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Northamptonshire

February 13, 2023

Coordinates: 52°17′N 0°50′W / 52.283°N 0.833°W / 52.283; -0.833

Northamptonshire (/nɔːrˈθæmptənʃɪər, -ʃər/;[3][4] abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is nicknamed "The Rose of the Shires".

Northamptonshire
Ceremonial county
Northampton, the county town
Flag
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionEast Midlands
Time zoneUTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament
Ceremonial county
Lord LieutenantDavid Laing[1]
High SheriffPaul Parsons [2] (2020/21)
Area2,364 km2 (913 sq mi)
 • Ranked24th of 48
Population (2021)747,622
 • Ranked33rd of 48
Density316/km2 (820/sq mi)
Ethnicity85.7% White British
4.7% Other White
2.5% Asian British
2.5% Black British
4.6% Other
Unitary authorities
CouncilsWest Northamptonshire Council
North Northamptonshire Council
Districts

Districts of Northamptonshire
  Unitary:

Covering an area of 2,364 square kilometres (913 sq mi), Northamptonshire is landlocked between eight other counties: Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east, Buckinghamshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the south-west, Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, and Lincolnshire to the north-east—the last being England's shortest administrative county boundary, at 20 yards (19 metres).[5] Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands.

Apart from the county town of Northampton, other major population centres include Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden and Daventry. Northamptonshire's county flower is the cowslip.[6] The Soke of Peterborough falls within the historic boundaries of the county, but its area has been part of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire since 1974.

History

Main article: History of Northamptonshire

Much of Northamptonshire's countryside appears to have remained somewhat intractable with regards to early human occupation, resulting in an apparently sparse population and relatively few finds from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.[7] In about 500 BC the Iron Age was introduced into the area by a continental people in the form of the Hallstatt culture,[8] and over the next century a series of hill-forts were constructed at Arbury Camp, Rainsborough camp, Borough Hill, Castle Dykes, Guilsborough, Irthlingborough, and most notably of all, Hunsbury Hill. There are two more possible hill-forts at Arbury Hill (Badby) and Thenford.[8]

In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, the Northamptonshire area forming their most northerly possession.[8] The Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD.[9]

The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county, and an important Roman settlement, Lactodurum, stood on the site of modern-day Towcester. There were other Roman settlements at Northampton, Kettering and along the Nene Valley near Raunds. A large fort was built at Longthorpe.[8]

After the Romans left, the area eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda.[10] From about 889 the area was conquered by the Danes (as at one point almost all of England was, except for Athelney marsh in Somerset) and became part of the Danelaw – with Watling Street serving as the boundary – until being recaptured by the English under the Wessex king Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great, in 917. Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York, who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942.[11] Consequently, it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town-names and settlements.[citation needed]

The county was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1011), as Hamtunscire: the scire (shire) of Hamtun (the homestead). The "North" was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south: Southampton – though the origins of the two names are in fact different.[12]

Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror[13] and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Northampton took place and King Henry VI was captured.[14] The now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution.[15]

 
The historic boundaries of the county shown in John Speed's map of the county in his Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, c. 1611. A depiction of the town of Northampton is inset in the top left, and the city of Peterborough in the bottom right.

During the English Civil War, Northamptonshire strongly supported the Parliamentarian cause, and the Royalist forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 in the north of the county. King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647.[16]

George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656. George Washington's ancestor, Lawrence Washington, was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was he who bought Sulgrave Manor from Henry VIII in 1539. It was George Washington's great-grandfather, John Washington, who emigrated in 1656 from Northamptonshire to Virginia. Before Washington's ancestors moved to Sulgrave, they lived in Warton, Lancashire.[17]

In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Northamptonshire and the surrounding area became industrialised. The local specialisation was shoemaking and the leather industry and became one of Britain's major centres for these crafts by the 19th century. In the north of the county a large ironstone quarrying industry developed from 1850.[18]

In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to "[enjoy] a very pure and wholesome air" because of its dryness and distance from the sea. Its livestock were celebrated: "Horned cattle, and other animals, are fed to extraordinary sizes: and many horses of the large black breed are reared."[19]

Nine years later, the county was described as "a county enjoying the reputation of being one of the healthiest and pleasantest parts of England" although the towns were "of small importance" with the exceptions of Peterborough and Northampton. In summer, the county hosted "a great number of wealthy families... country seats and villas are to be seen at every step."[20] Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of "spires and squires" because of the numbers of stately homes and ancient churches.[21]

Prior to 1901 the ancient hundreds were disused. Northamptonshire was administered as four major divisions: Northern, Eastern, Mid, and Southern.[22] During the 1930s, the town of Corby was established as a major centre of the steel industry. Much of Northamptonshire nevertheless remains rural.[citation needed]

Corby was designated a new town in 1950[23] and Northampton followed in 1968.[24] As of 2005 the government is encouraging development in the South Midlands area, including Northamptonshire.[25]

Peterborough

The Soke of Peterborough was historically associated with and considered part of Northamptonshire and the Church of England Diocese that covers Northamptonshire is centred in Peterborough Cathedral.[26] However, Peterborough had its own courts of quarter sessions and, later, county council. In 1965 the administration was merged with that of neighbouring Huntingdonshire.[27] Under the Local Government Act 1972 the city of Peterborough became a district of Cambridgeshire.[28]

Geography

Main articles: List of places in Northamptonshire and List of Northamptonshire settlements by population
class=notpageimage|
Notable places in and around Northamptonshire
 
Kilworth Wharf on the Grand Union Canal

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county located in the southern part of the East Midlands region,[29] which is sometimes known as the South Midlands. The county contains the watershed between the River Severn and The Wash, and several important rivers have their sources in the north-west of the county, including the River Nene, which flows north-eastwards to The Wash, and the "Warwickshire Avon", which flows south-west to the Severn. In 1830, it was boasted that "not a single brook, however insignificant, flows into it from any other district".[30] The highest point in the county is Arbury Hill, at 225 metres (738 ft).[31][32]

There are several towns in the county, Northampton being the largest and most populous. At the time of the 2011 census a population of 691,952 lived in the county, with 212,069 living in Northampton. The table below shows all towns with over 10,000 inhabitants.

As of 2010 there were 16 settlements in Northamptonshire with a town charter:

Climate

Like the rest of the British Isles, Northamptonshire has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification). The table below shows the average weather for Northamptonshire from the Moulton weather station.

Climate data for Moulton, Northants
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 7
(45) 		8
(46) 		11
(52) 		13
(55) 		17
(63) 		19
(66) 		22
(72) 		23
(73) 		19
(66) 		14
(57) 		10
(50) 		7
(45) 		14
(58)
Average low °C (°F) 2
(36) 		2
(36) 		4
(39) 		4
(39) 		7
(45) 		10
(50) 		12
(54) 		12
(54) 		10
(50) 		8
(46) 		5
(41) 		3
(37) 		7
(44)
Average precipitation cm (inches) 4.51
(1.78) 		3.39
(1.33) 		2.87
(1.13) 		4.39
(1.73) 		3.49
(1.37) 		4.66
(1.83) 		4.21
(1.66) 		4.69
(1.85) 		5.49
(2.16) 		5.68
(2.24) 		4.8
(1.9) 		4.98
(1.96) 		53.16
(20.94)
Source: [33]

Governance

Local government

Main article: Northamptonshire County Council

Between 1974 and 2021, Northamptonshire, like most English counties, was divided into a number of local authorities. The seven borough/district councils covered 15 towns and hundreds of villages. The county had a two-tier structure of local government and an elected county council based in Northampton, and was also divided into seven districts each with their own district or borough councils:[34]

Northampton itself is the most populous civil parish in England, and (prior to 2021) was the most populous urban district in England not to be administered as a unitary authority (even though several smaller districts are unitary). During the 1990s local government reform, Northampton Borough Council petitioned strongly for unitary status, which led to fractured relations with the County Council.[citation needed]

The Soke of Peterborough is within the historic county of Northamptonshire, although it had had a separate county council since 1889 and separate courts of quarter sessions before then. The city of Peterborough has been a unitary authority since 1998, but it forms part of Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes.[35]

De facto bankruptcy of the county council

In early 2018, Northamptonshire County Council was declared technically insolvent and would be able to provide only the bare essential services.[36] According to The Guardian the problems were caused by "a reckless half-decade in which it refused to raise council tax to pay for the soaring costs of social care" and "partly due to past failings, the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer." Some observers, such as Simon Edwards of the County Councils Network, added another perspective on the cause of the financial crisis, the United Kingdom government austerity programme: "It is clear that, partly due to past failings, the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer. However, we can’t ignore that some of the underlying causes of the challenges facing Northamptonshire, such as dramatic reductions to council budgets and severe demand for services, mean county authorities across the country face funding pressures of £3.2bn over the next two years."[37]

Structural changes

Main articles: West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire

In early 2018, following the events above, Government-appointed commissioners took over control of the council's affairs. Consequently, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government commissioned an independent report which, in March 2018, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire. These changes saw the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place.[38] One authority, West Northamptonshire, consists of the former districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire and the other authority, North Northamptonshire, consists of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough districts.[39]

National representation

Northamptonshire returns seven Members of Parliament (MPs). As of 2023, all are currently from the Conservative Party.[40] Several of the constituencies have been marginal in the past, including the Northampton seats, Wellingborough, Kettering, and Corby, which were all Labour seats before 2005. In the 2016 EU referendum, all of the Northamptonshire districts voted to Leave, most by a significant margin. Two prominent Brexiteer MPs, Philip Hollobone and Peter Bone represent parts of the county.

From 1993 until 2005, Northamptonshire County Council,[41] for which each of the 73 electoral divisions in the county elect a single councillor, had been held by the Labour Party; it had been under no overall control since 1981. The councils of the rural districts – Daventry, East Northamptonshire, and South Northamptonshire – are strongly Conservative, whereas the political composition of the urban districts is more mixed. At the 2003 local elections, Labour lost control of Kettering, Northampton, and Wellingborough, retaining only Corby. Elections for the entire County Council are held every four years – the last were held on 5 May 2005 when control of the County Council changed from the Labour Party to the Conservatives. The County Council uses a leader and cabinet executive system and abolished its area committees in April 2006.

Economy

Main article: History of Northamptonshire § Economy
 
Silverstone adds millions every year to the local economy - Kimi Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Silverstone in April 2006

Historically, Northamptonshire's main industry was manufacturing of boots and shoes.[42] Many of the manufacturers closed down in the Thatcher era which in turn left many county people unemployed.[citation needed] Although R Griggs and Co Ltd, the manufacturer of Dr. Martens, still has its UK base in Wollaston near Wellingborough,[43] the shoe industry has deeply declined as manufacturing has moved away from England. There were over 2,000 shoemakers in the region in the mid 19th century, today the number is over 30 left.[44] Large employers include the breakfast cereal manufacturers Weetabix, in Burton Latimer, the Carlsberg brewery in Northampton, Avon Products, Siemens, Barclaycard, Saxby Bros Ltd and Golden Wonder.[45][46] In the west of the county is the Daventry International Railfreight Terminal;[47] which is a major rail freight terminal located on the West Coast Main Line near Rugby. Wellingborough also has a smaller railfreight depot[48] on Finedon Road, called Nelisons sidings.[49]

This is a chart of trend of the regional gross value added of Northamptonshire at current basic prices in millions of British Pounds Sterling (correct on 21 December 2005):[50]

Year Regional Gross Value Added[51] Agriculture[52] Industry[53] Services[54]
1995 7,139 112 2,157 3,870
2000 9,743 79 3,035 6,630
2003 10,901 90 3,260 7,551

The region of Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and the South Midlands has been described as "Motorsport Valley... a global hub" for the motor sport industry.[55][56] The Mercedes-AMG[57] and Aston Martin[58] Formula One teams have their bases at Brackley and Silverstone respectively, while Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines[59] and, formerly, Cosworth,[60] are also in the county at Brixworth and Northampton respectively.

International motor racing takes place at Silverstone Circuit[61] and, formerly, Rockingham Motor Speedway;[62] Santa Pod Raceway is just over the border in Bedfordshire but has a Northamptonshire postcode.[63] A study commissioned by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd (NEL) reported that Northamptonshire's motorsport sites attract more than 2.1 million visitors per year who spend a total of more than £131 million within the county.[64]

Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area

Main article: South Midlands

Northamptonshire forms part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area which also includes Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale and Bedfordshire. This area has been identified as an area which is due to have tens of thousands additional homes built between 2010 and 2020. In North Northamptonshire (Boroughs of Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants), over 52,000 homes are planned or newly built and 47,000 new jobs are also planned.[65] In West Northamptonshire (boroughs of Northampton, Daventry and South Northants), over 48,000 homes are planned or newly built and 37,000 new jobs are planned.[66] To oversee the planned developments, two urban regeneration companies have been created: North Northants Development Company (NNDC)[65] and the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.[66] The NNDC launched a controversial[67] campaign called North Londonshire to attract people from London to the county.[68] There is also a county-wide tourism campaign with the slogan Northamptonshire, Let yourself grow.[69]

Education

Schools

Northamptonshire County Council previously operated a comprehensive system of state-funded secondary schools.[70] From May 2021 compulsory education in the county is administered by North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council.

The county's music and performing arts trust provides peripatetic music teaching to schools. It also supports 15 local Saturday morning music and performing arts centres around the county and provides a range of county-level music groups.

Colleges

There are seven colleges across the county, with the Tresham College of Further and Higher Education having four campuses in three towns: Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough.[71] Tresham, which was taken over by Bedford College in 2017 due to failed Ofsted inspections, provides further education and offers vocational courses and re-sit GCSEs.[72] It also offers Higher Education options in conjunction with several universities.[73] Other colleges in the county are: Fletton House, Knuston Hall, Moulton College, Northampton College, Northampton New College and The East Northamptonshire College.

University

Northamptonshire has one university, the University of Northampton. It has two campuses 2.5 miles (4.0 km) apart and 10,000 students.[74] It offers courses for needs and interests from foundation and undergraduate level to postgraduate, professional and doctoral qualifications. Subjects include traditional arts, humanities and sciences subjects, as well as entrepreneurship, product design and advertising.[75]

Healthcare

Hospitals

The main acute National Health Service hospitals in Northamptonshire Northampton General Hospital, which also operates Danetre Hospital in Daventry, and Kettering General Hospital. In the south-west of the county, the towns of Brackley, Towcester and surrounding villages are serviced by the Horton General Hospital in Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire for acute medical needs. A similar arrangement is in place for the town of Oundle and nearby villages, served by Peterborough City Hospital.

In February 2011 a new satellite out-patient centre opened at Nene Park, Irthlingborough to provide over 40,000 appointments a year, as well as a minor injury unit to serve Eastern Northamptonshire. This was opened to relieve pressure off Kettering General Hospital, and has also replaced the dated Rushden Memorial Clinic which provided at the time about 8,000 appointments a year, when open.[76]

Water contamination

In June 2008, Anglian Water found traces of Cryptosporidium in water supplies of Northamptonshire. The local reservoir at Pitsford was investigated and a European rabbit which had strayed into it,[77] causing the problem, was found. About 250,000 residents were affected;[78] by 14 July 2008, 13 cases of cryptosporidiosis attributed to water in Northampton had been reported.[79] Following the end of the investigation, Anglian Water lifted its boil notice for all affected areas on 4 July 2008.[80] Anglian Water revealed that it would pay up to £30 per household as compensation for customers hit by the water crisis.[81]

Transport

Main article: East Midlands § Transport
 
Brackley bypass on the A43

The gap in the hills at Watford Gap meant that many south-east to north-west routes passed through Northamptonshire. Watling Street, a Roman Road which is now part of the A5, passes through here, as did canals, railways and major roads in later years.

Roads

Major national roads, including the M1 motorway (London to Leeds) and the A14 (Rugby to Felixstowe), provide Northamptonshire with transport links both north–south and east–west. The A43 joins the M1 to the M40 motorway, passing through the south of the county to the junction west of Brackley, and the A45 links Northampton with Wellingborough and Peterborough.

The county road network (excluding trunk roads and motorways), managed by West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council, includes the A45 west of the M1 motorway, the A43 between Northampton and the county boundary near Stamford, the A361 between Kilsby and Banbury (Oxon) and all B, C and unclassified roads. Since 2009, these highways have been managed on behalf of the county council by MGWSP, a joint venture between May Gurney and WSP.

Rivers and canals

Further information: Category:Rivers of Northamptonshire

Two major canals – the Oxford and the Grand Union – join in the county at Braunston. Notable features include a flight of 17 locks on the Grand Union at Rothersthorpe, the canal museum at Stoke Bruerne and a tunnel at Blisworth which, at 2,813 metres (3,076 yd), is the third-longest navigable canal tunnel on the UK canal network.

A branch of the Grand Union Canal connects to the River Nene in Northampton and has been upgraded to a 'wide canal' in places and is known as the Nene Navigation. It is famous for its guillotine locks.

Railways

 
An East Midlands Trains service approaching Wellingborough on the Midland Main Line

Two trunk railway routes, the Midland Main Line and the West Coast Main Line, cross the county. At its peak, Northamptonshire had 75 railway stations. It now has only six, at: Northampton and Long Buckby on the West Coast Main Line; Kettering, Wellingborough and Corby on the Midland Main Line; along with King's Sutton, only a few yards from the boundary with Oxfordshire on the Chiltern Main Line.

Before nationalisation of the railways in 1948 and the creation of British Railways, three of the Big Four railway companies operated in Northamptonshire: the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London and North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway. Only the Southern Railway was not represented. As of 2019, it is served by Chiltern Railways, East Midlands Railway, Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains.

Corby rail history

Corby was described as the largest town in Britain without a railway station.[82] The railway running through the town from Kettering to Oakham in Rutland was previously used only by freight traffic and occasional diverted passenger trains that did not stop at the station. The line through Corby was once part of a main line to Nottingham through Melton Mowbray, but the stretch between Melton and Nottingham was closed in 1968. In the 1980s, an experimental passenger shuttle service ran between Corby and Kettering but was withdrawn a few years later.[83] On 23 February 2009, a new railway station opened, providing direct hourly access to London St Pancras. Following the opening of Corby Station, Rushden then became the largest town in the United Kingdom without a direct railway station.

Closed lines and stations

Railway services in Northamptonshire were reduced by the Beeching cuts in the 1960s.[84] Closure of the line connecting Northampton to Peterborough by way of Wellingborough, Thrapston, and Oundle left eastern Northamptonshire devoid of railways. Part of this route was reopened in 1977 as the Nene Valley Railway. A section of one of the closed lines, the Northampton to Market Harborough line, is now the Northampton & Lamport heritage railway, while the route as a whole forms a part of the National Cycle Network, as the Brampton Valley Way.

As early as 1897, Northamptonshire would have had its own Channel Tunnel rail link with the creation of the Great Central Railway, which was intended to connect to a tunnel under the English Channel. Although the complete project never came to fruition, the rail link through Northamptonshire was constructed, and had stations at Charwelton, Woodford Halse, Helmdon and Brackley. It became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 (and of British Railways in 1948) before its closure in 1966.[citation needed]

Future

In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) recommended opening a new station on the former Irchester railway station site for Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Irchester, called Rushden Parkway.[85] Network Rail is electrifying the Midland Main Line north of Bedford, to Kettering and Corby.[86] An open access company has approached Network Rail for services to Oakham in Rutland to London via the county.[86]

The Rushden Historical Transport Society, operators of the Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway, would like to see the railway fully reopen between Wellingborough and Higham Ferrers.

The route of the planned High Speed 2 railway line (between London and Birmingham) will go through the southern part of the county but without any stations.[citation needed]

Buses

Most buses are operated by Stagecoach Midlands. Some town area routes have been named the Corby Star, Connect Kettering, Connect Wellingborough and Daventry Dart; the last three of these routes have route designations that include a letter (such as A, D1, W1, W2). Stagecoach's X4 route provides interurban links across the county, running between Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Oundle and Peterborough.

Airports

 
Sywell Aerodrome

Sywell Aerodrome, on the edge of Sywell village, has three grass runways and one concrete all-weather runway. It is, however, only 1000 metres long and therefore cannot be served by passenger jets.[87]

Media

 
BBC Radio Northampton's Broadcasting House

Newspapers

The two main newspapers in the county are the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph and the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.[citation needed]

Television

BBC regions

Most of Northamptonshire is served by the BBC's East region which is based in Norwich. The regional news television programme, BBC Look East, provides local news across the East of England, Milton Keynes and most of Northamptonshire. An opt-out in Look East covers the west part of the region only, broadcast from Cambridge. This area also is covered by the BBC's The Politics Show: East and Inside Out: East. A small part of the north of the county is covered by BBC East Midlands's regional news BBC East Midlands Today, while a small part of South Northamptonshire is covered by BBC Oxford's regional news BBC Oxford News which is part of the BBC South Today programme.[citation needed]

ITV regions

Most of Northamptonshire is covered by ITV's Anglia region (which broadcasts Anglia Today/Tonight); in the south-west of the county, primarily Brackley and the surrounding villages, broadcasts can be received from the Oxford transmitter which broadcasts ITV Meridian's Meridian Today/Tonight.

Radio

BBC Radio Northampton, broadcasts on two FM frequencies: 104.2 MHz for the south and west of the county (including Northampton and surrounding area) and 103.6 MHz for the north of the county (including Kettering, Wellingborough and Corby). BBC Radio Northampton is situated on Abington Street, Northampton. These services are broadcast from the Moulton Park & Geddington transmitters.

There are three commercial radio stations in the county. The former Kettering and Corby Broadcasting Company (KCBC) station was called Connect Radio (97.2 and 107.4 MHz FM), following a merger with the Wellingborough-based station of the same name. It is now part of Smooth East Midlands. While both Heart East (96.6 MHz FM) and AM station Gold (1557 kHz) air very little local content as they form part of a national network. National digital radio is also available in Northamptonshire, though coverage is limited.[citation needed]

Corby is served by its own dedicated station, Corby Radio (96.3fm), based in the town and focused on local content.[88]

Sport

 
Statue inscribed ‘They tackled the job’ outside Franklin's Gardens

Rugby union

Northamptonshire has many rugby union clubs. Its premier team Northampton Saints, competes in the Aviva Premiership and won the European championship in 2000 by defeating Munster for the Heineken Cup, 9–8. Saints are based at the 15,249 capacity [89] Franklin's Gardens ground. In 2014 the club won the Aviva Premiership as well as the Challenge Cup. For the 2014/15 campaign the team finished top of the table for the first time in the premiership, eventually losing 24–29 to Saracens in the playoff semi-final.

Association football

Northamptonshire has twenty four football clubs operating in the top ten levels of the English football league system. The sport in the area is administered by the Northamptonshire Football Association, which is affiliated with the United Counties League, the Northamptonshire Combination Football League, the Northampton Town Football League, as well as the Peterborough and District Football League in neighbouring Cambridgeshire. Only two clubs in Northamptonshire to have competed in The Football League are Northampton Town and the defunct Rushden & Diamonds.

Northampton Town F.C.

The only fully-professional English football league club in the county is Northampton Town, which attracts between 4,000 and 6,000 fans on an average game day and has been part of the Football League since 1920.[90] Their home ground is Sixfields Stadium which opened in 1994. The first match there took place on 15 October against Barnet Football Club. The stadium can hold up to 7,500 people, with provisions for disabled fans.[91]

Other clubs

The county also a number of semi-professional sides that compete in levels 6 to 8 of the football pyramid. These are Kettering Town, Brackley Town, AFC Rushden & Diamonds, and Corby Town F.C. Nineteen teams compete in the United Counties League (UCL), a league operating at levels 9 and 10 of the English League system, and which encompasses all of Northamptonshire and parts of neighbouring counties.

Cricket

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is in Division Two of the County Championship; the team (also known as The Steelbacks) play their home games at the County Cricket Ground, Northampton. They finished as runners-up in the Championship on four occasions in the period before it split into two divisions.

In 2013 the club won the Friends Life t20, beating Surrey in the final. Appearing in their third final in four years, the Steelbacks beat Durham by four wickets at Edgbaston in 2016 to lift the Natwest t20 Blast trophy for the second time. The club also won the NatWest Trophy on two occasions, and the Benson & Hedges Cup once.

Motor sport

Silverstone is a major motor racing circuit, most notably used for the British Grand Prix. There is also a dedicated radio station for the circuit which broadcasts on 87.7 FM or 1602 MW when events are taking place. However, part of the circuit is across the border in Buckinghamshire. Rockingham Speedway, located near Corby, was one of the largest motor sport venues in the United Kingdom with 52,000 seats until it was closed permanently in 2018 to make way for a logistics hub for the automotive industry, hosting its last race in November of that year.[92] It was a US-style elliptical racing circuit (the largest of its kind outside of the United States), and is used extensively for all kinds of motor racing events. The Santa Pod drag racing circuit, venue for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships, is just across the border in Bedfordshire but has a NN postcode.

Two Formula One teams are based in Northamptonshire, with Mercedes at Brackley and Aston Martin in Silverstone. Aston Martin also have a secondary facility in Brackley, while Mercedes build engines for themselves, Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams at Brixworth. Cosworth, the high-performance engineering company, is based in Northampton.

Swimming and diving

There are seven competitive swimming clubs in the county: Northampton Swimming Club, Wellingborough Amateur Swimming Club, Rushden Swimming Club, Kettering Amateur Swimming Club, Corby Amateur Swimming Club, Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club, and Nene Valley Swimming Club. There is also one diving club: Corby Steel Diving Club. The main pool in the county is Corby East Midlands International Pool, which has an 8-lane 50m swimming pool with a floor that can adjust in depth to provide a 25m pool. The pool is home to the Northamptonshire Amateur Association's County Championships as well as some of the Youth Midland Championships.[93][94]

Northamptonshire is home to 2016 paralympian Ellie Robinson. She was talent-spotted in July 2012 and developed at Northampton Swimming Club, and was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships. She won there three bronze medals, and one silver medal.[95]

Culture

Jane Austen set her 1814 novel Mansfield Park mostly in Northamptonshire.

Melrose Plant, a prominent secondary protagonist in the Richard Jury series of mystery novels by Martha Grimes, resides in Northamptonshire, and much of the action in the books takes place there.

Kinky Boots, the 2005 British-American film and subsequent stage musical adaptation, was based on the true story of a traditional Northamptonshire shoe factory which, to stay afloat, entered the market for fetish footwear.

Rock and pop bands originating in the area have included Bauhaus, Temples, The Departure, New Cassettes, Raging Speedhorn and Defenestration. Richard Coles, an English musician, partnered in the 1980s with Jimmy Somerville to create the band The Communards. They achieved three top ten hits and made the No. 1 in 1986 with a version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way". In 2012, The University of Northampton awarded Coles an honorary doctorate. From 2011 to 2022 he was the vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire.

Northampton is the birthplace of composer Malcolm Arnold (born 21 October 1921) and of actor Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967).

Places of interest

See also: Category:Tourist attractions in Northamptonshire

Annual events

See also

Notes

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References

  • Bathurst, David (2012). Walking the county high points of England. Chichester: Summersdale, England. ISBN 978-1-84-953239-6.
  • Greenall, R.L. (1979). A History of Northamptonshire. Bognor Regis, England: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 1-86077-147-5..

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northamptonshire.

February 13, 2023
northamptonshire, coordinates, ɔːr, ɪər, abbreviated, northants, county, east, midlands, england, 2015, population, county, administered, unitary, authorities, north, west, nicknamed, rose, shires, ceremonial, countynorthampton, county, townflagsovereign, stat. Coordinates 52 17 N 0 50 W 52 283 N 0 833 W 52 283 0 833 Northamptonshire n ɔːr ˈ 8 ae m p t e n ʃ ɪer ʃ er 3 4 abbreviated Northants is a county in the East Midlands of England In 2015 it had a population of 723 000 The county is administered by two unitary authorities North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire It is nicknamed The Rose of the Shires NorthamptonshireCeremonial countyNorthampton the county townFlagSovereign stateUnited KingdomConstituent countryEnglandRegionEast MidlandsTime zoneUTC 00 00 Greenwich Mean Time Summer DST UTC 01 00 British Summer Time Members of ParliamentPeter Bone C Michael Ellis C Chris Heaton Harris C Philip Hollobone C Andrea Leadsom C Andrew Lewer C Tom Pursglove C Ceremonial countyLord LieutenantDavid Laing 1 High SheriffPaul Parsons 2 2020 21 Area2 364 km2 913 sq mi Ranked24th of 48Population 2021 747 622 Ranked33rd of 48Density316 km2 820 sq mi Ethnicity85 7 White British4 7 Other White2 5 Asian British2 5 Black British4 6 OtherUnitary authoritiesCouncilsWest Northamptonshire CouncilNorth Northamptonshire CouncilDistrictsDistricts of Northamptonshire Unitary West NorthamptonshireNorth NorthamptonshireCovering an area of 2 364 square kilometres 913 sq mi Northamptonshire is landlocked between eight other counties Cambridgeshire to the east Bedfordshire to the south east Buckinghamshire to the south Oxfordshire to the south west Warwickshire to the west Leicestershire and Rutland to the north and Lincolnshire to the north east the last being England s shortest administrative county boundary at 20 yards 19 metres 5 Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands Apart from the county town of Northampton other major population centres include Kettering Corby Wellingborough Rushden and Daventry Northamptonshire s county flower is the cowslip 6 The Soke of Peterborough falls within the historic boundaries of the county but its area has been part of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire since 1974 Contents 1 History 1 1 Peterborough 2 Geography 2 1 Climate 3 Governance 3 1 Local government 3 1 1 De facto bankruptcy of the county council 3 1 2 Structural changes 3 2 National representation 4 Economy 4 1 Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area 5 Education 5 1 Schools 5 2 Colleges 5 3 University 6 Healthcare 6 1 Hospitals 6 2 Water contamination 7 Transport 7 1 Roads 7 2 Rivers and canals 7 3 Railways 7 4 Buses 7 5 Airports 8 Media 8 1 Newspapers 8 2 Television 8 3 Radio 9 Sport 9 1 Rugby union 9 2 Association football 9 2 1 Northampton Town F C 9 2 2 Other clubs 9 3 Cricket 9 4 Motor sport 9 5 Swimming and diving 10 Culture 11 Places of interest 12 Annual events 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 16 External linksHistory EditMain article History of Northamptonshire Much of Northamptonshire s countryside appears to have remained somewhat intractable with regards to early human occupation resulting in an apparently sparse population and relatively few finds from the Palaeolithic Mesolithic and Neolithic periods 7 In about 500 BC the Iron Age was introduced into the area by a continental people in the form of the Hallstatt culture 8 and over the next century a series of hill forts were constructed at Arbury Camp Rainsborough camp Borough Hill Castle Dykes Guilsborough Irthlingborough and most notably of all Hunsbury Hill There are two more possible hill forts at Arbury Hill Badby and Thenford 8 In the 1st century BC most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni a Belgic tribe the Northamptonshire area forming their most northerly possession 8 The Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD 9 The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county and an important Roman settlement Lactodurum stood on the site of modern day Towcester There were other Roman settlements at Northampton Kettering and along the Nene Valley near Raunds A large fort was built at Longthorpe 8 After the Romans left the area eventually became part of the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda 10 From about 889 the area was conquered by the Danes as at one point almost all of England was except for Athelney marsh in Somerset and became part of the Danelaw with Watling Street serving as the boundary until being recaptured by the English under the Wessex king Edward the Elder son of Alfred the Great in 917 Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940 this time by the Vikings of York who devastated the area only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942 11 Consequently it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town names and settlements citation needed The county was first recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle 1011 as Hamtunscire the scire shire of Hamtun the homestead The North was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south Southampton though the origins of the two names are in fact different 12 Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror 13 and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times In 1460 during the Wars of the Roses the Battle of Northampton took place and King Henry VI was captured 14 The now ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary Queen of Scots before her execution 15 The historic boundaries of the county shown in John Speed s map of the county in his Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine c 1611 A depiction of the town of Northampton is inset in the top left and the city of Peterborough in the bottom right During the English Civil War Northamptonshire strongly supported the Parliamentarian cause and the Royalist forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 in the north of the county King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647 16 George Washington the first President of the United States of America was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656 George Washington s ancestor Lawrence Washington was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was he who bought Sulgrave Manor from Henry VIII in 1539 It was George Washington s great grandfather John Washington who emigrated in 1656 from Northamptonshire to Virginia Before Washington s ancestors moved to Sulgrave they lived in Warton Lancashire 17 In the 18th and 19th centuries parts of Northamptonshire and the surrounding area became industrialised The local specialisation was shoemaking and the leather industry and became one of Britain s major centres for these crafts by the 19th century In the north of the county a large ironstone quarrying industry developed from 1850 18 In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to enjoy a very pure and wholesome air because of its dryness and distance from the sea Its livestock were celebrated Horned cattle and other animals are fed to extraordinary sizes and many horses of the large black breed are reared 19 Nine years later the county was described as a county enjoying the reputation of being one of the healthiest and pleasantest parts of England although the towns were of small importance with the exceptions of Peterborough and Northampton In summer the county hosted a great number of wealthy families country seats and villas are to be seen at every step 20 Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of spires and squires because of the numbers of stately homes and ancient churches 21 Prior to 1901 the ancient hundreds were disused Northamptonshire was administered as four major divisions Northern Eastern Mid and Southern 22 During the 1930s the town of Corby was established as a major centre of the steel industry Much of Northamptonshire nevertheless remains rural citation needed Corby was designated a new town in 1950 23 and Northampton followed in 1968 24 As of 2005 update the government is encouraging development in the South Midlands area including Northamptonshire 25 Peterborough Edit The Soke of Peterborough was historically associated with and considered part of Northamptonshire and the Church of England Diocese that covers Northamptonshire is centred in Peterborough Cathedral 26 However Peterborough had its own courts of quarter sessions and later county council In 1965 the administration was merged with that of neighbouring Huntingdonshire 27 Under the Local Government Act 1972 the city of Peterborough became a district of Cambridgeshire 28 Geography EditMain articles List of places in Northamptonshire and List of Northamptonshire settlements by population Northampton Kettering Wellingborough Corby Daventry Rushden Thrapston Brackley Oundle Desborough Towcester Irthlingborough Kings Sutton Brixworth Raunds Silverstone Banbury Market Harborough Milton Keynes Leicester Rugbyclass notpageimage Notable places in and around Northamptonshire Kilworth Wharf on the Grand Union Canal Northamptonshire is a landlocked county located in the southern part of the East Midlands region 29 which is sometimes known as the South Midlands The county contains the watershed between the River Severn and The Wash and several important rivers have their sources in the north west of the county including the River Nene which flows north eastwards to The Wash and the Warwickshire Avon which flows south west to the Severn In 1830 it was boasted that not a single brook however insignificant flows into it from any other district 30 The highest point in the county is Arbury Hill at 225 metres 738 ft 31 32 There are several towns in the county Northampton being the largest and most populous At the time of the 2011 census a population of 691 952 lived in the county with 212 069 living in Northampton The table below shows all towns with over 10 000 inhabitants Rank Town Population Former Borough District council1 Northampton 212 100 2011 Northampton Borough Council2 Kettering 67 245 2011 Kettering Borough Council3 Corby 56 514 2011 Corby Borough Council4 Wellingborough 49 088 2011 Borough Council of Wellingborough5 Rushden 29 265 2011 East Northamptonshire District Council6 Daventry 25 066 2011 Daventry District Council7 Brackley 13 018 2011 South Northamptonshire District Council8 Desborough 10 697 2011 Kettering Borough CouncilAs of 2010 there were 16 settlements in Northamptonshire with a town charter Brackley Burton Latimer Corby Daventry Desborough Higham Ferrers Irthlingborough Kettering Northampton Oundle Raunds Rothwell Rushden Towcester Thrapston and Wellingborough Climate Edit Like the rest of the British Isles Northamptonshire has an oceanic climate Koppen climate classification The table below shows the average weather for Northamptonshire from the Moulton weather station Climate data for Moulton NorthantsMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearAverage high C F 7 45 8 46 11 52 13 55 17 63 19 66 22 72 23 73 19 66 14 57 10 50 7 45 14 58 Average low C F 2 36 2 36 4 39 4 39 7 45 10 50 12 54 12 54 10 50 8 46 5 41 3 37 7 44 Average precipitation cm inches 4 51 1 78 3 39 1 33 2 87 1 13 4 39 1 73 3 49 1 37 4 66 1 83 4 21 1 66 4 69 1 85 5 49 2 16 5 68 2 24 4 8 1 9 4 98 1 96 53 16 20 94 Source 33 Governance EditLocal government Edit Main article Northamptonshire County Council Between 1974 and 2021 Northamptonshire like most English counties was divided into a number of local authorities The seven borough district councils covered 15 towns and hundreds of villages The county had a two tier structure of local government and an elected county council based in Northampton and was also divided into seven districts each with their own district or borough councils 34 Council Council HQ LocationCorby Borough Council CorbyDaventry District Council DaventryEast Northamptonshire District Council ThrapstonKettering Borough Council KetteringNorthampton Borough Council NorthamptonSouth Northamptonshire District Council TowcesterBorough Council of Wellingborough WellingboroughNorthampton itself is the most populous civil parish in England and prior to 2021 was the most populous urban district in England not to be administered as a unitary authority even though several smaller districts are unitary During the 1990s local government reform Northampton Borough Council petitioned strongly for unitary status which led to fractured relations with the County Council citation needed The Soke of Peterborough is within the historic county of Northamptonshire although it had had a separate county council since 1889 and separate courts of quarter sessions before then The city of Peterborough has been a unitary authority since 1998 but it forms part of Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes 35 De facto bankruptcy of the county council Edit In early 2018 Northamptonshire County Council was declared technically insolvent and would be able to provide only the bare essential services 36 According to The Guardian the problems were caused by a reckless half decade in which it refused to raise council tax to pay for the soaring costs of social care and partly due to past failings the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer Some observers such as Simon Edwards of the County Councils Network added another perspective on the cause of the financial crisis the United Kingdom government austerity programme It is clear that partly due to past failings the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer However we can t ignore that some of the underlying causes of the challenges facing Northamptonshire such as dramatic reductions to council budgets and severe demand for services mean county authorities across the country face funding pressures of 3 2bn over the next two years 37 Structural changes Edit Main articles West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire West NorthamptonshireNorth Northamptonshire In early 2018 following the events above Government appointed commissioners took over control of the council s affairs Consequently the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government commissioned an independent report which in March 2018 proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire These changes saw the existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place 38 One authority West Northamptonshire consists of the former districts of Daventry Northampton and South Northamptonshire and the other authority North Northamptonshire consists of Corby East Northamptonshire Kettering and Wellingborough districts 39 National representation Edit Northamptonshire returns seven Members of Parliament MPs As of 2023 update all are currently from the Conservative Party 40 Several of the constituencies have been marginal in the past including the Northampton seats Wellingborough Kettering and Corby which were all Labour seats before 2005 In the 2016 EU referendum all of the Northamptonshire districts voted to Leave most by a significant margin Two prominent Brexiteer MPs Philip Hollobone and Peter Bone represent parts of the county Constituency Member of Parliament Political partyCorby Tom Pursglove ConservativeDaventry Chris Heaton Harris ConservativeKettering Philip Hollobone ConservativeNorthampton North Michael Ellis ConservativeNorthampton South Andrew Lewer ConservativeSouth Northamptonshire Andrea Leadsom ConservativeWellingborough Peter Bone ConservativeFrom 1993 until 2005 Northamptonshire County Council 41 for which each of the 73 electoral divisions in the county elect a single councillor had been held by the Labour Party it had been under no overall control since 1981 The councils of the rural districts Daventry East Northamptonshire and South Northamptonshire are strongly Conservative whereas the political composition of the urban districts is more mixed At the 2003 local elections Labour lost control of Kettering Northampton and Wellingborough retaining only Corby Elections for the entire County Council are held every four years the last were held on 5 May 2005 when control of the County Council changed from the Labour Party to the Conservatives The County Council uses a leader and cabinet executive system and abolished its area committees in April 2006 Economy EditMain article History of Northamptonshire Economy Silverstone adds millions every year to the local economy Kimi Raikkonen testing for McLaren at Silverstone in April 2006 Historically Northamptonshire s main industry was manufacturing of boots and shoes 42 Many of the manufacturers closed down in the Thatcher era which in turn left many county people unemployed citation needed Although R Griggs and Co Ltd the manufacturer of Dr Martens still has its UK base in Wollaston near Wellingborough 43 the shoe industry has deeply declined as manufacturing has moved away from England There were over 2 000 shoemakers in the region in the mid 19th century today the number is over 30 left 44 Large employers include the breakfast cereal manufacturers Weetabix in Burton Latimer the Carlsberg brewery in Northampton Avon Products Siemens Barclaycard Saxby Bros Ltd and Golden Wonder 45 46 In the west of the county is the Daventry International Railfreight Terminal 47 which is a major rail freight terminal located on the West Coast Main Line near Rugby Wellingborough also has a smaller railfreight depot 48 on Finedon Road called Nelisons sidings 49 This is a chart of trend of the regional gross value added of Northamptonshire at current basic prices in millions of British Pounds Sterling correct on 21 December 2005 50 Year Regional Gross Value Added 51 Agriculture 52 Industry 53 Services 54 1995 7 139 112 2 157 3 8702000 9 743 79 3 035 6 6302003 10 901 90 3 260 7 551The region of Northamptonshire Oxfordshire and the South Midlands has been described as Motorsport Valley a global hub for the motor sport industry 55 56 The Mercedes AMG 57 and Aston Martin 58 Formula One teams have their bases at Brackley and Silverstone respectively while Mercedes Benz High Performance Engines 59 and formerly Cosworth 60 are also in the county at Brixworth and Northampton respectively International motor racing takes place at Silverstone Circuit 61 and formerly Rockingham Motor Speedway 62 Santa Pod Raceway is just over the border in Bedfordshire but has a Northamptonshire postcode 63 A study commissioned by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd NEL reported that Northamptonshire s motorsport sites attract more than 2 1 million visitors per year who spend a total of more than 131 million within the county 64 Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area Edit Main article South Midlands Northamptonshire forms part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area which also includes Milton Keynes Aylesbury Vale and Bedfordshire This area has been identified as an area which is due to have tens of thousands additional homes built between 2010 and 2020 In North Northamptonshire Boroughs of Corby Kettering Wellingborough and East Northants over 52 000 homes are planned or newly built and 47 000 new jobs are also planned 65 In West Northamptonshire boroughs of Northampton Daventry and South Northants over 48 000 homes are planned or newly built and 37 000 new jobs are planned 66 To oversee the planned developments two urban regeneration companies have been created North Northants Development Company NNDC 65 and the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation 66 The NNDC launched a controversial 67 campaign called North Londonshire to attract people from London to the county 68 There is also a county wide tourism campaign with the slogan Northamptonshire Let yourself grow 69 Education EditSchools Edit Northamptonshire County Council previously operated a comprehensive system of state funded secondary schools 70 From May 2021 compulsory education in the county is administered by North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council The county s music and performing arts trust provides peripatetic music teaching to schools It also supports 15 local Saturday morning music and performing arts centres around the county and provides a range of county level music groups Colleges Edit There are seven colleges across the county with the Tresham College of Further and Higher Education having four campuses in three towns Corby Kettering and Wellingborough 71 Tresham which was taken over by Bedford College in 2017 due to failed Ofsted inspections provides further education and offers vocational courses and re sit GCSEs 72 It also offers Higher Education options in conjunction with several universities 73 Other colleges in the county are Fletton House Knuston Hall Moulton College Northampton College Northampton New College and The East Northamptonshire College University Edit Northamptonshire has one university the University of Northampton It has two campuses 2 5 miles 4 0 km apart and 10 000 students 74 It offers courses for needs and interests from foundation and undergraduate level to postgraduate professional and doctoral qualifications Subjects include traditional arts humanities and sciences subjects as well as entrepreneurship product design and advertising 75 Healthcare EditHospitals Edit The main acute National Health Service hospitals in Northamptonshire Northampton General Hospital which also operates Danetre Hospital in Daventry and Kettering General Hospital In the south west of the county the towns of Brackley Towcester and surrounding villages are serviced by the Horton General Hospital in Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire for acute medical needs A similar arrangement is in place for the town of Oundle and nearby villages served by Peterborough City Hospital In February 2011 a new satellite out patient centre opened at Nene Park Irthlingborough to provide over 40 000 appointments a year as well as a minor injury unit to serve Eastern Northamptonshire This was opened to relieve pressure off Kettering General Hospital and has also replaced the dated Rushden Memorial Clinic which provided at the time about 8 000 appointments a year when open 76 Water contamination Edit In June 2008 Anglian Water found traces of Cryptosporidium in water supplies of Northamptonshire The local reservoir at Pitsford was investigated and a European rabbit which had strayed into it 77 causing the problem was found About 250 000 residents were affected 78 by 14 July 2008 13 cases of cryptosporidiosis attributed to water in Northampton had been reported 79 Following the end of the investigation Anglian Water lifted its boil notice for all affected areas on 4 July 2008 80 Anglian Water revealed that it would pay up to 30 per household as compensation for customers hit by the water crisis 81 Transport EditMain article East Midlands Transport Brackley bypass on the A43 The gap in the hills at Watford Gap meant that many south east to north west routes passed through Northamptonshire Watling Street a Roman Road which is now part of the A5 passes through here as did canals railways and major roads in later years Roads Edit Major national roads including the M1 motorway London to Leeds and the A14 Rugby to Felixstowe provide Northamptonshire with transport links both north south and east west The A43 joins the M1 to the M40 motorway passing through the south of the county to the junction west of Brackley and the A45 links Northampton with Wellingborough and Peterborough The county road network excluding trunk roads and motorways managed by West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council includes the A45 west of the M1 motorway the A43 between Northampton and the county boundary near Stamford the A361 between Kilsby and Banbury Oxon and all B C and unclassified roads Since 2009 these highways have been managed on behalf of the county council by MGWSP a joint venture between May Gurney and WSP Rivers and canals Edit The Grand Union Canal at Braunston Further information Category Rivers of Northamptonshire Two major canals the Oxford and the Grand Union join in the county at Braunston Notable features include a flight of 17 locks on the Grand Union at Rothersthorpe the canal museum at Stoke Bruerne and a tunnel at Blisworth which at 2 813 metres 3 076 yd is the third longest navigable canal tunnel on the UK canal network A branch of the Grand Union Canal connects to the River Nene in Northampton and has been upgraded to a wide canal in places and is known as the Nene Navigation It is famous for its guillotine locks Railways Edit An East Midlands Trains service approaching Wellingborough on the Midland Main Line Two trunk railway routes the Midland Main Line and the West Coast Main Line cross the county At its peak Northamptonshire had 75 railway stations It now has only six at Northampton and Long Buckby on the West Coast Main Line Kettering Wellingborough and Corby on the Midland Main Line along with King s Sutton only a few yards from the boundary with Oxfordshire on the Chiltern Main Line Before nationalisation of the railways in 1948 and the creation of British Railways three of the Big Four railway companies operated in Northamptonshire the London Midland and Scottish Railway London and North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway Only the Southern Railway was not represented As of 2019 it is served by Chiltern Railways East Midlands Railway Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains Corby rail historyCorby was described as the largest town in Britain without a railway station 82 The railway running through the town from Kettering to Oakham in Rutland was previously used only by freight traffic and occasional diverted passenger trains that did not stop at the station The line through Corby was once part of a main line to Nottingham through Melton Mowbray but the stretch between Melton and Nottingham was closed in 1968 In the 1980s an experimental passenger shuttle service ran between Corby and Kettering but was withdrawn a few years later 83 On 23 February 2009 a new railway station opened providing direct hourly access to London St Pancras Following the opening of Corby Station Rushden then became the largest town in the United Kingdom without a direct railway station Closed lines and stationsRailway services in Northamptonshire were reduced by the Beeching cuts in the 1960s 84 Closure of the line connecting Northampton to Peterborough by way of Wellingborough Thrapston and Oundle left eastern Northamptonshire devoid of railways Part of this route was reopened in 1977 as the Nene Valley Railway A section of one of the closed lines the Northampton to Market Harborough line is now the Northampton amp Lamport heritage railway while the route as a whole forms a part of the National Cycle Network as the Brampton Valley Way As early as 1897 Northamptonshire would have had its own Channel Tunnel rail link with the creation of the Great Central Railway which was intended to connect to a tunnel under the English Channel Although the complete project never came to fruition the rail link through Northamptonshire was constructed and had stations at Charwelton Woodford Halse Helmdon and Brackley It became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and of British Railways in 1948 before its closure in 1966 citation needed FutureIn June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies ATOC recommended opening a new station on the former Irchester railway station site for Rushden Higham Ferrers and Irchester called Rushden Parkway 85 Network Rail is electrifying the Midland Main Line north of Bedford to Kettering and Corby 86 An open access company has approached Network Rail for services to Oakham in Rutland to London via the county 86 The Rushden Historical Transport Society operators of the Rushden Higham and Wellingborough Railway would like to see the railway fully reopen between Wellingborough and Higham Ferrers The route of the planned High Speed 2 railway line between London and Birmingham will go through the southern part of the county but without any stations citation needed Buses Edit Most buses are operated by Stagecoach Midlands Some town area routes have been named the Corby Star Connect Kettering Connect Wellingborough and Daventry Dart the last three of these routes have route designations that include a letter such as A D1 W1 W2 Stagecoach s X4 route provides interurban links across the county running between Northampton Wellingborough Kettering Corby Oundle and Peterborough Airports Edit Sywell Aerodrome Sywell Aerodrome on the edge of Sywell village has three grass runways and one concrete all weather runway It is however only 1000 metres long and therefore cannot be served by passenger jets 87 Media Edit BBC Radio Northampton s Broadcasting House Newspapers Edit The two main newspapers in the county are the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph and the Northampton Chronicle amp Echo citation needed Television Edit BBC regionsMost of Northamptonshire is served by the BBC s East region which is based in Norwich The regional news television programme BBC Look East provides local news across the East of England Milton Keynes and most of Northamptonshire An opt out in Look East covers the west part of the region only broadcast from Cambridge This area also is covered by the BBC s The Politics Show East and Inside Out East A small part of the north of the county is covered by BBC East Midlands s regional news BBC East Midlands Today while a small part of South Northamptonshire is covered by BBC Oxford s regional news BBC Oxford News which is part of the BBC South Today programme citation needed ITV regionsMost of Northamptonshire is covered by ITV s Anglia region which broadcasts Anglia Today Tonight in the south west of the county primarily Brackley and the surrounding villages broadcasts can be received from the Oxford transmitter which broadcasts ITV Meridian s Meridian Today Tonight Radio Edit BBC Radio Northampton broadcasts on two FM frequencies 104 2 MHz for the south and west of the county including Northampton and surrounding area and 103 6 MHz for the north of the county including Kettering Wellingborough and Corby BBC Radio Northampton is situated on Abington Street Northampton These services are broadcast from the Moulton Park amp Geddington transmitters There are three commercial radio stations in the county The former Kettering and Corby Broadcasting Company KCBC station was called Connect Radio 97 2 and 107 4 MHz FM following a merger with the Wellingborough based station of the same name It is now part of Smooth East Midlands While both Heart East 96 6 MHz FM and AM station Gold 1557 kHz air very little local content as they form part of a national network National digital radio is also available in Northamptonshire though coverage is limited citation needed Corby is served by its own dedicated station Corby Radio 96 3fm based in the town and focused on local content 88 Sport Edit Statue inscribed They tackled the job outside Franklin s Gardens Rugby union Edit Northamptonshire has many rugby union clubs Its premier team Northampton Saints competes in the Aviva Premiership and won the European championship in 2000 by defeating Munster for the Heineken Cup 9 8 Saints are based at the 15 249 capacity 89 Franklin s Gardens ground In 2014 the club won the Aviva Premiership as well as the Challenge Cup For the 2014 15 campaign the team finished top of the table for the first time in the premiership eventually losing 24 29 to Saracens in the playoff semi final Association football Edit Northamptonshire has twenty four football clubs operating in the top ten levels of the English football league system The sport in the area is administered by the Northamptonshire Football Association which is affiliated with the United Counties League the Northamptonshire Combination Football League the Northampton Town Football League as well as the Peterborough and District Football League in neighbouring Cambridgeshire Only two clubs in Northamptonshire to have competed in The Football League are Northampton Town and the defunct Rushden amp Diamonds Northampton Town F C Edit The only fully professional English football league club in the county is Northampton Town which attracts between 4 000 and 6 000 fans on an average game day and has been part of the Football League since 1920 90 Their home ground is Sixfields Stadium which opened in 1994 The first match there took place on 15 October against Barnet Football Club The stadium can hold up to 7 500 people with provisions for disabled fans 91 Other clubs Edit The county also a number of semi professional sides that compete in levels 6 to 8 of the football pyramid These are Kettering Town Brackley Town AFC Rushden amp Diamonds and Corby Town F C Nineteen teams compete in the United Counties League UCL a league operating at levels 9 and 10 of the English League system and which encompasses all of Northamptonshire and parts of neighbouring counties Cricket Edit Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is in Division Two of the County Championship the team also known as The Steelbacks play their home games at the County Cricket Ground Northampton They finished as runners up in the Championship on four occasions in the period before it split into two divisions In 2013 the club won the Friends Life t20 beating Surrey in the final Appearing in their third final in four years the Steelbacks beat Durham by four wickets at Edgbaston in 2016 to lift the Natwest t20 Blast trophy for the second time The club also won the NatWest Trophy on two occasions and the Benson amp Hedges Cup once Motor sport Edit Silverstone is a major motor racing circuit most notably used for the British Grand Prix There is also a dedicated radio station for the circuit which broadcasts on 87 7 FM or 1602 MW when events are taking place However part of the circuit is across the border in Buckinghamshire Rockingham Speedway located near Corby was one of the largest motor sport venues in the United Kingdom with 52 000 seats until it was closed permanently in 2018 to make way for a logistics hub for the automotive industry hosting its last race in November of that year 92 It was a US style elliptical racing circuit the largest of its kind outside of the United States and is used extensively for all kinds of motor racing events The Santa Pod drag racing circuit venue for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships is just across the border in Bedfordshire but has a NN postcode Two Formula One teams are based in Northamptonshire with Mercedes at Brackley and Aston Martin in Silverstone Aston Martin also have a secondary facility in Brackley while Mercedes build engines for themselves Aston Martin McLaren and Williams at Brixworth Cosworth the high performance engineering company is based in Northampton Swimming and diving Edit There are seven competitive swimming clubs in the county Northampton Swimming Club Wellingborough Amateur Swimming Club Rushden Swimming Club Kettering Amateur Swimming Club Corby Amateur Swimming Club Daventry Dolphins Swimming Club and Nene Valley Swimming Club There is also one diving club Corby Steel Diving Club The main pool in the county is Corby East Midlands International Pool which has an 8 lane 50m swimming pool with a floor that can adjust in depth to provide a 25m pool The pool is home to the Northamptonshire Amateur Association s County Championships as well as some of the Youth Midland Championships 93 94 Northamptonshire is home to 2016 paralympian Ellie Robinson She was talent spotted in July 2012 and developed at Northampton Swimming Club and was selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships She won there three bronze medals and one silver medal 95 Culture EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it November 2010 Jane Austen set her 1814 novel Mansfield Park mostly in Northamptonshire Melrose Plant a prominent secondary protagonist in the Richard Jury series of mystery novels by Martha Grimes resides in Northamptonshire and much of the action in the books takes place there Kinky Boots the 2005 British American film and subsequent stage musical adaptation was based on the true story of a traditional Northamptonshire shoe factory which to stay afloat entered the market for fetish footwear Rock and pop bands originating in the area have included Bauhaus Temples The Departure New Cassettes Raging Speedhorn and Defenestration Richard Coles an English musician partnered in the 1980s with Jimmy Somerville to create the band The Communards They achieved three top ten hits and made the No 1 in 1986 with a version of the song Don t Leave Me This Way In 2012 The University of Northampton awarded Coles an honorary doctorate From 2011 to 2022 he was the vicar of Finedon in Northamptonshire Northampton is the birthplace of composer Malcolm Arnold born 21 October 1921 and of actor Marc Warren born 20 March 1967 Places of interest EditSee also Category Tourist attractions in Northamptonshire Key Abbey Priory Cathedral Accessible open space Amusement Theme Park Castle Country Park English HeritageForestry Commission Heritage railway Historic House Places of Worship Museum free not free National Trust Theatre Zoo78 Derngate Althorp Barnwell Country Park Barnwell Manor Billing Aquadrome Borough Hill Daventry Iron Age hill fort Boughton House home of the Dukes of Buccleuch Blisworth tunnel Brackley Brampton Valley Way linear park on a disused railway line Brixworth Country Park Burghley House in the Soke of Peterborough so formerly in Northants Canons Ashby House Castle Ashby home of the Marquess of Northampton Coton Manor Garden Cottesbrooke Hall Daventry Country Park Deene Park Delapre Abbey Derngate and Royal Theatre Easton Neston Fermyn Woods Country Park Fotheringhay Castle amp Church Franklin s Gardens Geddington s Eleanor cross Holdenby House Irchester Country Park Jurassic Way long distance footpath Kelmarsh Hall Kirby Hall Knuston Hall Lamport Hall Lilford Hall Lyveden New Bield Pitsford Reservoir Prebendal Manor House Nassington Naseby Field Northampton Cathedral Northampton amp Lamport Railway Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Roadmender live music venue Piddington Roman Villa Rockingham Castle Rockingham Forest Rockingham Motor Speedway Rushden Hall Rushden Higham and Wellingborough Railway Rushden Station Railway Museum Rushton Triangular Lodge Salcey Forest Silverstone Circuit Southwick Hall Stanwick Lakes Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum Sulgrave Manor Summer Leys nature reserve Syresham Sywell Country Park The Castle Theatre Towcester Museum Watford Locks Wellingborough Museum Whittlewood Forest Wicksteed Park Annual events EditGretton Barn dance British Grand Prix at Silverstone Burghley Horse Trials Crick Boat Show Hollowell Steam Rally Northampton Balloon Festival Rothwell Fair Rushden Cavalcade St Crispin Street Fair Wellingborough Carnival World Conker Championships Buckby Feast Corby Highland GatheringSee also Edit England portalCustos Rotulorum of Northamptonshire list of Keepers of the Rolls Grade I listed buildings in Northamptonshire High Sheriff of Northamptonshire History of Northamptonshire List of places in Northamptonshire Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire Northamptonshire UK Parliament constituency historical list of MPs for the Northamptonshire constituency Northamptonshire Police Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner Category People from NorthamptonshireNotes Edit HM Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire Northamptonshire County Council Archived from the original on 13 May 2016 Retrieved 19 April 2016 No 62943 The London Gazette 13 March 2020 p 5161 Northamptonshire collinsdictionary com Retrieved 30 November 2020 Northamptonshire Merriam Webster Dictionary Lincolnshire County Council Thebythams org uk 24 October 2005 Archived from the original on 6 May 2009 Retrieved 25 September 2010 Plant and fungi species Cowslip Plantlife org uk Archived from the original on 2 January 2017 Retrieved 5 November 2017 Greenall 1979 p 19 a b c d Greenall 1979 p 20 BBC History Tribes of Britain Retrieved 16 August 2009 Archived 25 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Greenall 1979 p 29 Wood Michael 1986 The Domesday Quest p 90 BBC Books 1986 ISBN 0 563 52274 7 Mills A D 1998 A Dictionary of English Place names Second Edition Oxford University Press Oxford p256 ISBN 0 19 280074 4 Rockingham Castle Rockingham Castle a home of history Weddings Corporate events and the Rockingham International Horse Trials Rockinghamcastle com Archived from the original on 11 January 2018 Retrieved 20 January 2018 Stearns Peter N Langer William L The Encyclopedia of world history ancient medieval and modern permanent dead link Retrieved 16 August 2009 Mott Allan BBC Cambridgeshire History Mary Queen of Scots last days Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Bbc co uk Retrieved 16 August 2009 Edmonds 1848 Notes on English history for the use of juvenile pupils Retrieved 16 August 2009 The Writings of George Washington Life of Washington Retrieved 16 August 2009 GENUKI Northamptonshire Genealogy Bartholomew s Gazetteer of the British Isles 1887 Archived 12 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Kellner eclipse co uk 11 August 2008 Retrieved 5 September 2009 Brookes R Whittaker W B The General Gazetteer or Compendious geographical dictionary in miniature 1823 Retrieved 5 September 2009 Malte Brun C Universal geography or A description of all parts of the world 1832 Retrieved 5 September 2009 Andrews R Teller M The Rough Guide to Britain 2004 Rough Guides Retrieved 5 September 2009 University of Kentucky Genealogy Archives Northamptonshire Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 2019 English Partnerships Corby 23 June 2004 Archived from the original on 23 June 2004 Retrieved 20 January 2018 English Partnerships Northampton 12 December 2004 Archived from the original on 12 December 2004 Retrieved 20 January 2018 Northamptonshire Chamber Milton Keynes amp South Midlands Growth Plan 7 December 2009 Archived from the original on 7 December 2009 Retrieved 20 January 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Peterborough Diocesan Registry Peterboroughdiocesanregistry co uk Archived from the original on 6 February 2018 Retrieved 20 January 2018 The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order 1964 SI 1964 367 see Local Government Commission for England 1958 1967 Report and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area Report No 3 31 July 1961 and Report and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area Report No 9 7 May 1965 The English Non metropolitan Districts Definition Order 1972 SI 1972 2039 Part 5 County of Cambridgeshire Official information on visiting and holidaying in Northamptonshire Archived from the original on 12 March 2007 Retrieved 6 February 2016 UK Genealogy Archives Transcript from Pigot amp Co s Commercial Directory 1830 Archived 2 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 August 2009 Bathurst 2012 pp 56 59 Northamptonshire Genealogy Bartholomew s Gazetteer of the British Isles 1887 Archived 12 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 August 2009 Average weather for Northamptonshire Moulton weather station Weather msn com Archived from the original on 29 January 2013 Northamptonshire County Council District and Borough Councils Archived 26 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine 2008 Retrieved 22 August 2009 The Cambridgeshire City of Peterborough Structural Boundary and Electoral Changes Order 1996 Archived 1 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine SI 1996 1878 see Local Government Commission for England 1992 Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire October 1994 and Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon amp Thurrock Blackburn amp Blackpool Broxtowe Gedling amp Rushcliffe Dartford amp Gravesham Gillingham amp Rochester upon Medway Exeter Gloucester Halton amp Warrington Huntingdonshire amp Peterborough Northampton Norwich Spelthorne and the Wrekin December 1995 Johnston Neil 2 August 2018 Bankrupt Northamptonshire county council may cut to legal minimum The Times Retrieved 9 September 2018 Hundreds of jobs are also at risk Butler Patrick 1 August 2018 Northamptonshire s cash crisis driven by ideological folly councillors told The Guardian Archived from the original on 9 September 2018 Retrieved 9 September 2018 Northamptonshire County Council should be scrapped BBC News 15 March 2018 Archived from the original on 19 March 2018 Retrieved 20 June 2018 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Northamptonshire County Council should be split up 15 March 2018 Archived from the original on 2 August 2018 Retrieved 30 May 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Regional MPs amp Local Authority Links Northamptonshire Chamber Archived from the original on 16 August 2018 Retrieved 16 August 2018 Northamptonshire County Council website Archived from the original on 31 May 2009 Retrieved 4 June 2009 GENUKI Northamptonshire Genealogy Bartholomew s Gazetteer of the British Isles Archived 12 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine 1887 Retrieved 22 August 2009 Kellysearch co uk R Griggs amp Co Ltd Archived 11 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 August 2009 Why Doc Martens Are So Expensive So Expensive retrieved 9 November 2022 Northamptonshire Chamber Major Northamptonshire employers 26 June 2010 Archived from the original on 26 June 2010 Retrieved 20 January 2018 Borough Council of Wellingborough Document and File Downloads PDF Archived from the original PDF on 15 June 2011 Retrieved 5 September 2009 Dirft holding Archived from the original on 26 January 2009 Retrieved 10 August 2009 FirstGBRf FirstGBRf opens unique depot at Wellingborough Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine 12 June 2007 Retrieved 22 August 2009 GB Railfreight Locations Wellingborough Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 11 November 2010 Regional Gross Value Added Office for National Statistics Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine pp 240 253 21 December 2005 Retrieved 22 August 2009 Components may not sum to totals due to rounding includes hunting and forestry includes energy and construction includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured Coe N M Kelly P F Wai Chung Yeung H Economic geography a contemporary introduction Wiley Blackwell 2007 pp 141 143 Retrieved 22 August 2009 Russell Hotten Motor racing battles to stay out of pits Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine TimesOnline 27 March 2009 Retrieved 22 August 2009 Official site of Mercedes GP Formula One Team Contact us Archived 10 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Mercedes gp com Retrieved 4 March 2010 Force India F1 Team Contact us Archived 1 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Forceindiaf1 com Retrieved 22 August 2009 Mercedes Benz High Performance Engines Ltd Contact Archived 23 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Mercedes benz hpe com Retrieved 22 August 2009 Cosworth Contact Archived 20 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Cosworth com Retrieved 22 August 2009 Silverstone Official Website Contact Numbers Archived 30 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 August 2009 Getting to Rockingham Archived 3 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Rockingham co uk Retrieved 22 August 2009 Santa Pod Raceway Contact find us postcode Archived 22 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Santapod co uk Retrieved 22 August 2009 Motorsport to grow 30 in next decade Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Northants Evening Telegraph 25 June 2009 Retrieved 22 August 2009 a b MSKM North Northants Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Mksm org uk Accessed 2 October 2010 a b MKSM West Northants Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Mksm org uk Accessed 2 October 2010 Come to North Londonshire Archived 26 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine Northants Evening Telegraph Accessed 2 October 2010 North Londonshire home page Archived 17 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2 October 2010 Let yourself grow home page Archived 11 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine Letyourselfgrow com Accessed 2 October 2010 Northamptonshire County Council Northamptonshire Schools Directory Archived 21 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009 Tresham College Our Campuses Archived 29 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009 1 Archived 1 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 April 2018 Tresham College Higher Education Archived 19 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009 The University of Northampton About Us Archived 23 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009 The University of Northampton Course finder Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 August 2009 New 4 2m Irthlingborough outpatients clinic opens BBC News 7 February 2011 Archived from the original on 8 February 2011 Retrieved 7 February 2011 Tite Nick 14 July 2008 Rabbit caused water contamination at Pitsford Northants ET Northants Evening Telegraph Archived from the original on 20 September 2008 Retrieved 22 August 2008 Sickness bug found in tap water BBC News 25 June 2008 Retrieved 15 July 2008 BBC News News at Ten BBC One BBC 14 July 2008 Anglian Water Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Press Release Water crisis All clear for tap water and up to 30 compensation Northampton Chronicle and Echo Chronicle amp Echo 5 July 2008 Archived from the original on 28 October 2009 Retrieved 22 August 2008 Britten Nick 23 February 2009 Corby station London Telegraph co uk Archived from the original on 26 February 2009 Retrieved 25 September 2010 Network South East routes Archived 7 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine SMJR Smjr info 19 September 2010 Archived from the original on 11 December 2008 Retrieved 25 September 2010 Connecting Communities Expanding Access to the Rail Network PDF London Association of Train Operating Companies June 2009 p 19 Retrieved 7 September 2018 a b Network Rail East Midlands Draft Route Utilisation Strategy Archived 15 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine Access date 4 January 2010 2 dead link The Corby Radio Story corbyradio com Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 5 March 2016 A New Dawn Northamptonsaints co uk Archived from the original on 18 October 2017 Retrieved 5 November 2017 Northampton Town FC Archived from the original on 21 June 2015 Retrieved 4 May 2015 Sixfields Stadium Northampton Town Ntfc co uk Archived from the original on 11 March 2017 Retrieved 5 November 2017 Motorsport track closes after 17 years 24 November 2018 Retrieved 22 February 2019 Northants ASA northantsasa org Archived from the original on 16 August 2018 Retrieved 4 November 2018 Midland Championships midlandchampionships org uk Archived from the original on 6 June 2014 Retrieved 12 July 2014 Ellie Robinson Rio paralympics org uk Archived from the original on 7 November 2017 Retrieved 5 November 2017 References EditBathurst David 2012 Walking the county high points of England Chichester Summersdale England ISBN 978 1 84 953239 6 Greenall R L 1979 A History of Northamptonshire Bognor Regis England Phillimore amp Co Ltd ISBN 1 86077 147 5 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northamptonshire Northamptonshire County Council Archived 21 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Northamptonshire at Curlie 1894 5 description Archived 25 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine Local Theatre in Northamptonshire Northamptonshire History Website Northamptonshire Tourism Website Northamptonshire Guide Website Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Visit Northamptonshire Website Northamptonshire Online Forum Images of Northamptonshire at the English Heritage Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Northamptonshire amp oldid 1138976253, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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