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ON-LINE GUIDE TO NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
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This brief guide provides
summary information on towns, villages and places to visit
in Northamptonshire as well as some interesting
facts and anecdotes on the local area. To find a specific
place either scroll down the page or use the find
facility on your browser. Much more information can be
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Although a relatively small county, Northamptonshire has a lot to offer. The
county town, Northampton, along with other local towns, is famed for its shoe industry, but
outside the towns Northamptonshire remains
essentially a farming county littered with ancient
market towns and rural villages. Its history is as interesting as most - the decisive battle
of Naseby was fought on its soil, and it was at Fotheringay Castle that Mary, Queen of
Scots was executed. There are many magnificent stately homes here but the most famous now
is Althorp, the country estate of the Spencer
family and the last resting place of Diana, Princess
of Wales. There are also some more eccentric buildings to discover, including the creations
of Sir Thomas Tresham - notably the unique Triangular Lodge at Ruston.
Northampton
By the 13th century Northampton was a major market town and
its market square is reputed to have been the second largest in
the country. The town is best known for its shoemaking and the
first large order came in 1642 when 4,000 pairs of shoes and 600
pairs of boots were made for the army. The industry grew
rapidly throughout the county and by the end of the 19th century 40%
of the population was involved in the shoe trade. The
Central Museum and Art Gallery has the world's largest collection
of footwear, while the Abington Museum, set in a 15th
century manor house, tells the county's military history.
There are many fine buildings here and, in particular, notably
the wonderful 12th century Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, one of only a handful of round churches
in Britain. The Welsh House, one of the few buildings
to survive a disastrous fire in 1675, recalls the time when
Welsh drovers would bring their cattle to the
market. The town's most prestigious building is
the Guildhall, a gem of Victorian architecture built in 1864
by Edward Godwin.
In the south of the town stands one of the three
surviving Eleanor Crosses of the original 12 that marked the journey of
King Edward with his wife's body from Nottinghamshire to London.
Around Northampton
Althorp
5 miles NW of Northampton off the A428
The home of the Spencer family since 1508,
Althorp remains exactly that - a classic
family-owned English stately home. The present house was begun in 1573,
and behind the stark tiling of the exterior is a wealth of
fine paintings, sculpture, porcelain and furniture. Known widely
by connoisseurs for generations, Althorp is now known across
the whole world since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in
1997; she lies at peace in the beautiful, tranquil setting of the Round
Oval, an ornamental lake.
To the north is Holdenby Hall, which was built by
Elizabeth I's Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, for the purpose
of entertaining the Queen. At the time, it was the largest
Elizabethan house in England but Elizabeth I only visited the house once.
Later it became the palace and eventually the prison of Charles I, who
was held here for five months after the Civil War.
Further north again is Cottesbrooke Hall, a
magnificent Queen Anne house that is reputed to be the model for Jane
Austen's Mansfield Park; close by is Coton Manor Garden, a traditional
garden originally laid out in 1925 that embraces several delightful
smaller gardens.
Ashby St Ledgers
12½ miles NW of Northampton on the A361
From 1375 to 1605 the manor house at Ashby was the home
of the Catesby family and it was in a room above the gatehouse that
Guy Fawkes is said to have met Robert Catesby and hatched
the Gunpowder Plot.
Kelmarsh
12 miles N of Northampton on the A508
This village is home to Kelmarsh Hall, an early 18th century
house that was designed by James Gibb, best known as the architect of
St Martin in the Fields, London, and is surrounded by beautiful
gardens, woodland and farmland. To the southeast is another fine
country house, 16th century Lamport Hall. Its grounds include the first
Alpine garden and the first garden gnomes in England, along with
the Hannington Vintage Tractor Club.
West of Kelmarsh is the site of the Battle of
Naseby, where in 1645 Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian forces
defeated Charles I and determined the outcome of the Civil War.
The king finally surrendered in Newark some months later.
Naseby Battle
and Farm Museum, in Naseby village, contains a model layout
of the battle, relics from the fight and a collection of bygone
agricultural machinery.
Wellingborough
10 miles NE of Northampton on the A509
An important market and industrial town, known for its iron
mills, flourmills and tanneries, Wellingborough sits near the
point where the River Ise joins the River Nene. One of many fine
buildings is Croyland Abbey, now a Heritage Centre, and nearby is
a splendid stone-walled, thatch-roofed 15th century Tithe Barn.
An attraction in the centre of town is the Millennium
Rose Garden at Swanspool Gardens while to the south is
Summer Leys Nature Reserve, a year round haven for large numbers
of birds. Two miles south of Wellingborough lies
Irchester Country Park, 200 acres of woodland walks and nature trails
in a former ironstone quarry.
Castle Ashby
6 miles E of Northampton off the A428
Dating from 1574, Castle Ashby is a fine Elizabethan mansion on
the site of a demolished 13th century castle. The surrounding
parkland was landscaped by Capability Brown.
Stoke Bruerne
6½ miles S of Northampton off the A508
This picturesque village lies on the Grand Union Canal, at the
southern
end of the famous Blisworth Tunnel. In addition to
towpath walks and boat trips to the tunnel, the fascinating
Canal Museum, housed in a converted corn mill,
is a popular attraction.
Just south of the village is Stoke Park, a great house that
was built by Inigo Jones in the 1630s. The main house burnt down
in 1886 and only the pavilions and a colonnade remain, but they are
an impressive sight.
Towcester
9 miles SW of Northampton off the A43
Called Lactodorum by the Romans and situated on their major
route, Watling Street, this town became an important staging post on the
route between London and Holyhead. By the end of the 18th
century there were 20 coaching inns in the town, servicing up to 40
coaches every day. Charles Dickens stayed here at the Saracen's Head,
then called the Pomfret Hotel, and immortalised it in
The Pickwick Papers. The parish Church of
St Lawrence, on the site of a substantial Roman building, is
one of the loveliest in the county, and close by is the
Chantry House, formerly a school, founded
by Archdeacon Sponne in 1447.
Towcester Racecourse is set in the beautiful parkland estate
of Easton Neston, the family home of Lord Hesketh. There is racing of
a different kind at nearby Silverstone, the home of
British motor racing.
Brackley
18 miles SW of Northampton on the A43
Dating back to Saxon times, the castle built here in the early
12th century is said to have been the meeting place for the rebel
barons who drew up the first version of Magna Carta in 1215.
To the southwest, lies the former manor house,
Aynho Park, a very grand 17th century
country house that was originally the property of the Cartwright
family, who, it is said, claimed the rents from their tenants in the form
of apricots.
Canons Ashby
12 miles SW of Northampton off the A361
A monastery belonging to the Black Canons once stood here, but
after the Dissolution some of the ecclesiastical buildings were used
to create Canons Ashby House, one of the finest stately homes
in Northamptonshire. Home of the Dryden family since the 1550s,
it contains some marvellous Elizabethan wall paintings
and sumptuous Jacobean plasterwork.
Sulgrave
16 miles SW of Northampton off the B4525
Along with its old village stocks, the remains of a castle mound
and its church, Sulgrave is home to Sulgrave
Manor, a Tudor manor house built by the ancestors
of George Washington, first President of the United States of
America. Lawrence Washington, sometime Mayor of Northampton,
bought the manor from Henry VIII in 1539 and the family coat of
arms,
which is said to have inspired the stars and stripes design of
the American flag, is prominent above the front door. The house is
a treasure trove of George Washington memorabilia,
including documents, a velvet coat and even a lock of his hair.
Daventry
11½ miles W of Northampton on the A45
A historic town, which holds a colourful market along the
High Street every Tuesday and Friday. In
the Market Place stands the Moot Hall, built in 1769 as a
private residence; it now houses Daventry
Museum.
Just north of the town lies Daventry Country
Park, close by is Borough Hill, the third
largest Iron Age hill fort in Britain, and to the southeast lies
Flore, an ancient village whose wide green
slopes down to the banks of the River Nene. Adams Cottage
was the home of the ancestors of John Adams, President of the
United
States.
Corby
True industry arrived at Corby only in the latter years of the
19th century with the building of the Kettering-Manton Railway.
Many of the bricks used in the building of the viaduct at
Harringworth were made at Corby brickworks, which closed at the beginning
of the 20th century. But Corby was still essentially a small village
until the 1930s, when Stewarts and Lloyds built a huge
steel-making plant based on the area's known reserves of iron ore. That
industry virtually stopped in 1980 but Corby remains a forward-looking
modern town, with many cultural and leisure opportunities.
Just to the north lies Rockingham Castle, built
by William the Conqueror on the slopes of Rockingham
Hill overlooking the Welland valley. The grand rooms are
superbly furnished, and the armour in the Tudor Great Hall recalls the
Civil War, when the castle was captured by the Roundheads. Owned
and lived in since 1530 by the Watson family, it was here that
Charles Dickens wrote much of Bleak House. East of Corby lies
East Carlton Countryside Park, with its nature trails and
steel-making heritage centre.
Around Corby
Deene
4 miles NE of Corby off the A43
Originally a medieval manor, Deene Park was acquired in
1514 by Sir Robert Brudenell and has been occupied by the family
ever since. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens filled with
old-fashioned roses, and parkland containing rare trees. Close by is
Kirby Hall, one of the loveliest Elizabethan ruins
in England.
Fotheringhay
11½ miles NE of Corby off the A605
The first Fotheringhay Castle was built in around 1100 by the
son-in-law of William the Conqueror, and the second, in the 14th century,
by Edmund of Langley, a son of Edward III. The future Richard
III was born here, but Fotheringhay is best known as being the prison
and the place of execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was
brought here in bands of steel and beheaded in the Banqueting Hall
in 1587. The castle was pulled down in 1627.
At Nassington, just to the north, stands
Prebendal Manor House, dating from the early
part of the 13th century and the oldest house in Northamptonshire.
Oundle
10 miles E of Corby on the A427
A town rich in architectural interest, with many fine 17th
and 18th century buildings, Oundle is best known for the Public
School that was founded by Sir William Laxton in 1556; an inscription
to his memory is written above the doorway in Greek, Latin
and Hebrew.
Brigstock
5 miles SE of Corby on the A6116
On the banks of a tributary of the River Nene called
Harpers Brook, this Saxon village has many
delightful old cottages, a 16th century manor
house, and a church with an unusual circular
extension to its tower.
To the east lies Lyveden New Bield, a cross-shaped
Elizabethan garden lodge erected to symbolise the Passion.
Kettering
An important town standing above the River Ise, Kettering
gained fame as a producer of both clothing and shoes and it was
here that the missionary William Carey and the preacher Andrew
Fuller founded the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792. Much of the
old town has been swallowed up in modern development but there
are still a few old houses in the narrow lanes. The
Heritage Quarter around the church gives a fascinating, hands-on insight
into the town's past, as does the Manor House
Museum.
Just to the north lies Geddington, an attractive
village that is home to the best preserved
of the three surviving Eleanor Crosses that marked the
funeral procession of Queen Eleanor, who had died at Harby
in Nottinghamshire in 1290.
Just south of the village is one of the finest houses in the
country, Boughton House, the Northamptonshire home of
the Duke of Buccleuch. Originally a small monastic building, it has
been transformed over the years into a magnificent mansion that
holds numerous treasures, notably French and English furniture, paintings
(El Greco, Murillo, 40 van Dycks) and collections of armoury
and weaponry.
Around Kettering
Rushton
4 miles NW of Kettering off the A6
Rushton Triangular Lodge is a unique folly built in 1597
and symbolising the Holy Trinity: three walls each with three
windows, three gables and three storeys, topped by a three-sided chimney.
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