Raunds | |
---|---|
Raunds shown within Northamptonshire | |
Population | 8,641 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SP9972 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WELLINGBOROUGH |
Postcode district | NN9 |
Dialling code | 01933 |
Police | Northamptonshire |
Fire | Northamptonshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
EU Parliament | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Raunds /ˈrɔːndz/ is a small market town in rural Northamptonshire, England. It has a population of 8,641 (2011 census), is a civil parish, and is part of the East Northamptonshire district.
Raunds is situated 21 miles (34 km) 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.
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 circa 972-992, where it appears as Randan. It appears as Rande in the Domesday Book of 1086, and in a later survey of Northamptonshire as Raundes. The name is the plural of the Old English rand, meaning 'border'.