In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Castor like this:
CASTOR. a village and a parish in Peterborough district, Northampton. The village stands on Ermine-street, adjacent to the river Nen, and to the Peterborough and Northampton railway, 5 miles W of Peterborough; and has a station on the railway and a post office under Peterborough. It occupies part of the site of the Roman station Durobrivæ; and was known to the Saxons as Castra or Kyneburgceastre. ...
Numerous Roman relics, including a Jupiter Terminalis, pavements, urns, and coins from Trajan to Valens, have been found around it. A nunnery was founded at it in the 7th century, by a daughter of King Penda; and destroyed, in 1010, by the Danes.—The parish contains also the hamlet of Ailesworth, and the chapelries of Sutton and Upton. Acres, 7,020. Rated property, £8,519. Pop., 1,323. Houses, 272. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value, £528. Patron, the Bishop of Peterborough. The church is Norman, with early English tower and spire; exhibits curiously the features and decorations of the Norman period; and underwent recently a thorough renovation. The vicarages of Sutton and Upton are separate charges. Bishop Madan was rector. There are an Independent chapel and a national school.
Castor through time
Castor is now part of Peterborough district. Click here for graphs and data of how Peterborough has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Castor itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Castor, in Peterborough and Northamptonshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/7646
Date accessed: 26th April 2025
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