Northamptonshire

I

Introduction

Northamptonshire (abbreviation Northants), county, central England, bordered on the north by Leicestershire; on the east by Cambridgeshire; on the south by Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire; and on the west by Warwickshire. The county has a land area of 2,370 sq km (915 sq mi). Northampton is the administrative centre.

Northamptonshire has a wealth of architecture. Often called the county of “squires and spires”, it has an abundance of interesting parish churches, country mansions, market towns, and villages of mellowed stone cottages with thatched roofs, tucked well away from the main roads and the M1 motorway. The county is known for the manufacture of boots and shoes, which has been carried out in Northampton since at least the 18th century. A modern development was the designation in 1950 of the village of Corby as a new town.

Together with the neighbouring county of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire is one of the English “shires”, a term generally applied to those Midland counties famous for foxhunting, where packs of hounds were first kept for this purpose. The Pytchley hunt, whose kennels are at Brixworth, dates from 1750.

II

Land and Resources

The county is crossed by a Jurassic escarpment, known as the Northamptonshire Uplands, which runs from north-east to south-west. There are cliff-like outcrops to the north-west, while to the south-east younger rocks slope more gently. Boulder clay is spread over the upland area and the east. In the north is Rockingham Forest, a favourite deer hunting ground of the Norman kings, which once extended far into Leicestershire. The principal rivers are the Welland and the Nene. The Welland flows in an easterly direction along the Leicestershire-Northamptonshire border. A tributary, the Eye Brook, has been dammed in Leicestershire to provide a reservoir for Corby. The Great Ouse rises near Brackley and flows almost immediately into Buckinghamshire on its way north-eastwards to The Wash. The south-west of the county is crossed by the Grand Union Canal and a network of smaller, mostly navigable waterways. Traces of opencast mining are now largely obliterated, and the overall image of the county outside the major towns is one of rather flat farmland. Northamptonshire has a moderate temperate climate. Rainfall averages in the region of 635-760 mm (25-30 in) a year.

III

Population and Administration

The population of Northamptonshire is 629,676 (2001). Northampton (population, 2001, 194,477) is the seat of local government and main market town for the county. The other main towns include Kettering (2001, 81,844), Wellingborough (1991, 41,602), and Corby, which was allocated a potential population of 82,000 when it was designated a new town in 1950. In March 1993 Corby was granted borough status and by 2001 its population had reached an estimated 53,177.

Northamptonshire has seven district councils: Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire, and Wellingborough. A Crown Court sits at Northampton, which is also the headquarters of the Northamptonshire Police.

IV

Education

The University of Northampton (formerly Nene College) offers courses in higher education. Old-established schools in the county are Oundle School (founded 1556); Wellingborough School (1595); and the Northampton High School for Girls (1878).