The town largely supported the ParliamentaryRoundheads during theEnglish Civil War, which promptedCharles II to order the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. TheGreat Fire of Northampton in 1675 also destroyed much of the historic town. Northampton was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. The town continued to expand with the arrival of theGrand Union Canal and the railways in the 19th century, becoming a centre for footwear and leather manufacture.
Growth was limited following the World Wars until it was designated aNew Town in 1968, accelerating development which has continued into the 21st century. Northampton unsuccessfully applied forcity status four times; in 1992, 2000, 2002 and 2022.[6]
The earliest reference to Northampton in writing occurred in 914 under the nameHam tune.[7] The prefix "North" was added later to distinguish it from other towns called Hampton, most prominentlySouthampton.[8] TheDomesday Book (1086) records the town asNorthantone, which evolved intoNorhamptone by the 13th century and laterNorthampton by the 17th century.[7][9]
Present-day Northampton is the latest in a series of settlements that began in theBronze Age. Remains found in the Briar Hill district show evidence of aNeolithic encampment within a large circular earthwork where local farmers assembled for tribal ceremonies and seasonal events from approximately 3500 BC to 2000 BC.[10][11]
During theBritish Iron Age, people typically lived in protectedhill forts. Present-dayHunsbury Hill is an example of this settlement; a circular ditch and a bank faced with a wall of timber and enclosing an area of 160 acres (65 ha) which dates to around 400 BC.[12] In theRoman period, a small rural settlement is thought to have existed in the present-day district ofDuston; remains ofRomanpottery were found there.[13]
Following aDanish invasion, the central area of the town was turned into a stronghold called aburh probably by the Anglo-Saxons. By the time of thePeace of Wedmore in 878 the Burgh was in possession of the Danes and became the base for one of the Danish armies.[14] A ditch was dug around the settlement and it was fortified with earthramparts.[15] Having conqueredMercia, the Danes turned the settlement into a centre for military and administrative purposes, which was part of theDanelaw. The Danish army of Northampton however submitted toEdward the Elder, Saxon King ofWessex (who controlled the southern and western part of the English Kingdom of Mercia) in 921[14]
In the 9th centuryRegenhere of Northampton,[16][17] anEast AnglianSaint with localisedveneration, was buried in Northampton. By 918, Northampton had anearl and an army dependent upon it, whose territory extended to theRiver Welland.[7]
Edward the Elder turned Northampton into the centre of one of the new shires, and it prospered as a river port and trading centre.[7] In 940, it resisted the invading forces of Danish opposition inNorthumbria when the Mercians successfully defended the town in a siege byKing Olaf of York,[18] but was burnt in 1010 by a Danish army, and again in 1065 by therebellious northern earlsEdwin andMorcar. Despite this, theDomesday Book recordsNorthantone as possessing 316 houses with a population of 2000 people, ranking betweenWarwick andLeicester in size.[7][8]
With theNorman Conquest of England in 1066, the town rose to national significance: its geographical location in the centre of England made Northampton a valuable strategical point for government and as a convenient meeting place for political, social, ecclesiastical and military events.[7][19]
Simon de Senlis is also thought to have built the medieval town walls, which enclosed about 245 acres (99 ha) and had four maingates. Though demolished now, the circular pattern of the main roads surrounding the town centre marks the original position of the walls.[20] de Senlis founded theCluniacPriory of St Andrew's in the area of Semilong, and builtThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre – one of four remaininground churches in England – and All Hallows' Church on the current site ofAll Saints' Church.[7][20] His son,Simon II de Senlis, builtSt Peter's Church on a site between a former Anglo-Saxon palace and Northampton Castle.[20] Simon II de Senlis also foundedDelapré Abbey – another Cluniac priory – which still stands today. Other priories in medieval Northampton includeSt James' Abbey, Graye Friers, Blackfriars and Whitefriars. St. John's, a medieval hospital, was situated east of Bridge Street.[20] Anetwork of medieval tunnels remains under the centre of Northampton around All Saints' Church and the Market Square but their purpose, extent and significance have been disputed.[22]
The town was originally controlled by officials acting for the King who collected taxes and upheld the law. This changed on 18 November 1189 when KingRichard I granted the town its first charter in exchange for money to fund his crusades.[7] The charter allowed the townspeople certain rights and independence in legal and administrative matters. In 1215, King John authorised the appointment of William Tilly as the town's first Mayor and ordered that "twelve of the better and more discreet [residents] of your town" join him as a council to assist him.[7][23] The importance of Northampton at this time is underlined by the fact that only London,York andKing's Lynn had mayors by this date.[20] The mayor later ruled with 24 councillors and 48 freemen in a closed body until 1835.[20]
Markets and fairs were a key element in the town's economy in medieval times. The Market Square came to prominence in 1235 when Henry III ordered that the selling of goods in the churchyard of All Saints should be relocated to the Market Square.[20] Street names in the town give an indication of trades and market centres; Corn Hill, Malt Hill, Mercer Row, Gold Street, Sheep Street and Horse Market.[20] Cloth and wool were very important but these industries declined.[20] In the 13th century, Northampton had a large Jewish population centred on Gold Street. In 1277 – two years afterEdward I passed theStatute of the Jewry – some Jewish residents were executed while the remainder were driven out of town.[27] Archaeological sites include a medieval Jewish cemetery and theNorthampton Medieval Synagogue.[28]
TheFirst Barons' War caused significant destruction to Northampton. The baronsbesieged Northampton Castle in protest at King John's oppression of his subjects. In retaliation, royalist forces destroyed a large part of the town. When the forces of KingHenry III overran the supporters ofSimon de Montfort, theSecond Barons' War broke out. TheFirst Battle of Northampton took place in 1264 at the site of Northampton Castle where King Henry III and his son Prince Edward attacked with a large army, pillaged the town and took prisoners.[29]
In 1349, theBlack Death pandemic killed more than half the population of Northampton. In 1377, the population was 2,200.[19] The town was rapidly losing its wealth and its importance as a national centre. In 1460, theSecond Battle of Northampton took place during theWar of the Roses in the meadows between the River Nene and Delapré Abbey. TheYorkists defeated the Lancastrians andKing Henry VI was taken prisoner. In 1484, the Mayor declared that Northampton was "in great desolation and ruin". TheDissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 led to further destruction of what remained of the medieval town. Northampton was severely affected byPlague between March and September 1638 when 665 people died.[30]
Map of Northampton byJohn Speed produced around 1610. Showing thecastle and town walls.
The royal connection to Northampton Castle became less significant, and by the time of theEnglish Civil War, Northampton was decidedly pro-Parliament.[20] ThoughSpencer Compton, Earl of Northampton, was a royalist (Cavalier) and backed KingCharles I, the people of Northampton supported Parliament andOliver Cromwell's republicanRoundhead army. The town had a long history of religious dissent from theLollards andPuritanism gained a strong hold on the town. The corporation of the town, having already refused to provide troops to the King in 1632 or to pay the notoriousship money tax in 1636, petitioned Parliament in 1642 againstpapists andbishops.[20]
When war broke out in 1642, the town willingly became the main Parliamentariangarrison for the south-east Midlands area with the former royal castle as its headquarters. In 1643,Prince Rupert attacked Northampton with approximately 2,000 men, but was beaten back at the North Gate of the town. Oliver Cromwell visited in 1645 andGeneral Fairfax marched from the town toNaseby, where Charles I's Royalist army was decisively defeated.[20] Over 4,000 pairs of leather shoes and 600 pairs of cavalry jack-boots for the Parliamentary armies were manufactured in Northampton during the Civil War, and a further 2,000 for Cromwell'sNew Model Army in 1648. Until well into the 19th century, the shoe industry boomed in and around the town with small manufacturing workshops set up in the surrounding areas.[20]
The War ended with a Parliamentary victory, resulting in England becoming aCommonwealth, which lasted a decade. Following therestoration of King Charles II in 1660, he took revenge on the town by ordering the destruction of its walls and partial demolition of its castle in 1662, since it did not support his father Charles I and his cavaliers.[31] From then on, the castle was used as a court and a jail, but its physical condition worsened.[31] The new council of the town had to pay £200 to have its charter renewed and also required all officials to swear the oath of allegiance and some confirmed by the Crown.[20]
The town centre was further destroyed by theGreat Fire of Northampton in 1675, caused by sparks from an open fire in a thatched cottage by the castle. The fire spread eastwards by strong westerly winds and consumed three-quarters of the town centre in 24 hours.[20][32] Matters were worsened because most buildings were chiefly made of wood and covered with thatch.[8] An estimated 600 buildings were destroyed, amounting to £150,000 lost.[32] Very little survived the fire, apart from buildings made of stone, like the Welsh House on Market Square, built in 1595, and Hazelrigg House in Mare Fair, built in 1662.[20]
Northampton Market Square
The devastation led to an Act of Parliament for the rebuilding the town.[8] Local people and businesses helped to raise around £25,000 towards the rebuilding of the town centre based around the Market Square.[32][33] Streets were widened and buildings made of brick and stone and tiled to prevent such devastation again.[20] In an act of reconciliation, King Charles II donated timber from the royal forests of Salcey and Whittlebury to help with the rebuild.[20][34] In 1678, theSessions House and what is nowCounty Hall were amongst the first buildings to be completed.[35] AGeorgian town with new houses, shops and workshops eventually grew out of the old medieval town destroyed by the fire.[20] In 1742[36]Edward Cave openedMarvel's Mill, the world's firstcotton mill to be driven by awater wheel, on the River Nene.[37]
A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion ofGibraltar Barracks in 1797.[38]
By the end of the 18th century, Northampton had become a major centre of footwear and leather manufacture. In 1801, the population was 7,020; it more than doubled to 15,351 in 1831, attributed to the fact that there was great demand for footwear caused by theNapoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[20] A third of the adult males alone were shoemakers at the time.[20] Northampton grew beyond the old town walls and industry grew rapidly with the mechanisation of factories by the middle of the 19th century.[20]
The Nene Navigation Company had previously made the River Nene navigable from King's Lynn as far up as Northampton in 1762, allowing cheap transportation of coal and other goods to the town, but in 1815, theGrand Union Canal reached the town, joining the River Nene, giving the town a direct link to the Midlands coalfields and toBirmingham,Manchester and London.[7]
Tram lines were also laid down in the town in 1881 and electrified in 1903.[7] An early omnibus service ran to Wellingborough, and since 1919 motor omnibus services ran to villages around the town which brought buyers and sellers to the market.[7]
When Bishop of Peterborough from 1868 to 1891,William Connor Magee devoted considerable effort to ministering to the rapidly growing population of Northampton. Responses to the questions he circulated to the clergy of the Rural Deanery of Northampton in preparation for formal visitations held in the years 1872, 1875, 1878, 1882 and 1888 have been published, including a detailed introduction describing the condition of the town at that time and associated issues. During that period, the number of relevant Anglican parishes and ecclesiastical districts increased from 11 to 16.[48]
There were iron ore quarries in the countryside around the town during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which have left their mark on the landscape. Some of the quarries were in what is now the town area in an arc from Kingsthorpe through Duston and Hunsbury round to Hardingstone beginning in about 1860. Some have now been built over and not all lasted very long. The town area quarries that lasted the longest and closed last were at Hunsbury which began working in 1877 and closed in 1920. There are remains of some of these quarries at Hunsbury Hill. There was an iron works by the river to the west of the town next to the railway that then operated between Northampton and Blisworth. This was called the Hunsbury Ironworks and operated between about 1874 and January 1921 using ore from these quarries and elsewhere.[49]
FollowingWorld War I, the shoe industry was increasingly in decline, despite the town's factories supplying over 23 million pairs of boots to the armed forces.[20] A total of 1,700 men from the town were lost of the 6,000 killed from theNorthamptonshire Regiment.[20] The town expanded further during the 1920s and saw the erection ofNorthampton Power Station, which supplied electricity to areas as far away asWolverton, until its closure in 1975. Much council housing was also built largely to the east, north and south of the town, includingAbington,Far Cotton, Kingsley,Kingsthorpe andDallington – areas which had been incorporated within the borough's boundaries in 1901.[20] However, the population growth slowed down as people moved beyond its boundaries. In 1901, the population had expanded to 90,923; in 1931, the population was 92,341.[20]
AfterWorld War II, Northampton vastly changed. In 1959, theM1 motorway was opened to the south-west of the town; in 1968, Northampton was designated aNew Town. Both these events and the rail link helped Northampton's growth as acommuter town for London.[20] The Northampton Development Corporation (NDC) was set up in 1968 to substantially redevelop the town in partnership with the local council, spending £205 million to build new housing and industrial estates, initially in Lumbertubs, Moulton Park and Round Spinney to the east, followed by Briar Hill, Camp Hill and East andWest Hunsbury in the south of the town, mainly to accommodate the overflow population of new residents from the London area.[20][50] In the town centre, older buildings were demolished and replaced or redeveloped for other buildings, including the formerGreyfriars bus station, theGrosvenor Centre, Peacock Place (now Market Walk), shops, flats and hotels.[20]
Although growth was slower than planned, the population grew from 105,421 in 1961 to 157,217 by 1981,[20] with 15,655 new homes added to the town between 1970 and 1985.[50] The borough boundaries also changed following a split of theNorthampton parliamentary constituency intoNorthampton North andNorthampton South in 1974. Northampton was reconstituted as anon-metropolitan district which also covered areas outside the former borough boundaries but inside the designated New Town. The town tried forunitary status during the1990s UK local government reform, but failed and it remained a non-metropolitan district until its abolition in 2021. OnGood Friday 1998, Northampton suffered severe flooding, particularly in the areas of Far Cotton and St James; two people were killed and thousands of homes were affected.
Since the turn of the Millennium, the town has continued to expand. Northampton applied forcity status in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium, in 2002 to celebrate theGolden Jubilee of Elizabeth II and most recently in 2022 to celebrate thePlatinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, but failed on all three occasions and remains a town.[51][52][53] In 2006, Northampton became a government expansion zone with new growth promoted byWest Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC), an unelectedquango, which has provoked a series of regeneration schemes across the town. Some have been completed, including the opening of theRadlands Plaza Skatepark and the development of Becket's Park Marina just south of Northampton's town centre, as well as the improvement of the town's Market Square, the building of the new North Gate bus station, the rebuilding of the railway station, the designation of a Cultural Quarter, the building of a new Council headquarters, the restoration of Delapré Abbey, the expansion ofNorthampton Museum, the resiting and rebuilding of the university on one new campus in town centre and the renovation of both the Grosvenor Shopping Centre and Weston Favell Centre.[54] In 2015, St Giles Street in the town centre was named the "Best British High Street" in a national competition run by theDepartment for Communities and Local Government.[55] In 2024 the market square was excavated and redesigned.
Northampton was inaugurated as a constituency in 1295; for many centuries it returned twoMembers of Parliament (MPs) to theHouse of Commons.Spencer Perceval was elected as one of these in 1796 and becamePrime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1809, the only Solicitor General and only Attorney General to have done so, but also the only Prime Minister to be assassinated. The murder was by a highly disgruntled business ownerJohn Bellingham in the House of Commons lobby in 1812. By the late 19th century, Northampton had acquired a reputation for politicalvanguardism. In 1880, radical non-conformistCharles Bradlaugh was elected as one of the MPs. During one of his election cross-candidate hustings a riot broke out in the Market Square. Local figures of authority called military to disperse it. For some decades following the1918 general election, representation was reduced to one MP.
The borough from 1974 to 2021, shown within Northamptonshire
The town existed as anancient borough in the medieval period before being one of the 178 boroughs to be reformed under theMunicipal Corporations Act in 1835, with a democratically elected council replacing the corporation before it.[20] Town government alternated between theLiberals and Conservatives, and the town achieved independence from Northamptonshire in 1888 when it became acounty borough.[20] It had six electoral wards from 1898, nine wards from 1900 and 12 wards from 1911.[7] From 1931 until it was abolished in 1974, the county borough contained only the parish of Northampton.[56]
On 1 April 1974, the county borough and parish were abolished, and the area became part of the new Northampton district in thenon-metropolitan county of Northamptonshire.
Propositions for the borough to become aunitary authority failed during the 1990s local government reform and again, in 2011, when the motion was voted down by the council.[61][62] However, in 2016, the borough council and all seven Northamptonshire MPs called for the existing eight Northamptonshire councils be scrapped for new unitary authorities.[63][64]
In March 2018, followingsuspension of the County Council arising from its becoming insolvent, due to financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers, the then Secretary of State for Local Government,Sajid Javid, sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county.[65] These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts ofDaventry, Northampton andSouth Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority calledWest Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authorityNorth Northamptonshire consists ofCorby,East Northamptonshire,Kettering andWellingborough districts. These new authorities came into being on 1 April 2021.[66] Elections for the new authorities were due to be held on 7 May 2020, but these were delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,[67] and took place in May 2021.
A year prior to these changes, three newcivil parishes were created in Northampton's urban area: a large parish covering the majority of the Northampton urban area was created, allowing Northampton to have aTown (parish) Council.Northampton Town Council is the largest parish level authority in England. In addition, two smaller parishes were created for the suburbs ofFar Cotton & Delapre andKingsthorpe.[68]
The unparished area prior to the three new parishes being created in 2020
The Northampton urban area is covered by 13civil parishes. Theparish councils of these form a local tier of government below West Northamptonshire Council. The largest by far of these is the area covered byNorthampton Town Council, which was created in 2020, ten more, covering several outer suburbs were pre-existing, and two (Kingsthorpe and Far Cotton and Delapre) were created concurrently with the town council, these are:[69]
NHS Northampton guides primary care services (general practitioners, dentists, opticians and pharmacists) in the town, directly provides adult social care and services in the community such ashealth visiting andphysiotherapy and also funds hospital care and other specialist treatments.Northampton General Hospital is anNHS trust hospital which founded in 1744 and moved to its present site in 1793, and has continued to provide healthcare to the local community for more than 200 years. TheEast Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust is responsible for the provision of statutoryemergency medical services in Northampton.
St Andrew's Hospital, the flagship mental health facility of the private company St Andrew's Healthcare, is also based in Northampton. Originally opened in 1838[70] to serve Northampton, St Andrew's became a charity and private healthcare provider when the Berrywood Asylum (later the Northampton County Lunatic Asylum, then St Crispin Hospital in 1948, and since 2010 Berrywood Hospital) opened in 1876.
Northampton is formally in theEast Midlands region but is also referred to in Government planning as being part of theSouth Midlands "growth area". The town is 30 miles (48 km) south-southeast ofLeicester, 16 miles (26 km) north-northwest ofMilton Keynes, 43 miles (69 km) west ofCambridge, 37 miles (60 km) northeast ofOxford and 37 miles (60 km) southwest ofPeterborough.
Concurrent with the abolition of the borough of Northampton in 2021, theunparished area of Northampton became parished with three new parish councils being established: A new Town Council covering the majority of the urban area of Northampton was established, whilst the areas of Kingsthorpe, and Far Cotton and Delapré also gained parish councils.[71] In addition, there are nine registeredparish councils which predate the abolition of the borough of Northampton. These are Billing, Collingtree, Duston, Great Houghton, Hardingstone, Hunsbury Meadow, Upton, West Hunsbury and Wootton & East Hunsbury.[72]
Other settlements that theOffice for National Statistics considers part of the Northampton urban area include Boughton, Ecton, Moulton, Overstone and Rothersthorpe.[73] At the 2011 census, Harpole, Cogenhoe, Grange Park, Little and Great Houghton, Overstone and Sywell were just outside the Northampton built up area;[73] this may change when the 2021 boundaries are released.
As with the rest of the British Isles, Northampton experiences anoceanic climate with cool summers and mild winters. The officialMet Office weather station for Northampton is theMoulton Park Weather Station at theUniversity of Northampton. Situated at an elevation of around 130 m (427 ft)above sea level compared to Northampton town centre at 50 to 60 m (164 to 197 ft), it is one of the highest points in the town, and so may not be a perfect representation of Northampton as a whole. Its hilltop location means less pooling of cold air on calm clear nights, and lower maxima during summer. The absolute maximum recorded is 34.7 °C (94.5 °F)[74] on 3 August 1990. A high of 34.4 °C (93.9 °F)[75] was recorded on 19 July 2006, However, a maximum temperature of 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) was recorded on 19 July 2022 atPitsford, located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) from the town centre.[76] The absolute minimum is −16.8 °C (1.8 °F),[74] recorded during February 1986. It is likely the absolute maximum in the town centre is a degree or so higher owing to the lower elevation, and absolute minimum on the eastern and western edges of the urban area around the Nene valley a couple of degrees colder due to katabatic drainage of cold air allowing a frost hollow effect. Most recently, the temperature fell to −9.6 °C (14.7 °F)[77] on 20 December 2010.
Rainfall, at around 650 mm (26 in) per year is not high, though is often unpredictable, giving rise to flooding events such as in 1998, but also short-term droughts. Desborough Weather Station also supplies the public with a local weather service.
Climate data for Northampton (Moulton Park),[a] elevation: 127 m (417 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1976–present[b]
Since 1991, the population of the town has increased 17.41% from 180,617 to 212,069 in 2011, with a mean age in 2011 of 37.1 years, younger than the English average of 39.3 years.[84][86] The population breaks down into 104,168 males, and 107,901 females, with a population density of 2,630 per km2.[84]
At the 2011 census, there were 91,484 dwellings, 88,731 of which are occupied households. Some 30.5% (27,048) of these were one person households, 61.1% (54,125) contained families, and 8.5% (7,558) fell into the other household type category. Home tenure was reported as 37.5% of 88,731 households mortgaged, 25.1% owned outright, 16.5% privately rented, 12.8% rented from council, 4.3% social rented, 1.3% private (other) rented, 1.3% shared ownership and 1.2% rent free.[84]
75.6% of households had at least one car or van, 22.5% of residents over the age of 16 had no formal qualifications, and 15.8% have at least 5 GCSEs of grade C or above.[84]The median income for all workers (in 2012) was £21,193, slightly below both the county average of £21,560, and the England average of £21,794.[87]
Between 2001 and 2011, the greatest nominal population increase was in the White, Other group from 3,780 to 13,825 – an increase of 10,045 – likely due to migration from Eastern Europe. The largest growth relative to their 2001 numbers was in the Black, African group, recording a 376% increase from 1,361 to 6,473. The largest nominal fall in population was in respondents reporting as White, British, there being 8,146 fewer such residents in 2011 than 10 years previous. The largest fall relative to their 2001 numbers was in the White, Irish group, their count falling 20.3% from 3,838 down to 3,060.
In terms of religion, 48.7% of residents described themselves as Christian, 35.7% as irreligious, 5.6% as Muslim, 1.9% as Hindu, 0.6% as other religions, 0.5% as Sikh, 0.4% as Buddhist and 0.1% as Jewish. 6.5% failed to report any affiliation.
Northampton was a major centre of shoemaking and other leather industries, although only specialist shoemaking companies such as Barker Shoes,Church's,[96]Crockett & Jones,Edward Green,Tricker's,[97] (formerly located in nearbyEarls Barton), andWildsmith,[98] survive. A large number of old shoe factories remain, mostly now converted to offices or accommodation, some of which are surrounded by terraced houses built for factory workers.
Engineering became a major employer in Northampton during the post-war years following the establishment of theBritish Timken tapered roller bearing factory at Duston in 1941 as ashadow factory for the main site in Birmingham during the Second World War. The factory which closed in 2002 employed over 4,000 employees at its peak and was a major engineering apprentice training employer.
Northampton was expected to be affected by the insolvency of Northamptonshire County Council in 2018, as the council implemented significant budget cuts for two years. That was expected to include maintenance of only the "bare legal minimum of service, focused only on the most vulnerable residents".[108]
Health inequality in Northampton is high, with the life expectancy gap between the least deprived and most deprived men reaching over a decade.[109] Additionally, the constituency is 'considerably worse than [the] England average' in violent crime, self-harm, under-18 conception and GCSE achievement.[109]
Northampton'smarket square is one of Britain's largest and dates back to 1235.[110] The market square is linked to Abington Street, a major shopping area of Northampton. The western part of the street waspedestrianised in 1984. Further east, part was pedestrianised in 1995 and de-pedestrianised in 2014. The east end (beyond York Road) has never been pedestrianised.[111] There are also two indoor shopping centres in the town centre: the Grosvenor Centre, which was built in the 1970s, and Market Walk (previously Peacock Place), which was constructed in 1988. St James Retail Park is also a large shopping precinct just south of the town centre. Other out-of-town retail parks exist: Weston Favell Shopping Centre, built in the 1970s, and Riverside Retail Park in the east of the town, as well asSixfields in the west. Each precinct has a range of high street shops, department stores and many smaller individual speciality shops.
Billing Aquadrome leisure park is on the eastern outskirts. The Northampton Leisure Trust (branded Trilogy Leisure) has four leisure centres across Northampton includingMounts Baths.
According to the website of the (former) Northampton Borough Council, there are a total of 170 parks and open spaces around Northampton, which altogether span around 1,880 acres (761 ha).[112] Popular parks includeAbington Park.
Annual events events includeNorthampton Carnival, the Beer Festival, the Dragonboat Race, andDiwali celebrations. Northampton Music Festival has been celebrated every year since 2007 in the town centre.
Royal & Derngate, one of the main venues for arts and entertainment
TheRoyal & Derngate theatre complex, on Guildhall Road in theCultural Quarter of the town centre, is one of the main venues for arts and entertainment in Northampton.The Deco, situated in Abington Square in the town centre, is a 900-seat theatre and conference centre, which shares itsArt Deco building with the Northampton Jesus Centre. It was restored by theJesus Army as part of their Jesus Centre project. The Deco used to be a cinema in the 1960s;the Beatles appeared there twice on stage in 1963, firstly as unknowns as part of theTommy Roe/Chris Montez tour, and secondly as part of their own tour in their own right.[113] Smaller theatres include the Northampton Playhouse and the Cripps Theatre, which is part of Northampton School for Boys.
The two commercial cinemas in Northampton areVue atSol Central in the centre andOdeon at Sixfields. There is also the subsidised Forum Cinema atLings Forum, whose film programme is widely varied and includes art-house and non-mainstream films. The Northampton Filmhouse, an independent cinema joined to the side of the Royal & Derngate theatre complex, opened in June 2013.[citation needed]
There are also many local entertainment venues which provide events.The Roadmender, which used to be run and funded by the council and later bought by The Purplehaus group, hosts mainstream touring bands and one-off gigs. There are other popular late-night entertainment venues, pubs, bars and clubs in the town centre, and along the Wellingborough and Kettering Roads on the way into the town centre. Northampton also has ten-pin bowling alleys and late night casinos.[citation needed]
Northamptonshire Central Library in Abington Street
The Northamptonshire Central Library in town centre is a Grade II listed building which was erected in 1910.[114] There are seven other public libraries that are dotted across Northampton—in Abington, Duston, Far Cotton, Hunsbury, Kingsthorpe, St James, Wootton—all run by Northamptonshire County Council.[115]
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery
Northampton Museum and Art Gallery on Guildhall Road in the Cultural Quarter has a collection of historical footwear (one of the world's largest at 13,000), Italian art, glass and ceramics, plus visiting exhibitions and local history. There is also a smaller Grade I listed historical museum in the former Abington Park house which mainly has history on domestic life in the town and the Northamptonshire Regiment.78 Derngate, the only house in England designed byCharles Rennie Mackintosh, includes a museum celebrating Mackintosh, an art gallery and a restaurant.
The Northampton Arts Collective is homed on a four-storey building entitled NN[116] in the Cultural Quarter, opposite the Northampton Museum and next to the Royal & Derngate theatre complex. They relocated from the Old Fishmarket which was demolished to make way for the North Gate bus station.[117] The Avenue Gallery, is at the Avenue campus of the University of Northampton. The university also spent £3 million on its Portfolio Innovation Centre in early 2011, which houses around 60 creative freelancers, digital media developers, and designers.[118] Other art galleries include Collective Collaborations, Artist's Sanctuary, Albus3, Gallery 177 and Primose Gallery. Northamptonshire also runs an annual county-wide Open Studios event celebrating visual arts in which artists' studios are open to the public.[119]
Abington Park Museum is located in Abington Park. The museum building was donated with the parkland in 1897 and the museum opened in 1899. It had a wide ranging collection of objects from the UK, Africa and Asia. Today, it is part of the Northampton Museums.
The composersMalcolm Arnold,William Alwyn,Trevor Hold,Edmund Rubbra andRobert Walker were born in Northampton. Northampton also has one of the oldest community orchestras in the UK – the Northampton Symphony Orchestra, which started life in 1896 as Saint Celia's Orchestral Society. Indie rock bandThe Departure, as well as Gothic rock bandBauhaus formed in Northampton, the latter often cited as the godfathers of goth, helped pioneer the genre during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Spinoff bandsLove and Rockets, as well asTones on Tail were also formed in the town. The UK rapperSlowthai was born in Northampton and frequently talks about his life growing up there in his music.[120] Pop musicianSOPHIE was also born in the town.[121] Both Dominic Major, drummer ofLondon Grammar andAdrian Utley, guitarist ofPortishead originate from the town.
Rugby Union also maintains itself as a very popular amateur sport in the town, with it being played by nearly every secondary school in the area, as well as by around 10 amateur clubs within Northampton itself, most of which field multiple teams on weekends.[124] Northampton is also home to Northampton Outlaws, its first inclusive rugby team.[125] Due to its introduction to the town as a sport for all, it has maintained a considerably more working class character than elsewhere in the UK.[126]
EFL League Onefootball clubNorthampton Town, known as "The Cobblers" from the town's shoemaking background, are based atSixfields Stadium. Established in 1897, in their centenary season of 1997 they reached Wembley through the play-offs and beatSwansea City 1–0 with an injury time winning free kick from John Frain. It was the first club to set up a trust for supporters to work with the club as many have done. Sixfields was also briefly the home ofCoventry City for just over one season between August 2013 and August 2014.
Northampton is also home toCollingtree Park Golf Club, which hosted theBritish Masters in 1995. There are also many equestrian and country activities, and several water sports centres, such as the Nene Whitewater Centre, which provides an artificialwhitewater course forcanoes,kayaks andrafts. The Northampton Swimming Club also trained the young Olympic swimmerCaitlin McClatchey.
Northampton is also home toBe Military Fit in Abington Park where members can train up to 7 times a week with serving or ex-military fitness instructors.[citation needed]
TheNorthampton Chronicle & Echo (established 1931) is the town's newspaper, published on Thursdays (before 2012, it was published Monday to Saturday) with jobs, property, motors and entertainment supplements. There are other free newspapers circulated within the town. These includeThe Mercury (on Thursdays) andNorthants on Sunday, both from the publishers of theChronicle & Echo, and theNorthampton Herald & Post (on Thursdays). These free papers mostly consist of advertising and have limited news.The Mercury was one of the oldest newspapers still in circulation first published in 1720, founded by William Dicey, an ancestor of the public law commentator, A.V. Dicey. It was the fifth-oldest such newspaper in the United Kingdom and the tenth-oldest such in the world.[130]
Radio Northampton's Broadcasting House is located on Abington Street in Northampton.
Heart andBBC Radio Northampton are the major stations that serve the town. There are four community radio stations:Inspiration FM,NLive Radio (Formerly NNBC), Revolution Radio and Embrace Radio. Revolution Radio was awarded a 5 year licence on 16 July 2020. Inspiration FM was officially launched in July 2010.[131] The station broadcasts on 107.8 FM.
NNBC was originally launched in September 2016 as a joint venture with the University of Northampton.[132] As of 30 September 2017, the station was re-branded as NLive Radio. The station marked the re-branding with a live broadcast from Market Square on 30 September.[133][134] Later that same evening, the station ran a live evening of music from a music venue in Northampton. The evening of music was headlined by Hana Brooks and broadcast live on the station under the banner 'Shoetown Sounds'.[135][136] The station broadcasts on 106.9 FM.
Embrace Radio, was launched on 5 March 2022. It serves the town on the local small-scale DAB service.
Revolution Radio and Inspiration FM can also be found on the local DAB service.
Regional TV news is provided byBBC Look East andITV News Anglia. Northampton has also been used as a location for television, film and theatre. Northampton Castle is featured inWilliam Shakespeare's history playKing John and inBecket, a play byAlfred, Lord Tennyson. The town was the location for theBBC sitcomKeeping Up Appearances from 1990 until 1995. Parts of the 2005 filmKinky Boots were also made in Northampton and featured shots of the statue outside the Grosvenor Centre in the town centre and inside RE Tricker's shoe factory in St. Michaels Road representing the original factory in Earls Barton.[97] The film was turned into a musicalKinky Boots, maintaining its Northampton backdrop, which premiered onBroadway in 2013 and won 6Tony Awards. It transferred to theWest End in London in 2015 and won 3Olivier Awards. In addition,BBC Three showsBizarre ER andJunior Paramedics were filmed in Northampton.[137][138]Changing Ends (2023), a semi-autobiographical sitcom based onAlan Carr's childhood, was set in 1980s Northampton.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is one of the largest and best-preserved round churches in England. It was built in 1100 on the orders of the first Earl of Northampton,Simon de Senlis and based on a plan of the originalChurch of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.[139]
Simon de Senlis also built Northampton Castle c. 1084, which was for many years one of the country's most important castles. It was a royal residence, held The Parliament of England many times, and was the site of royal tournaments and feasts. Thomas Becket was imprisoned there until he escaped. The castle suffered many fates and was eventually demolished to make way for the railway station in 1879.[140] Apostern, dismantled from its original position and rebuilt into a wall by the station, and a part of the keep mound are all that remains.
The current All Saints' Church was built on the site of a great Norman church, All Hallows, which was almost completely destroyed by the Great Fire of Northampton in 1675. All that remained was the medieval tower and the fine vaulted crypt, but by 1680 All Saints' had been rebuilt, with the help of donations from all over England, including 1,000 tons of timber fromKing Charles II, whose statue can be seen above theportico. Famously, the poetJohn Clare liked to sit beneath the portico of the church. It is home to a choral foundation.[141]
Just south of the town centre Delapré Abbey, a formerCluniac nunnery, the County Records Office and site of the second Battle of Northampton, which was founded by Simon II de Senlis, the son of first Earl of Northampton, in 1145. At the edge of the Abbey, one of the three standingEleanor crosses still remains, in memory ofEleanor of Castile, whose body rested here on its way to London. The original top of the monument has been knocked off and replaced several times from as early as 1460.[143]
St Andrew's Hospital, which opened 1838, and its new building William Wake House, is one of the largestneo-classical structures in England. Northampton & County Club, which was established in 1873, was also the old county hospital before becoming a private members' club; the cellars are medieval.Northampton Guildhall, which is Grade II* listed, was constructed mostly in the 1860s inVictorian Gothic architecture designed byEdward William Godwin, and extended in 1889–92[144] and in the 1990s. TheClare Street drill hall was completed in 1859.[145]
78 Derngate is a Grade II* listed Georgian Town House remodelled by Charles Rennie Mackintosh forWenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1916–17. It contains notable Mackintosh interiors (which have been restored) and is his only major domestic commission outside Scotland. It is open to the public. One of these Derngate buildings was previously home to Northampton High School, an independent Northampton girls' school.
The 127.45 m (418 ft 2 in) tallNational Lift Tower is a dominant feature and visible from most of the town. ATerry Wogan radio phone-in during the 1980s came up with the name "Northampton Lighthouse" as Northampton is one of the furthest places from the sea. It is also known as the "Cobblers' Needle". It was built for testing new lifts at the Express Lifts factory, now closed. Though now redundant, it is alisted building.[146]
The former Greyfriars bus station served the town from 1976 until 2014. In the 2000s, it was featured onChannel 4'sDemolition programme as the ugliest transport station in the United Kingdom and worthy of demolition. Demolition work began in March 2014, following the move of bus services toNorth Gate bus station. The Greyfriars was completely destroyed on 15 March 2015 by way of a controlled explosion.[147]
Northampton contains several significant war memorials. TheTown and County War Memorial, unveiled in 1926, commemorates casualties of the First World War from all of Northamptonshire; it replaced a temporary cenotaph which stood in Abington Square from 1919. Designed bySir Edwin Lutyens, it consists of two large obelisks and an altar-like stone sited in a small garden behind All Saints' Church. The Town and County memorial is a grade I listed building and part of a national collection of Lutyens' war memorials.[148] As the Town and County memorial does not contain a list of names of the fallen, theRoyal British Legion launched a campaign which resulted in the construction of a second memorial, dedicated solely to the town; this memorial, in Abington Square, takes the form of a garden of remembrance with the names of the dead inscribed on the garden walls. A bust ofEdgar Mobbs was later moved into the garden; Mobbs was a rugby player for Northampton Saints who was killed while serving in the First World War.[149] A memorial toNobel Prize winnerFrancis Crick, who was born in Northampton, was installed on Abington street in 2005. The sculpture,Discovery by artist Lucy Glendinning, was funded by the Wilson Foundation.[150]
Northampton is served by junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1 motorway which connects the town with London at its most southern point and Leeds at its most northern. Both theA45 andA43 link Northampton with the other major towns in Northamptonshire and beyond, and can be accessed by a partially completedring road. TheA14 is close by to the north of Northampton, providing links toEast Anglia and a secondary route to the areas of theMidlands which are situated to the north of the town.
Sywell Aerodrome is the nearest airfield which has recently been upgraded with a 1,000-metre-long (3,300 ft) concrete runway, however it only caters for private flying, flight training and corporate flights.[151] For international links, theEast Midlands Airport andLuton Airport are quickly accessible by the M1 around 44 miles (71 km) north-west and 33 miles (53 km) south-east, respectively;Birmingham Airport is also around 39 miles (63 km) to the north-west of the town via the M1 andM6 motorways, as well as by train.
In the town, buses are mainly operated byStagecoach Midlands from the North Gate bus station with some services fromUno but it was announced in November 2023 that routes operated byUno will be taken over by Stagecoach from March 2024. Stagecoach serves areas within the town and also provides travel to outlying villages and towns within the county, making links toCorby, Daventry,Kettering,Rushden and Wellingborough. They also go as far afield asBedford, Leicester,Market Harborough, Milton Keynes, Peterborough andRugby. Uno serve the university and Kingsthorpe area as well as Rectory Farm, Abington and Sixfields.National Express also operates in Northampton, covering routes between major towns and cities in the United Kingdom. Buses used to be operated byNorthampton Corporation Transport and then, since the privatization of buses in the 1980s.FirstGroup operated them until the 2010s and[152]Arriva operate 2 services around the town[153] (33 and X33)
Northampton once had ahorse-drawn tramway which opened in 1881. The system was extended in stages and taken over by the council in 1897 and namedNorthampton Corporation Tramways. It was electrified in 1904, but closed in 1934 mainly as a result of competition from motor buses which were introduced in 1929. Two of the original tram shelters are preserved: one at the Racecourse park and another in Kingsthorpe opposite the Cock Hotel.[154]
Thefirst University of Northampton was established byroyal charter by King Henry III in 1261,[155] and started to rival the universities inCambridge andOxford, with their students migrating to the Northampton establishment.[156] This university was dissolved by King Henry III in 1265, in revenge for its students siding with the rebellious barons in the Battle of Northampton (1264).[157] Henry III was also advised by bishops and magnates that it posed a threat to Oxford, and signed a Royal Decree which banned the establishment of a university in Northampton.[158]
This was eventually repealed and the university's name was revived in 2005 when the unconnected University College Northampton, which was founded in 1924, was upgraded to full university status and renamed theUniversity of Northampton.[159] This is the onlyhigher education (HE) establishment in the town and offers courses from foundation and undergraduate levels to postgraduate, professional and doctoral qualifications. The university is made of up six schools: Business, Education, Health, Science and Technology, Social Sciences and The Arts. The university was originally spread over two campuses across the town, but moved to its new £330 million waterside campus by the River Nene in the town centre in 2018.
Northampton's onlyfurther education (FE) college isNorthampton College, one of the largest FE colleges in the South Midlands, which has two campuses across the town, offering vocational courses,GCSEs andA Levels.Moulton College is another FE college just north of Northampton which provides many vocational courses, specialising in land-based subjects, sports and construction. In collaboration with the University of Northampton, both colleges also offer some HE programmes.
There are 50primary schools and 8secondary schools in the town. Until 2004, Northamptonshire operated a three-tier system in education of lower, middle and upper schools. In 2001, the move to a two-tier system to primary and secondary schools began, aimed at improving educational standards.[160] Some of its successful secondary schools includeNorthampton School for Boys, which became the top performing comprehensive school in the country in 2007,[161] andNorthampton School for Girls, the first school in England to gain Specialist Music College status.[162] An average of 55% of students in Northampton achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE in 2015, above the government's benchmark of 40%.[163] There are also 5special schools in the town.Northampton High School is an independent school for girls.
^Tonks, Eric (April 1989).The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands Part 3: The Northampton Area. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. p. 90–153.ISBN1-870-754-034.
^Harry, Bill (2000).The Beatles Encyclopaedia (2000 paperback edition; first published 1992). London: Virgin Publishing, London W6 9HA. pp. 9, 776.ISBN978-0-7535-0481-9.
^"Cool or pretentious?".The Times. 10 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024. Retrieved1 January 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Barron, Brian (June 2005).Nothing Without Labour, Northampton Saints The First 125 Years. Kings Heath, Northampton NN5 7QP: Avalon Print. pp. 1–2.ISBN0-9551699-0-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
.jpg)
.svg)
_population_pyramid.svg)
.jpg)
