Thrapston has a late Bronze / early Iron Age ringworks, possibly a mini hill-fort, dating from around 700 – 800 BC which was partially excavated in the 1990s. In 1205 Baldwin de Vere, the Lord of the Manor, requested the permission of King John to hold a market in the town every Tuesday. King John awarded the market charter in return for two palfreys (small riding horses) and they are now represented on Thrapston’s civic badge and flag. The Charter is still celebrated in June every year, when the annual ‘Charter Fair’ is held on the High Street which is closed to traffic for most of the day.

The earliest remains in the church date from mid-13th century although the earliest record is of monks from the Abbey at Bourne in Lincolnshire coming to serve the church around 1133AD. During the nineteenth century the ‘box-pew* balcony was added when significant refurbishment was carried out, which also included the rebuilding of the nave and both the north and south aisles. The vestry was rebuilt later in 1888. The Washington Arms, the origins of the National Flag of the United States, the famous “Stars and Stripes”, can be found on a stone tablet in the Parish Church of St. James.