St Mary's Church, Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
 
II Chest Tomb and Headstone Approximately 5 Metres South East of South Porch of Church of St Mary
 
St Mary's Church, Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
 
II Duddington War Memorial
Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
 
II 2, Mill Street Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
II Church Farmhouse
Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
II Outbuilding Approximately 2 Metres South West of Church Fsrmhouse
Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
II Riverside Cottages
Duddington, North Northamptonshire, PE9
II Dovecote Approximately 30 Metres South West of Church Farmhouse
Duddington, North

The Church of England is nothing if not practical. Although St Mary's Church is a Grade II listed building - its door is not always open. On the odd occasion in the past, after driving three to four hours to reach Duddington - we have found the Church firmly locked. Of course, we do not expect the Church - or the people of Duddington for that matter - to arrange their lives around our research schedule! Despite visiting Duddington since 2008 (around 17-years as of 20025) - we have met probably less than five people - and one of them was a Postman! The Landlord of the Royal Oak (and his Staff) have always been very kind and professional - but I am talking about the population of Duddingtion proper (around 115 to date). I believe I have spoken to three such people - all highly polite - but inward-looking - which I quite like. As for research, we are more or less on our own. Again, who else would be interested in our Wyles surname? I hope that with all the supportive evidence we are amassing - people carrying-out similar research will be able to gain something from our collective efforts. 

This is a new edition. To be fair, a number of Churches in the Northants area have installed Contactless Credit-card machines - with the usual caveat that the Church will not accept any donation less than £5 (due to charges levied by the credit card companies). Bear in mind that although once occupied by the working-class - dominated a small middle and upper-class - Duddington today is a village of millionaires who have left the city for a more sedate rural existence. To these people, £5 is like 5p, etc. Although I have exchanged copious numbers of emails with the Church Authorities over the years - I have received "zero" assistance with my research. Given that we all pay for the Church of England through our income tax whether or not we believe in its teachings - I think this is poor value for money. The Church exists to serve the people who finance it - but unfortunately, greed and selfishness is everywhere nowadays. Offers of generous donations raises interest - request for kindly assistance lowers interest and negates expectations. 

We arrived around 6 pm on Saturday July 26th - to our holiday home in Easton-on-the-Hill - and after briefly unpacking, got back into the car and drove the five-minutes down the road to the village of Duddington - the place of the ancestral Wyles family! As it was still Summertime - the light was still good and the sun still warm. The place was peaceful and tranquil - beautiful to experience. I had just spent a few minutes sat in the empty St Mary's Church. A moment of quiet contemplation - preparing for the week of genealogical study which lay ahead of the entire family!

It would be interesting to see any photographs of the original row of cottages that were removed to make way for the 1931-constructed "Community Hall". I suspect the buildings removed were Workers' Cottages as the area covered by the hall is not that great in real terms. Having said that, it is a reasonably designed structure with a spacious interior. Indeed, having taught martial arts for most of my adult life - this hall would be ideal for keep-fit and self-defence. Of course, this hall existed during WWII (1939-1945) and I have been researching for some time as to whether Duddington possessed a Home Guard Unit similar to that recorded as serving in nearby King's Cliffe. This hall is administered by Fineshade and Duddington Parish Council - and I have linked their website to the above photograph.

Sometimes, after teaching two-hours of martial arts on Sunday mornings - we would shower, eat, get in the car and drive to Duddington from South London. This would have been around 2008-2009 - and we would make the three-hour drive - arriving about 4 pm. During Summertime, this would be a great and inspiring experience. I have never been inside the Duddington Hall - or even seen inside it personally - but I was once considering teaching a Taijiquan class in Duddington - but we thought the local people would not be interested. Still, you never know, I have practiced Taijiquan movements in the quiet leafy area. After-all, Duddington is mostly empty of all people - as I have met only about 5-people in 17-years! There are photographs of the interior of the Duddington Community Hall on the Fineshade and Duddington Parish Council website.

A photograph (taken in 1906) is included in Brian Andrews - which features the cottage demolished to make way for the new Village Hall. Instead of a row of Workers' Cottages being removed as I speculated above - it would seem that only a single - large (thatched-roof) cottage was removed to clear space. Brian Andrews thinks that this structure was removed in 1932 - but this does not match with the date of the hall on its own plaque. Of course, there might be an explanation for this. The later date could be wrong - or the planned hall 1931 was not completed and/or opened until 1932, etc. Whatever the case, this 1906 photograph records the building that eventually had to make way for progression, as it were.

 With Kai-Lin - our 8-year old daughter - wanting to play everyday at the beautiful play area in Highfield - I got ample chances to walk behind the new housing estate to see what is left of the "Highfield". Oddly, the North-end of Duddington has always been the area from which we have entered Duddington. Despite this fact, we mever seem to have noticed two utility huts nestled in the trees and long grass. My initial instict was that this was something to do with the military - and I still think this is the case. I think the original buildings are pre-WWII or contemporary with WWII - with the post-WWII versions having the original windows "filled-in" with brick-work! The above video provides footage from behind the two huts - which are more fully described below!

The above photographs and video are of the left-hand Utility Hut which possesses a sign stating it is the property of "BT" (British Telecom) - but this sign seems very old - perhaps pertaining to the time when BT was still a nationalised entity. Today, this hut has been modified for modern communication involving what looks like fibre-optics and internet usage. Whatever the case, the extra windows and doors have been bricked-up and replaced with highly securitised variants accessed through coded keypads. There is an electric "buzz" about the place which now has a permanently "open" gate. Still, as i said above, some of the brick-work looks rather extravagant for a humble Utility Hut. The trees and bushes grow thickly on all sides - but the interior ground area of the hut remains clutter-free for easy access.

The above photographs depict the right-hand Utility Hut which is now empty and derelict - but was once a "Switching Station" - which originally dealt with the electricity supply to Duddington. This effectively regulated how the households in Duddington accessed the National Grid - which must now be through a much more efficient and hidden system. Again, windows and doors are filled-in with brick-work - but some of the original brick-work appears overly ornate for such a mundane function. I think there may have been Home Guard activity in Duddington during WWII - perhaps a "Special Force" comprised of younger men operating under a false-front, so-to-speak. This is just an unfounded idea on my part constructed from various pieces of evidence I have acquired over the years. There might be nothing to it.

We have been asked by a number of people with connections to the Wyles family - and/or the Duddington area in general - regarding the possibility of a "Methodist Chapel" once existing in Duddington. Of course, the Wyles family still exists in King's Cliffe - but we have not found any Wyles people still living in Duddington. There is a gap in our genealogy regarding the early, middle, and latter 20th century, Why is this? Was it because everybody had left Duddington? Well, there are two Wyles people buried in St Mary's during the early 1900s (1917 and 1919 to be exact) - but no graves are visible - then there is Agnes Sarah Wyles who was buried in Duddington Cemetery graveyard in 1949. There are no visible graves for the years in between.

Normally, as genealogy moves into the modern era - the data becomes much more comprehensive and easier to find. Are we looking in the wrong place for some of the Wyles ancestors? Whilst speaking to a local historian at the King's Cliffe Heritage Centre during a recent visit (Sunday July 27th) - I was informed that the "Methodist" movement became a substantial driving force in King's Cliffe - and the surrounding area due to the work of William Law. I was surprised - particularly as Methodism is still popular in King's Cliffe - with a number of its historical Preachers being called "Wyles". This is a significant development as I once read that there was a Methodist Chapel in Duddington that lasted for sometime before the Church of England (understandably eager to regain its influence in Duddington) brought the property, demolished the building, and removed the gravestones in the small graveyard. Of course, I have yet to fully confirm all this - and only pass it on here as a form of "hearsay" - albeit a narrative regularly told by many ordinary people.

Not only this, but the now empty land was re-sold for development where a new building was constructed. The problem was that I could not relocate the reference for this story - although I do clearly remember a) reading it, and b) being told a similar story by one or two others. At the time, I had no evidence of Methodism operating in the Duddington or the King's Cliffe area - even though I now know it to be true. A number of people with different surnames cannot find the burials of their relatives in either St Mary's or Duddington Cemetery. The thinking is that these burials might have been carried-out in the graveyard of the Methodist Chapel - and lie "unmarked" below the secular building that now stands on the site. The good news is that Diane Wyles has discovered photographic evidence of the Methodist Chapel in Duddington - and has acquired a copy of the architecture book this picture appears within. As a consequence, I will soon be writing a new article for this website regarding the Duddington Methodist Chapel - whilst awaiting for a reply from the Methodist Church regarding the possibility as to whether there is a list of the Duddington burials recorded somewhere within the Methodist Historical Records! 

This project - "The Wyles Family of Duddington" - first began in 2007 through the online work of Diane Wyles (nee Gibson). My mother (now 77-years old and living in retirement in Torquay) carefully worked her way through endless birth, marriage, and death certificates - working back through history from my father - Peter Desmond Wyles (now 82-years old and and living in retirement in Torquay). A picture slowly emerged of a single place - "Duddington" (in Northants) - being mentioned again and again. Indeed, the association between this place and the Wyles family stretches back to at least the early 1500s, but perhaps further, as it is a matter of acquiring ever earlier documentation. We know that man named "Wyles" is recorded as living in nearby Bourne in 1301. 

This is in fact the second incarnation of this website - with the first lasting only a year or so before the platform was closed down and the business dissolved. I was then introduced to Weebly from about 2009 - using this site as a means to upload all our research in Sutton (South-West London) so that my elderly parents could sit together hundreds of miles away in Torquay - and look through all the videos, photographs, and documents collected. Of course, the site has grown much bigger and far more comprehensive since then. Many other people all over the world (holding many different surnames) regularly access this site - particularly those who are associated with the Wyles family through marriage. Today, we have invested a small amount of money to purchase the domain name "wylesfamilyofduddington.co.uk" - which is replacing the old "wylesfamilyofduddington.weebly.com". This change will not effect any links or limit access in any way - it simply shortens the address and explains that we live in the UK.

Address: ​Jack's Cottage - 107 Stamford Road Easton On The Hill, Stamford, Northants, PE9 3NU, UK

This cottage managed to accommodate two-adults, two-children (one of them a teen), and two dogs. The back garden is huge - particularly as it heads-on to a huge farming field full of crops (wheat, I think) - which is open to those who are staying in the area. Being from a superb of Greater London, we are use to living in flats, and not going anywhere that would violate another's privacy - so the open space and the fresh air was a welcomed break! Although there is a main-road (A43) running along the front of the cottage - we drove on it to get there - the rest of the place is comprised of a broad, open countrysude. When my family lives on a mission - they disgorge from the premises like Paratroopers jumping out an aeroplane! Everyone knows their place - and what they have to do! 

Diane Wyles (my mother) sponsoered this Field Research Trip - so we had to balance on-point academic enquiry with enjoying the holiday for what it was. Northants is a wonderful area to get away from the clutter of the city - and an individual soon gets used to the far more natural way of life. The reality of the situation is that only the well-off can afford to live in these areas all the time - with the likes of us just visiting from time to time providing we can earn and save the money. On the other hand, the correct deployment of the mind and body sets a good example for the developing children who are learning to balance fun with productivity!

Duddington was a five-minute drive to the left, whilst the village of Easton-on-the-Hill was five-minute's drive to the right. King's Cliffe was fifteen-minute's to the left - whilst Stamford was thirty-minutes to the right, and so on! We we located very centrally to all the places we needed to visit - whilst being strategically placed to travel further afield (such as to Rockingham and Kilby) if the need arose. And travel we did! Kai-Lin played in the Duddington play area (Highfield) every single day - even on the way home! I loved walking around the isolated streets of Duddington (only 115 people own property in the area) photographing and filming. Even Ketton was only ten-minute's to the left - so we got to go to many important places. Of course, there is always more places to visit - and we already have a list (starting with Tixover) for when we next visit!