1 Leisure and culture

The town is noted for its many parks, which include Abington Park, The Racecourse (home to the annual Balloon Festival), Delapre Park, Bradlaugh Fields, Becket's Park (named after Thomas Becket, who also lends his name to the nearby Becket's Well) and Iron Age hill fort Hunsbury Hill. Leisure park Billing Aquadrome is situated on the town's outskirts, which incorporates a caravan site, marina and funfair.

As well as three modern indoor shopping centres, the town also claims to have Britain's largest market square, which dates back to 1235. The square and surrounding shopping streets host the annual St Crispin Street Fair, held during the October half-term school holiday since 1993.

The Derngate and Royal theatres are situated next door to each other in Guildhall Road, opposite Northampton Museum and Art Gallery . There is also a smaller museum in a former mansion within Abington Park. Roadmender is a leading venue for art and music in the region. Three cinemas are also located in the town: Vue at Sol Central , UGC at Sixfields and the Forum Cinema at Lings Forum .

The 127.45 metre tall Express Lift Tower is visible from most of the town, and was dubbed the "Northampton Lighthouse" by broadcaster Terry Wogan.

2 Celebrity associations

Scientist Francis Crick was born in the town in 1916, who along with James D. Watson discovered the structure of DNA, and went on to win a Nobel Prize. Nearby to Northampton is Althorp, the country estate where Diana, Princess of Wales is buried. In 1997, her funeral procession passed through the town. Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Collins originally hails from Northampton and wrote about growing up in the town in his memoir Where Did It All Go Right?. Des O'Connor lived in Northampton, worked at Church's for some years and played for the Cobblers (Northampton Town Football). Television presenter Michael Underwood lives in the town, and it is birthplace to composer Sir Malcolm Arnold and actor Robert Llewellyn ( Kryten from Red Dwarf). It is also home to British writer Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Jo Whiley, the BBC Radio 1 DJ was born here in 1965.

3 Transport links

Northampton is situated on junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1 motorway. The A45 and A43 also go through the town and the A14 is close by. By rail it is served by the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line, and has regular services to London and Birmingham provided by Silverlink Trains (to London) and Central Trains (to Birmingham). Virgin Trains also provide some services to London, with serveral Pendolinos running each day. Sywell Aerodrome is the nearest airfield.

4 Media

Three newspapers are published in the town: the Chronicle and Echo, Mercury and Northants on Sunday. Radio stations BBC Radio Northampton and Northants 96 are based in the town, both broadcast to the wider county. Regional television news is provided by BBC Look East and Anglia News .

5 Sport in Northampton

The town is home to:

• Premiership rugby union club The Saints at Franklin's Gardens
• 2nd division football club Northampton Town at Sixfields
• Northamptonshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground

The Nene Whitewater Centre also provides an artificial whitewater course for canoes, kayaks and rafts.

• Northampton Swimming Club, which trained the young olympic swimmer Caitlin McCarthy.

6 Trivia

The Northampton Development Corporation produced a single which was released nationally by EMI entitled 60 Miles by Road or Rail by Linda Jardim (who was also a vocalist on Buggles's Video Killed the Radio Star) in an attempt to generate publicity for the growing town. 60 miles is the approximate distance from the town to London, which many people commute to. The B-side was Energy in Northampton, about aliens choosing Northampton as a landing site.

7 History

Remains have been found in the Northampton area dating back to Roman times. It is believed that farming settlement began in the Northampton area in around the 7th century. By the 8th century it had became an administrative centre for the kingdom of Mercia.

The town became significant in the 11th century, when the Normans built town walls and a large castle in Northampton. The town had one of the largest Jewish population in 13th century England centered around Gold Street. In 1277 three hundred Jews were executed for clipping the King's coin and the Jews of Northampton were driven out of the town.

In 1460, the Battle of Northampton took place - a descisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, and King Henry VI was captured in the town by Yorkists.

Northampton supported the parliamentarians during the English Civil War. For this reason the town walls and castle were later torn down on the orders of King Charles II as punishment. The railway station in Northampton stands on the site of the former castle, and for this reason is known as "Northampton Castle Station".

The town was destroyed by fire in 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..

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 in the 1830s. A loop of the major West Coast Main Line was built into Northampton in the 1870s.

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 MP.

In the 1960s the town was designated a new town and the population grew rapidly due to new housing developments. The town also became linked to the M1 motorway.

8 Notable Buildings

Northampton's oldest standing building, 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, who'd just returned from the first crusade. It is based on a plan of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

8.1 Population growth

• 1801 - 7,000
• 1861 - 33,000
• 1961 - 100,000
• 2001 - 194,477

9 External links

• History of Northampton

Districts of England - East Midlands
Amber Valley | Ashfield | Bassetlaw | Blaby | Bolsover | Boston | Broxtowe | Charnwood | Chesterfield | Corby | Daventry | Derby | Derbyshire Dales | East Lindsey | East Northamptonshire | Erewash | Gedling | Harborough | High Peak | Hinckley and Bosworth | Kettering | Leicester | Lincoln | Mansfield | Melton | Newark and Sherwood | Northampton | North East Derbyshire | North Kesteven | North West Leicestershire | Nottingham | Oadby and Wigston | Rushcliffe | Rutland | South Derbyshire | South Holland | South Kesteven | South Northamptonshire | Wellingborough | West Lindsey
Administrative counties with multiple districts: Derbyshire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Northamptonshire - Nottinghamshire

Towns in Northamptonshire

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