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NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 770 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NORTHAMPTONSHIRE , an See also:

east midland See also:county of See also:England, bounded N. by See also:Lincolnshire, N.W. by See also:Rutland and See also:Leicester-See also:shire, W. by See also:Warwickshire, S.W. and S. by See also:Oxfordshire, S.E. by See also:Buckinghamshire, and E. by See also:Bedfordshire, See also:Huntingdonshire and See also:Cambridgeshire. The See also:area is 1003.1 sq. m. The See also:surface is undulating and somewhat monotonous, notwithstanding that the See also:country is richly cultivated and in some parts finely wooded. Elevations over 700 ft. are few. The most picturesque scenery is found in the western and See also:south-western districts. For See also:long Northamptonshire has been famed for its ash trees, and there are also some very old oaks, such as that associated with See also:Cowper's See also:posthumous poem " Yardley See also:Oak," in Yardley See also:Chase near See also:Northampton, as well as a few See also:fine avenues of See also:elm. The See also:north-eastern extremity belongs to the See also:great Fen See also:district. The county forms the See also:principal See also:watershed of central England, nearly all the more important See also:rivers of this region having their See also:sources within its boundaries. The See also:Avon, with a westward course, forms for some distance the See also:northern boundary of the county, till near Lilbourne it passes into Warwickshire. The Nene passes southward past Northampton, whence it takes an easterly course, skirting the eastern boundary of the county. The Welland flows in an easterly direction. forming the boundary Cherwell, rising in a See also:spring at Charwelton, where it is crossec by a very See also:ancient See also:bridge, passes into Oxfordshire, and ther, forms for a considerable distance the southernmost portion of the boundary of Northamptonshire with that county; the Leam forms a portion of the boundary with Warwickshire. The See also:Ouse, which rises near See also:Brackley, soon afterwards leaves the county, but again touches it near Stony See also:Stratford, separating it for some distance from•Buckinghamshire.

See also:

Geology.—With the exception of the superficial glacial and See also:river deposits, all the rocks exposed in the county are of See also:Jurassic See also:age; they all See also:dip in a See also:general way towards the S.E., the strike of the outcrops being from south-See also:west to north-east. The See also:oldest rocks exposed belong to the Liassic formation; they come to the surface over a large area in the south-west and centre, around See also:Banbury, See also:Daventry and See also:Market Harborough, and by the removal of the over-lying Oolitic strata they are exposed along the rivers and stream courses near See also:Towcester, Northampton, See also:Wellingborough and Kettering. The See also:Lower See also:Lias, See also:blue See also:clay with See also:limestone bands and See also:cement stones, has few exposures; it has been cut through by the See also:railways at Kilsby and See also:Catesby, and at Braunston it is dug for See also:brick-making. The See also:Middle Lias consists of See also:grey micaceous marls, sandstones and See also:clays, often ferruginous; ironstone appears near See also:King's See also:Sutton; at the See also:top is the marlstone or " See also:rock See also:bed," used as a See also:building See also:stone and for road See also:metal. The Upper Lias is again a blue argillaceous See also:series of strata, with limestones and cement stones; it is employed for brick-making. Through the middle of the county from north-east to south-west is an elevated See also:tract of Oolitic rocks which contrasts strongly with the See also:low-lying grass-covered Liassic ground. The lowest subdivision of the Inferior Oolite, sands, See also:sandstone and calcareous beds, is an important source of See also:iron ore, with from 9 to 12 ft. of workable beds at Blisworth, Kettering, Northampton, Thrapstone, Towcester and Wellingborough. The flaggy sandstone of Duston (Duston See also:slate) belongs to this series. The upper See also:part of the Northampton sands is known as the Lower Estuarine Beds; these are See also:white and reddish clays and sands. In the north-eastern part of the county from about Maidwell, the Lincolnshire Limestone is See also:developed at the expense of the Northampton See also:Sand; the well-known building stone of Barnack (Barnack Rag) and See also:Weldon belong to this See also:horizon; a hard shelly variety is known as Weldon or See also:Stamford See also:marble. Locally at the See also:base is a series of flaggy strata, the Collyweston slates. The Great Oolite series comprise the Upper Estuarine Beds, the Great Oolite Limestone, Great Oolite Clay, See also:Forest Marble and See also:Cornbrash (very fossiliferous at See also:Rushden).

On the south-east border a See also:

belt of See also:Oxford Clay occupies the surface; See also:good exposures occur in the brick-See also:fields about See also:Peterborough. Glacial sands and gravels, including the great Chalky See also:Boulder Clay occur in patches on the older rocks, as at Hillmorton, and fill up old channels of the rivers sometimes to a considerable See also:depth, as in the old valley of the Ouse at Furtho, where the Boulder Clay is See also:loo ft. thick, Borings have revealed the existence of See also:Rhaetic and See also:Keuper rocks resting on an ancient See also:quartz-porphyrite beneath the Lias at See also:Orton; and at Gayton and Northampton the Carboniferous and possibly Old Red Sandstone strata have been proved, but no See also:Coal See also:Measures were en-countered. The See also:water-bearing strata of Northamptonshire include the marlstone of the Lias, the Lincolnshire Limestone, Collyweston beds and ironstone beds of the Inferior Oolite, and the Cornbrash and Great Oolite Limestone. See also:Climate and See also:Agriculture.—The climate of Northamptonshire is mild and genial, while the See also:absence of lofty hills renders it much drier than many other inland districts. The mean See also:annual rainfall at Wellingborough is 27.2 ins. The prevailing See also:soil is a See also:rich See also:brown but See also:light and crumbling See also:mould, sometimes with a rocky subsoil. The richest soil is the See also:black mould of the fen district, which is specially suited for grass, as are all the heavier soils. Nearly all the See also:land is capable of cultivation, although there is some stiff wet soil on the slopes of the hills. Nearly nine-tenths of the See also:total area, a high proportion, is under cultivation, and of this considerably over three-fifths is in permanent pasture, the acreage devoted to this use increasing steadily. Less than one-fifth is under See also:grain crops, and the area decreases. See also:Wheat and See also:barley are the principal grain crops. The fattening of See also:cattle is the See also:chief occupation of the Northamptonshire See also:farmer.

The favourite stock for breeding purposes is the shorthorn, but the most See also:

common See also:custom is to buy in See also:Hereford, Scotch, Welsh and Irish cattle in the spring and fatten them on the rich pastures, a few being retained and fed for the See also:Christmas market. In autumn additional cattle are bought in to eat the coarse grass off the pastures, and these are usually retained during See also:winter. The most common breed of See also:sheep on the rich pastures is the improved Leicester, which is preferred on See also:account of its length of See also:wool; but the Southdown, on account of its See also:superior flesh, is also largely kept. Manufactures.—The iron See also:industry is of considerable importance, though only a small proportion of the metal is smelted in the county. The industry is carried on in the central part of the county, as in the Kettering, Wellingborough and Thrapston districts, and in the north near Stamford. But Northamptonshire is more famous for its manufacture of boots and shoes, which is chiefly prosecuted in the towns and villages of the central and See also:southern districts, and along the eastern border. This See also:trade occupies some three-quarters of the total number of hands employed in factories in the county. Communications.—The See also:main See also:line of the See also:London & North Western railway passes through the south-western portion of the county, with an alternative route to Northampton, and branches to See also:Peter-See also:borough and elsewhere. With it are connected at Blisworth Junction the East and West Junction railway to Towcester, See also:Woodford and Stratford-on-Avon, and the Northampton and Banbury Junction railway. The Great Central main line, See also:crossing the county in the south, has connexion with the Great Westen railway at Banbury from Woodford. The Midland railway serves Wellingborough, Kettering and Northampton, and an important junction of systems is effected at Peterborough, which is on the main line of the Great Northern railway. See also:Branch lines of this and the Midland See also:system See also:complete the railway communications of the county.

The See also:

Grand Junction See also:Canal, which is connected with the Oxford Canal, enters the county at Braunston on the See also:borders of Warwickshire, and passes by Daventry and Blisworth into Buckinghamshire, a branch connecting it with Northampton. The Grand See also:Union Canal unites with the Grand Junction near Daventry, and runs north until it joins the Leicester Canal at Foxton, branches passing to Welford and Market Harborough. See also:Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the county is 641,992 acres, with a population in 1891 of 302,183 and in 1901 of 338,088. The area of the administrative county of Northampton is 585,148 acres, and that of the administrative county of the See also:soke of Peterborough 53,464 acres. In Domesday the county is mentioned as containing 30 hundreds, but it then included a considerable part of Rutland. These divisions were first reduced to 28, and in the reign of See also:Henry II. to 20, their See also:present number. The administrative counties include four municipal boroughs, namely, Brackley (pop. 2467), Daventry (378o), Higham See also:Ferrers (2540) and Peterborough (30,872), together with the municipal and county borough of Northampton (87,021). The See also:urban districts are: See also:Desborough (3573), Finedon (4129), Irthlingborough (4314), Kettering (28,653), See also:Oundle (2404), Raunds (3811), See also:Rothwell (4193), Rushden (12,453), Wellingborough (18,412). There are one See also:court of See also:quarter sessions and nine See also:petty sessional divisions. The borough of Northampton and the See also:liberty of the soke of Peterborough have each a See also:separate court of quarter sessions and a separate See also:commission of the See also:peace. The total number of See also:civil parishes is 346, of which 33 are in the soke of Peterborough.

The ancient county contains 297 entire ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in part, most of them being in the See also:

diocese of Peterborough; but small parts of the county fall within the dioceses of Oxford, See also:Ely and See also:Worcester. For See also:parliamentary purposes the county is divided into four divisions (Northern, Eastern, See also:Mid and Southern), and includes the parliamentary borough of Northampton, and part of the parliamentary borough of Peterborough, each returning one member, except the borough of Northampton, which returns two members. See also:History.—At some See also:time in the 7th See also:century the district which is now Northamptonshire suffered a simultaneous invasion by the West See also:Saxons from the south and the Anglian tribes from the north, and See also:relics discovered in the county testify to a mingling of races, at the same time showing that West Saxon See also:influence never spread farther north than a line from Daventry to See also:Warwick, and with the See also:extension of the Mercian See also:kingdom under See also:Penda and the See also:conversion of the midland districts ceased altogether. The See also:abbey at Medehamstede (now Peterborough) was begun by Peada in 655, and about the same time See also:foundations were established at Peakirk, Weedon See also:Beck, See also:Castor and Oundle. In 870 the district was overrun by the Danes, and Northampton was one of the five Danish boroughs, until in 921 it was recovered by See also:Edward the See also:Elder, who fortified Towcester in that See also:year. 11x. 25In the 11th century Northamptonshire was included in See also:Tostig'; northern earldom; but in ro65, together with Huntingdonshire it was detached from See also:Northumbria and bestowed on See also:Waltheof The only monastic See also:foundation which survived the See also:Conquest was Peterborough. See also:Norman castles existed at See also:Rockingham; Barnwell, Lilbourne and Northampton. As a shire Northamptonshire was probably of Danish origin, representing in the loth century the area which owed See also:allegiance to Northampton as a See also:political and administrative centre. In 921 this area extended to the Welland, the present northern limit of the county, and at the time of the Domesday Survey the boundaries were approximately those of the present See also:day. Northamptonshire is first mentioned by name in the Historia Eliensis, in connexion with events which occurred at the See also:close of the loth century. The Geld See also:roll of the time of See also:William I. and the Domesday Survey of ro86 mention 28 hundreds in Northamptonshire, and part of Rutland is assessed under this county.

By 1316 the divisions had undergone considerable changes, both in name and in extent, and had been reduced to their present number, 20, since which date they have remained practically unaltered. The names of the hundreds point to See also:

primitive See also:meeting-places gradually superseded by villages and towns, and the court for Fawsley See also:hundred met under a large See also:beech See also:tree in Fawsley See also:Park until the beginning of the 18th century, when it was transferred to Everdon. The shire-court originally met at Northampton. Northamptonshire was originally included in the diocese of See also:Lincoln. The archdeaconry of Northampton is mentioned in the 12th century, and in 1291 included the deaneries of Peter-borough, Northampton, Brackley, Oundle, Higham, Daventry, See also:Preston, Weldon, Rothwell and Haddon. The diocese of Peter-borough was created in 1541, and in 1875 the archdeaconry of See also:Oakham was formed and included in this county the first and second deaneries of Peterborough and the deaneries of Oundle, Weldon and Higham Ferrers. Northampton See also:arch-deaconry now includes the first, second and third deaneries of Brackwell and Rothwell; the first and second deaneries of Haddon and Preston, and the deaneries of Daventry, Northampton and Weldon. At the time of the Domesday Survey the chief See also:lay-See also:tenant in Northamptonshire was See also:Robert, See also:earl of See also:Mortain, whose See also:fief escheated to the See also:crown in 1.1o6. The estates of William Peverel founder of the abbey of St See also:James at Northampton, also escheated to the crown in the 12th century. Holdenby See also:House was built by See also:Sir See also:Christopher See also:Hatton, privy councillor to See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth, and Yardley See also:Hastings was named from the Hastings, formerly earls of See also:Pembroke. Higham Ferrers was the seat of the Ferrers See also:family; Braybrook See also:Castle was built by Robert de Braybrook, a favourite of King See also:John; and See also:Burghley House gave the See also:title of See also:baron to William See also:Cecil. Northampton was a favourite meeting-See also:place of the See also:councils and parliaments of the Norman and See also:Plantagenet See also:kings.

In 1215 John was besieged in Northampton Castle by the barons, and in 1264 Henry III. captured the castle from the younger See also:

Simon de See also:Montfort. During the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses Henry VI. was defeated at Northampton in 146o. In the Civil See also:War of the 17th century the county declared almost unanimously for the See also:parliament. A royalist See also:garrison was placed at Towcester by See also:Prince See also:Rupert in 1644, but almost immediately withdrawn. The iron-mines and stone-quarries of Northamptonshire were worked in See also:Roman times, but the former were entirely neglected from the Plantagenet See also:period until their rediscovery in 1850, while the two most famous quarries, those of Barnack and Stanion, were exhausted about the 16th century. The wool and See also:leather See also:industries flourished in Norman times. In the 17th century the See also:weaving industry declined in the Northampton district, but became very flourishing about Kettering. Other See also:early industries were See also:charcoal-burning, brick and See also:tile manufacture and See also:brewing. The industries of See also:whip-making, See also:pipe-making, See also:silk-weaving and See also:paper-making were introduced in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1290 Northamptonshire returned two members to parliament, and in 1295 Northampton also returned two members. 11 In 1547 Brackley and Peterborough returned each two members, and in 1557 Higham Ferrers returned one member. Under the See also:act of 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions, and Brackley and Higham Ferrers were disfranchised.

Antiquities.—Although Northamptonshire was rich in monastic foundations, remains, except of the abbey-See also:

church of Peter-borough, afterwards the See also:cathedral, are of small importance. At Geddington, and also at Hardingstone, near Northampton, there is an Eleanor See also:cross, erected by Edward I. to the memory of his queen, in good preservation. For the See also:architecture of its churches Northampton holds a place scarcely inferior to any other See also:English county. To the Saxon period belong the See also:tower of Earls See also:Barton church, which stands on an See also:eminence, probably the See also:mound of an old English strong -house; the tower and other portions at Brigstock; the ground See also:plan and other portions at Wittering; the remarkable tower at Barnack; and Brixworth church, constructed in part of Roman materials, and by some believed to include part of a Roman See also:basilica. Of Norman, besides the cathedral of Peterborough, the finest examples are St Peter's and St See also:Sepulchre's, Northampton, and the tower of Castor church. St See also:Mary's church, Higham Ferrers, formerly collegiate, Early English and Decorated, is one of the finest churches in the county, and, as specially noteworthy among many beautiful buildings, there may be mentioned the churches at Irthlingborough and Lowick, with their See also:lantern towers, Warmington, a very fine specimen of Early English See also:work, Rushden, Finedon, Raunds and See also:Fotheringhay. Of the church at See also:Easton Maudit, See also:Percy, author of the Reliques, and afterwards See also:Bishop of See also:Dromore, was See also:rector. A gateway at Rockingham, and See also:earth-See also:works at Higham Ferrers and Brackley are worthy of mention. Some castellated ruins remain of the castle at Fotheringhay, famous as the See also:scene of the imprisonment, trial and See also:execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Barnwell Castle, founded by William the Conqueror, an interesting example of the defensive construction of the period, is still a fine ruin, which includes four of the See also:round towers and an imposing gateway. Holdenby See also:Manor House, where Sir Christopher Hatton (1540—1591) was See also:born, and where See also:Charles I. was staying when he was carried away by See also:Cornet Joyce, is largely restored. Among ancient mansions are Castle See also:Ashby, the seat of the Comptons, the oldest portion belonging to the reign of Henry VIII.; Althorp, the seat of the Spencers, of various See also:dates; See also:Drayton House, of the time of Henry VI.; the vast See also:pile of Burghley House, Stamford, founded by See also:Lord Burleigh (15J3), but more than once altered and enlarged; and See also:Kirby See also:Hall, a beautiful Elizabethan building once the See also:residence of Sir Christopher Hatton.

See See also:

Victoria County History, Northamptonshire; G. See also:Baker, History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton (2 vols., London, 1822-'840; John See also:Bridges, History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, compiled by Rev. Peter See also:Whalley (2 vols., Oxford, 'i91); John See also:Norden, Speculi Britanniae, pars altera, or A Delineation of Northamptonshire (London, 172o); See also:Francis Whellan, History, See also:Topography and See also:Directory of Northamptonshire (2nd ed., London, 1874).

End of Article: NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

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