Alderton in video 3'13"

Home to around 100 people, the small south Northants village of Alderton may be lacking a shop and a pub, but it does boast it’s very own moat and mount.

Retired surveyor and keen amateur archaeologist Derek Batten bought the site of a former Norman castle for just short of £20,000.

Derek explains, "I’ve always been a little bit eccentric so that wasn’t unusual for me to do something as crazy as that".

He invited Channel 4’s Time Team to investigate, and they eventually worked out what the site originally looked like.

Performance recreating the Norman invasion at the site of a former castle.

Local children performed a play about the Norman invasion. The village boasts a strong sense of community.

Alderton can also boast another piece of history, with the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club based nearby.

Club member Chris Baines says "It’s having a bit of British engineering underneath you", for his passion over the motor car.

The single road through the village is top and tailed by the A508 and the A5, around 5 miles south of Stoke Bruerne.

In Weekender