Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Weedon Bec

Weedon Bec is a village in Northamptonshire, 4 miles from Daventry.

It is sometimes said to be the exact centre of England.

For this reason, it was chosen as the place to which George III and his court were to take refuge in the event of a French invasion during the Napoleonic wars. The barracks, for the accompanying army, were built in 1803.

The parish church is mostly 19th century, but with a Norman tower. It stands between a railway viaduct and the Grand Union Canal.

The "Bec" suffix denotes that it was owned in the mediaeval period by the Benedictine abbey at Bec in Normandy.

At a small monastic church here, St. Cadoc of Llancarfan, the Bishop, was murdered while at prayer in around 570. And the legendary encounter of St. Werburgh with a flock of geese is said to have happened here.