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This article is about Northampton in England; for other places of the same name see Northampton (disambiguation) {| class="infobox bordered" cellpadding="3" width="250"

{| border=1 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width=275 style="clear:both"|-!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|Borough of Northampton|-| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background: white;"|
Northampton Guildhall, built 1861-4, by Edward William Godwin|-!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Geography|-|align=center|{{location map|United Kingdom|label=|position=center|width=115|lat= 52.237|long= -0.896|caption=|float=-->|align=center|
Shownwithin Northamptonshire]:||East Midlands|-|[Surface area:
- Total||List of English districts by area
1 E7 m^2 square kilometre|-|Admin. HQ:||Northampton|-| British national grid reference system: || |-|ONS coding system:||34UF|-|Twin towns:], Germany
Poitiers, France:
- Total ()
- [Density

/ km^2|-|Ethnicity:||91.6% White
3.3% S.Asian
2.4% Afro-Carib.|-!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Politics|-|colspan=2 align=center|Northampton Borough Council
http://www.northampton.gov.uk/|-|[Local government in England#Councils and councillors
:||Leader & Cabinet|-|Executive:|||-|MPs elected in the UK general election, 2005:||Brian Binley, Sally Keeble and a [Non-metropolitan district in the English East Midlands region. Northampton is situated 67 miles (108 km) north of London on the River Nene, and is the county town of Northamptonshire.

The district has a population of List of English districts by population, whilst the urban area has a population of List of towns and cities in England by population. By this measurement, it is the 21st largest settlement in England and is the UK's third largest town without official city status – after Reading, Berkshire and Dudley. Northampton is the most populous Districts of England in England not to be a unitary authority, a status it failed to obtain in the 1990s UK local government reform. Northampton's population has increased greatly since the 1960s, largely due to planned expansion under the New town#United Kingdom in the early-1960s.

Traditionally Northampton was a major centre of shoemaking and other leather related industries. Shoemaking has almost ceased though the back streets of the town still retain the pattern of small shoe factories surrounded by terraced houses for outworkers. Northampton's main industries now include distribution and finance, and major employers include Barclaycard, Euro Building & Maintenance, Panasonic, Travis Perkins, Coca Cola Schweppes, and Carlsberg English Partnerships. History Early history Remains have been found in the Northampton area dating back to the Iron Age. It is believed that farming settlement began in the Northampton area in around the 7th century. By the 8th century it had become an administrative centre for the kingdom of Mercia.

The pre-Norman town was known as Hamtun and was quite small, occupying only some 60 acres.

Medieval Northampton The town became significant in the 11th century, when the Normans built town walls and a large castle under the stewardship of the Norman earl, Simon de Senlis, 1st Earl of Northampton. "Northampton Castle", The Gatehouse The original defence line of the walls is preserved in today's street pattern (Bridge St, The Drapery, Bearward St and Scarletwell Street).

The town grew rapidly after the Normans arrived, and beyond the early defences. By the time of the Domesday Book, the town had a population of about 1500 residents, living in 300 houses.

The town and its castle were important in the early 12th century and the King often held Court in the town. During his famous fall out with Henry II of England, Thomas Beckett at one time escaped from Northampton Castle through the unguarded Northern gate to flee the country,

Northampton had one of the largest Jewish populations in 13th century England, centred around Gold Street. In 1277 300 Jews were executed, allegedly for clipping the King's coin, and the Jews of Northampton were driven out of the town.

The town was originally controlled by officials acting for the King; these officials collected the taxes and upheld the law.

In 1189 Richard I of England gave the town its first charter and in 1215 John of England authorised the appointment of William Tilly as the town's first Mayor. He also ordered that, "...twelve of the better and more discreet" residents of the town join him as a council to assist him. In 1176 the Assize of Northampton laid down new powers for dealing with law breakers.

A University of Northampton (thirteenth century) was established in the town in 1261 by scholars fleeing University of Cambridge. It briefly flourished, but was dissolved by Henry III of England in 1265 owing to the threat it posed to University of Oxford.

The first Battle of Northampton (1264) took place at the site of Northampton Castle in 1264 - when the forces of Henry III over ran the supporters of Simon de Montfort. In 1460, a second Battle of Northampton (1460) took place in the grounds of Delapre Abbey - and was a decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, and King Henry VI of England was captured in the town by the House of York.

In May 1328 the Treaty of Northampton was signed - being a peace treaty between the English and the Scots in which Edward III recognised the authority of Robert the Bruce as King of Scotland and betrothed Bruce's still infant son to the king's sister Joanna.

There remains a large Northampton's tunnels that can be found around the centre of Northampton centred on All Saints church.

Civil War to 1900 Northampton supported the roundheads during the English Civil War. For this reason the town walls and castle were later torn down on the orders of King Charles II of England as punishment. The railway station in Northampton stands on the site of the former castle, and used to be called "Northampton Castle Station".

The town was destroyed by fire in both 1516 and 1675, and was re-built as a spacious and well-planned town. In the 18th century Northampton became a major centre of footwear and leather manufacture. The prosperity of the town was greatly aided by demand for footwear caused by the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

In his 18th century, "A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain", Daniel Defoe described Northampton as, "...the handsomest town in all this part of England."

Northampton's growth was accelerated in the 19th century, first by the Grand Union Canal, which reached the town in 1815 and later the coming of the railways. The first railway to be built into Northampton was a branch from the main London and Birmingham Railway at Blisworth to Peterborough through Northampton which opened in 1845. This was followed by lines to Market Harborough (1859) and Bedford (1872). The Northampton loop off the major West Coast Main Line was built into Northampton in the late 1870s.

Over the coming centuries the town continued to grow rapidly; after 1850 the town spilled out beyond the old town walls and began the growth we see today. in 1800 the population was round 7,000 and this had grown to 87,000 a century later.

In the 19th century Northampton acquired a reputation for political radicalism when the radical non-conformist Charles Bradlaugh was elected on several occasions as the town's Member of Parliament.

1900 - Today Growth after 1900 was slower. The town's famous shoe industry ceased to grow and other industries arrived slowly.

Between the wars pressure on housing led to new council-built housing estates being erected. The Borough boundary, first extended in 1900, was expanded again in 1932. The population had increased to around 100,000 by 1961 and 130,000 by 1971. Northampton was designated a New Town in 1968, and the Northampton Development Corporation (NDC) was set up to almost double the size of the town, with a population target of 230,000 by 1981, rising to 260,000 in later years. By this time the town also linked to the M1 motorway. Actual growth was much slower than planned (in 1981 the population was 156,000), but by the time NDC was wound up after 20 years, another 40,000 residents and 20,000 houses had been added. The borough boundaries changed in 1974 with the abolition of Northampton county borough and its reconstitution as a non-metropolitan district also covering areas outside the former borough boundaries but inside the designated New Town. Recently suggestions for another major expansion have been put forward, and are the subject of much public debate. Northampton is expected to reach 300,000 inhabitants by 2018.

At the millennium, Northampton applied unsuccessfully to be granted City status in the United Kingdom as a part of the "millennium cities" scheme. This distinction for the Midlands area was instead granted to Wolverhampton. Northampton will be up against other major towns with over 200,000 inhabitants such as Reading, Berkshire, Milton Keynes, Dudley, Walsall and Bournemouth-Poole when city status is competed for again.

The University of Northampton received full university status in 2005, following several years as a University College.

Expansion Northampton's population has increased greatly since the 1960s, largely due to planned expansion under the New town#United Kingdom in the early-1960s. Other factors are the rail link and the busy M1 motorway that both lead direct to London. Northampton is within 70 miles of central London, and by train it takes approximately 1 hour to journey between the two. This transport link to the South East has proved attractive, with already high house prices in and around London rising rapidly since the 1990s causing many people to move increasingly further away from the area in order to commuting from more reasonably-priced housing.

Most of Northampton's housing expansion has taken place to the east of the town with developments such as Canterbury Court, and on the western outskirts at Upton and to the south adjacent to an improved junction on the M1 at Grange Park, Northamptonshire, a development of some 1,500 houses actually in South Northamptonshire area.

Northampton (since 2006) is within one of the government's designated expansion zones and a new wave of development is being overseen by the West Northamptonshire development Corporation (WNDC). Their goal is the development of up to 37,000 new dwellings within the borough of Northampton and the infrastructure and services that will be required to service the increased population.

Expansion has already started with new roads and housing developments in West Northampton at Upton and St Crispins (2007).A lot of the expansion will be on brownfield sites such as Ransome road Far Cotton (an inner suburb) and within the existing borough boundaries.The WNDC will also oversee the redevelopment of Central Northampton into a primary regional centre that will service the expanded population, that will be comparable to UK cities such as Coventry and Nottingham with a population of approx 300,000 by 2018-2021.

Government and politics Northampton is administered by two local authorities: Northampton Borough Council, which from May 2007, and for the first time, was run by the Liberal Democrats. The other is Northamptonshire County Council which is currently controlled by the Conservatives from 2005. The two authorities are responsible for running different local services, with the former responsible for services such as waste collection and planning within Northampton Borough, and the latter responsible for services such as libraries and education within the county as a whole. Since April 2006 major planning decisions such as large housing schemes and new roads have been the responsibility of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC).

Northampton is currently the largest district in England not to be a self-governing unitary authority. Northampton's present local government status was set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 when it became a non-metropolitan district. Prior to this it had been an independent county borough.

Northampton is represented in Parliament of the United Kingdom by two MPs. These are:



Both of these constituency boundaries change significantly from the next General Election after 2005 with the creation of a new constituency of Northamptonshire South which takes a large chunk of the Northampton borough area (see external link to election maps).

Transport links Northampton is situated near junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1 motorway. The A45 road and A43 road go through the town and the A14 road is close by to the north. By rail, Northampton railway station is served by the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line, and has regular services to London and Birmingham provided by Silverlink (to London) and Central Trains (to Birmingham). Virgin Trains also provide some services to London and the north, with a small number of Pendolinos running each day. Sywell Aerodrome is the nearest airfield; for international links, East Midlands Airport and Luton Airport are quickly accessible by the M1, and Birmingham International Airport is accessible direct by train.

Transport within the town exists in the form of buses run by two main companies; The Stagecoach Group and The First Group, both of which offer a reasonable service with average wait times of between 10 to 30 minutes.

Bus travel into and out of Northampton is provided by The Stagecoach Group and National Express with Stagecoach providing travel to the outlying villages and towns and National Express covering major routes between urban centres in Britain.

Northampton is the terminus of an arm of the Grand Union Canal which snakes across Britain that allows navigation to the River Nene and the North Sea. Although no longer used for freight, the waterway is still popular with narrowboat owners with many stopping at the outlying villages of Gayton, Northamptonshire, Blisworth and Stoke Bruerne.

Education Caroline Chisholm School is an all-through 4-18 Primary education and secondary school, the first in the United Kingdom, that opened in September 2004. "Snap Tory leadership poll impossible", Matthew Temple, The Guardian, 27 May 2005 It is a Business and Enterprise College specialist school located within the Wooldale Centre of Learning in Wootton Fields. "Secondary School (KS3) Achievement and Attainment Tables 2006", Department for Children, Schools and Families "Welcome to Caroline Chisholm School", Caroline Chisholm School

Leisure and culture The town is noted for its many parks, which include: As well as two indoor shopping mall (The Grosvenor Center and Peacock Place), the town also claims to have Britain's largest market square, which dates back to 1235. The square and surrounding shopping streets used to host the annual St Crispin Street Fair, held during the October half-term school holiday from 1993 to 2005. Away from the town centre the main suburban shopping areas are Wellingborough Road and the Weston Favell Centre. There are retail parks at Riverside and Towcester Road. The main leisure area is Sixfields, which includes bowling, restaurants and a cinema. The Derngate and Royal Theatre (Northampton) theatres are situated next door to each other in Guildhall Road, opposite Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. They have been recently renovated and reopened to the public in November 2006. The Deco is a theatre/conference centre based on the Grade II listed former Cannon Cinema, in Abington Square. There is a smaller museum in a former mansion within Abington Park.

Until the removal of council funding caused its closure and liquidation, the Northampton Roadmender was a leading venue for art and music in the region. It has since been brought by the Purplehaus group and recently reopened.Three movie theater are also located in the town: Vue (cinema) (formerly UCI) at Sol Central Northampton, Cineworld (formerly UGC, and before that Virgin Cinema and before that MGM) at Sixfields and the Forum Cinema at Lings Forum.

Every year, Northampton hosts the Northampton Balloon Festival, normally held at Racecourse Park. The festival has been held for 17 years.

Sport in Northampton The town is home to:

Speedway racing, then known as dirt track racing, was staged in Northampton in 1930.

Notable buildings

Other churches in Northampton





Twin towns

Notable residents Modern

Historical

Musical

Other

Media Four newspapers are published in the town:

Radio stations:



Regional television news is provided by:



At one point during the late 1990s-early 2000s, Northampton also had its own local TV station, Northants TV (NTV). It was transmitted on both cable and later terrestrial, mostly showing local adverts, sport, and documentaries on the surrounding countryside and activities.

American Cousins Settlers from Northampton moved to the United States and set up various new towns there. As a result Northampton is a popular name for cities and towns in the United States:



Trivia

References See also

External links



Northampton Borough Council
Discover the history of footwear and other industries at the museum plus find a guide to what's on. Read about the structure of the council.

Welcome to The University of Northampton
The University of Northampton website ... Latest news and events Bursary students experience science and engineering

The University of Northampton - Departments and services
The University of Northampton website ... Schools. Everything you need to know about the academic Schools within The University of Northampton, and the courses available, can be ...

Northampton Borough Council Online - Tel: 01604 837837
www.northampton.gov.uk is the online resource for Northampton Borough Council - with council services online

Northampton Saints Rugby Football Club
The official site with news, club information, fixtures, results, squad details, tickets, directions, and a message board.

Northampton Chronicle and Echo, News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars ...
News, sport, business news in your local area ... News Northamptonshire woman named as plane crash victim A 33-year-old woman from Towcester has been named as one of five people ...

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Northampton
News, match reports, results, fixtures, tables, and live text commentary.

Rivals - Home - Northampton Town - Northampton Town Club Home
News, results, fixtures, tables, statistics, a message board, and competitions.

Home | Northampton Town
The official Northampton Town FC site with news, transfer rumours, online ticket sales, live match commentary, video highlights, player profiles, mobile content, wallpapers and ...

BBC - Weather Centre - 5 Day Forecast in Celsius for Northampton ...
The BBC Weather five day forecast for your selected town or city, showing the temperature in Celsius.





 
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