Milton Malsor - Geography

Geography

Many fields around the village reflect England's history. The field known as 'the Leys' (opposite Milton House in Rectory Lane) shows clear signs of 18th century pre-enclosure and pre-British Agricultural Revolution farming in strips. The mediaeval open field system was enclosed in Milton in 1779 together with that of Collingtree. The soil is predominantly sandy as one might expect since the area is the bed of an ancient river. Evidence of sand and clay extraction is all around, reflecting 19th and 20th century industrial and urban expansion. For example, the small industrial estate in Gayton Road is on an old clay quarry; the playing and football fields in Collingtree Road are on the sites of sand quarries - in the latter case mostly filled with clay spoil from the 1950s construction of the M1. The field between Towcester Road and the A43 Milton by-pass, which opened in May 1991, to the west of the village was also the site of a sand quarry in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1965 the driver of a mechanical digger spotted a shiny object in a newly exposed face. It turned out to be an early Bronze Age Cinerary Urn. The field between the village and the M1 on the north side of Collingtree Road is an area designated by Northamptonshire County Council for sand extraction. The sand is stated by the county council to be of the 'soft sand' type suitable for mortar. The site is in Milton Malsor parish and only ca.200m from houses in the village. It was originally called the "Collingtree site" but the county council finally referred to it as the Milton site in late 2008. It has so far not been developed probably due to its triangular shape and stranded location between the motorway along one edge, the railway line another and a road unsuited to heavy lorries on the third. The site is included in the county council's mineral's and waste plan, the subject of a Public Inquiry in 2009. A third Public Inquiry in 2010 retained the site.

A stream runs northwest through the village, partly in a conduit but visible from Collingtree Road and Rectory Lane as it flows north through the field known as 'The Dip' after an old sheep dip the remains of which are still visible. In Spring 1998 this flooded, causing minor damage to some houses. The stream flows north joining with others from the east and south flowing south and west around Hunsbury Hill. It then joins the River Nene at Upton, west of Northampton. The Grand Union Canal and its Northampton arm, built in 1815 passes nearby. There is a marina just off the road to Gayton. There are 17 locks on the arm, taking the canal downhill into Northampton and to join the River Nene east of the town. It takes about two hours for a boat to travel through.