Northamptonshire, administrative and historic county in the East Midlands ofEngland. The administrative countycomprises seven districts:Daventry,East Northamptonshire,South Northamptonshire, and the boroughs ofCorby,Kettering,Northampton, andWellingborough. The historic countyencompasses the entire administrative county, as well as the small area south of theRiver Welland in the town ofMarket Harborough, which lies in the district ofHarborough in the administrative county ofLeicestershire. The historic county also includes theSoke of Peterborough, a historic region that forms part of the city and unitary authority ofPeterborough inCambridgeshire. The county town (seat) is Northampton.

The administrativecounty is oval-shaped, with the long axis extending 56 miles (90 km) in a southwest-northeast direction. A ridge of low hills, an escarpment of Jurassic rocks, runs along the long axis and separates thebasin of theRiver Nene in the south from that of the Welland in the north. Both these rivers flow east into The Wash (an embayment of theNorth Sea). Among the rocks above the escarpment are the ore-bearing Northampton Sands, which yielded a low-grade iron ore and were once extensively worked.

The wooded hills and well-watered valleys seem to have attracted settlement to the area early. There are pre-Celtic as well as Roman remains. Parts of the churches at Earls Barton, Brigstock, and Brixworth areAnglo-Saxon and may date to the 7th century, when the historic county became part of the kingdom ofMercia. The area was invaded by the Danes in the 9th century, and theshire seems to be of Danish origin. Theecclesiastical centre of Peterborough, destroyed by the Danes, was refounded during the 10th century.

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The boundaries of the historic county (or shire) have remained virtually unchanged sinceDomesday Book (1086), the record of the land survey ordered byWilliam I the Conqueror. Norman and Early English building styles are well represented, but, architecturally, the chief feature of the county is the large number of mansions and country houses, from 13th-century Barnwell Castle to Tudor Rockingham Castle, Castle Ashby, and Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of the family ofGeorge Washington, the first president of theUnited States.St. Peter’s Cathedral in Peterborough, begun in 1118 andconsecrated in 1238, is in part a good example of lateNorman style, but subsequent additions created a discordant effect. The cathedral contains the Hedda Stone, an Anglo-Saxon sculpture some 1,200 years old, and the tomb ofCatherine of Aragon, the first wife ofHenry VIII. In spite of its numerous aristocrats and squires, the county was largely pro-Parliament in theEnglish Civil War of 1642–45. The decisiveBattle of Naseby (1645), in whichKing Charles I was defeated, was fought just north of Naseby near the county’s northern border.

In some ways the administrative county of Northamptonshire epitomizes the rural life of a bygone England, with great estates and parks, rollingpastoral lands, and some ofBritain’s best-known foxhunts (e.g., the Pytchley). At the same time, however, it plays an important role in the contemporary economy. It is notable for the number of reservoirs that have been constructed on the Nene and its tributaries. Its industries are varied. Since theIndustrial Revolution it has been best known for footwear, with boot andshoe factories in many of its towns and villages, but that industry is now considerably reduced from its earlier levels. Engineering andfood processing are now more important, as are services. The county is remarkable for the number of small industrial centres it possesses rather than for major concentrations. Crossed by two mainrailway routes fromLondon to theMidlands and the north and by the main motorway link (M1), the administrative county is well situated for manufacturing and marketing. Area 913 square miles (2,364 square km). Pop. (2001) 629,676; (2011) 691,952.