103-534: Far Cotton is a village and neighbourhood of Northampton and former civil parish , now in the parish of Far Cotton and Delapre , in the West Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire , England. Far Cotton is due south of the town centre, beyond Cotton End - hence the 'Far' - and just south of the River Nene . It is roughly rectangular in shape with the river and Northampton branch of
206-467: A water wheel , on the River Nene. A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of Gibraltar Barracks in 1797. 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
309-653: A bridge under Rothersthorpe Road to the Northampton Blisworth Railway west of the junction with the line linking Bridge Street with the present station (Castle Station.). From there it was taken by rail to the company's ironworks near Duston Mill. There are two tiers of local government covering Far Cotton, at parish and unitary authority level: Far Cotton and Delapre Community Council and West Northamptonshire Council , based in Northampton. Far Cotton and neighbouring Cotton End were both in
412-527: A closed body until 1835. In 1261, the medieval University of Northampton was established by royal charter from King Henry III . Had it survived, it would be the third oldest university founded in England after Oxford and Cambridge . However, after members of the university sided with supporters of Simon de Montfort (who was rebelling against the King ) and advisors to The Crown said that Northampton
515-508: A county borough, and thus independent from the administrative county it would otherwise come under. Some cities and towns were already independent counties corporate , and most were to become county boroughs. Originally ten county boroughs were proposed; Bristol , Hull , Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham , which were already counties, and Birmingham , Bradford , Leeds , Liverpool , Manchester , and Sheffield , which were not. The Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed required
618-526: A large part of the town. When the forces of King Henry III overran the supporters of Simon de Montfort , the Second Barons' War broke out. The First 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. In 1349, the Black Death pandemic killed more than half
721-589: A new Council headquarters, the restoration of Delapré Abbey, the expansion of Northampton 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. In 2015, St Giles Street in the town centre was named the "Best British High Street" in a national competition run by the Department for Communities and Local Government . Northampton
824-409: A population of 200,000 or more should become one-tier "new counties", with "new county boroughs" having a population of 60,000 – 200,000 being "most-purpose authorities", with the county council of the administrative county providing certain limited services. The report envisaged the creation of 47 two-tiered "new counties", 21 one-tiered "new counties" and 63 "new county boroughs". The recommendations of
927-463: A population of 2000 people, ranking between Warwick and Leicester in size. With the Norman 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. Northampton Castle
1030-569: A population of over 50,000 except in the case of existing counties corporate. This resulted in 61 county boroughs in England and two in Wales ( Cardiff and Swansea ). Several exceptions were allowed, mainly for historic towns, including Bath and Dudley , which would still remain below the 50,000 limit by the time of the 1901 census. Some of the smaller counties corporate— Berwick upon Tweed , Lichfield , Poole , Carmarthen and Haverfordwest —did not become county boroughs, although Canterbury , with
1133-417: A population under 25,000, did. The county councils and county borough councils came into operation on 1 April 1889. Just seven months later, on 9 November 1889, the city of Oxford was the first borough which had not been made a county borough by the 1888 Act to be elevated to county borough status. Various other new county boroughs were constituted in the following decades, generally as more boroughs reached
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#17327931889401236-490: A series of regeneration schemes across the town. Some have been completed, including the opening of the Radlands 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
1339-516: A wall of timber and enclosing an area of 160 acres (65 ha) which dates to around 400 BC. In the Roman period , a small rural settlement is thought to have existed in the present-day district of Duston ; remains of Roman pottery were found there. Following a Danish invasion, the central area of the town was turned into a stronghold called a burh probably by the Anglo-Saxons. By
1442-771: Is a local shop just south of Far Cotton in Mereway and a supermarket in Cotton End on Ransome Road. A supermarket opened in nearby Newport Pagnell Road in 2013 next to a garden centre. As of 2010, Far Cotton was set to double in population in the next ten years with development of housing, much of this having already taken place in the Cotton End area. In April 1998, many residents of Far Cotton had to leave their homes (albeit temporarily) and seek temporary accommodation elsewhere, after part of Far Cotton, along with another part of Northampton, St. James , suffered flooding, when
1545-751: Is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent term used in Scotland was a county of city . They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales , but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in Northern Ireland . In
1648-592: Is also thought to have built the medieval town walls, which enclosed about 245 acres (99 ha) and had four main gates . Though demolished now, the circular pattern of the main roads surrounding the town centre marks the original position of the walls. de Senlis founded the Cluniac Priory of St Andrew's in the area of Semilong, and built The Church of the Holy Sepulchre – one of four remaining round churches in England – and All Hallows' Church on
1751-519: Is situated on the River Nene , 60 miles (97 km) north-west of London and 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Birmingham . Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; the population of its overall urban area was recorded as 249,093 in the 2021 census . Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age , Romans and Anglo-Saxons . In the Middle Ages ,
1854-414: Is subdivided into suburbs, council wards , constituencies , ecclesiastical parishes , and other less formal areas. Suburbs and districts of Northampton include: Concurrent with the abolition of the borough of Northampton in 2021, the unparished 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
1957-446: Is the largest parish level authority in England. In addition, two smaller parishes were created for the suburbs of Far Cotton & Delapre and Kingsthorpe . Policing in the town remains the responsibility of Northamptonshire Police ; and firefighting , the responsibility of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service . The Royal Anglian Regiment serves as the county regiment for Northamptonshire, with former county regiments being
2060-488: Is thought to have been built by Simon de Senlis , who became the first Earl of Northampton , circa 1084. It was originally an earth and timber stockaded construction which was later rebuilt in stone. The castle became an occasional royal residence from the reign of King Henry I in 1130 until that of King Richard II . King John regularly stayed at the castle and moved The Treasury there in 1205. Some 32 Parliaments were held there. The last Parliament at Northampton
2163-537: The 2024 general election . Northampton is currently represented by two Labour MPs: The town existed as an ancient borough in the medieval period before being one of the 178 boroughs to be reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835, with a democratically elected council replacing the corporation before it. Town government alternated between the Liberals and Conservatives, and
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#17327931889402266-792: The Grand Union Canal forming its northern boundary. The railway line, part of the Northampton Loop Line just south of Northampton railway station is on the western edge. The A5076 ring road is the southern boundary and Delapré Abbey 's park forms the eastern boundary up to the A45 road . From elections on and after 2011, Far Cotton was in the Parish of St Mary and Delapre Ward of the Northampton Borough Council , and on Northamptonshire County Council ,
2369-704: The House of Commons , despite the approval of the Local Government Board – the removal of Cambridge from Cambridgeshire would have reduced the income of Cambridgeshire County Council by over half. Upon recommendation of a commission chaired by the Earl of Onslow , the population threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, by the Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926 , which also made it much harder to expand boundaries. The threshold
2472-579: The M1 motorway was opened to the south-west of the town; in 1968, Northampton was designated a New Town . Both these events and the rail link helped Northampton's growth as a commuter town for London. 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
2575-516: The Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A third of the adult males alone were shoemakers at the time. Northampton grew beyond the old town walls and industry grew rapidly with the mechanisation of factories by the middle of the 19th century. 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
2678-654: The Northamptonshire Regiment and the Northamptonshire Yeomanry The Northampton urban area is covered by 13 civil parishes . The parish councils of these form a local tier of government below West Northamptonshire Council. The largest by far of these is the area covered by Northampton 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
2781-536: The Republic of Ireland they remain in existence but have been renamed cities under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2001 . The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain " principal areas " in Wales. Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead had counties of cities . These were abolished on 16 May 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time— Aberdeen , Dundee , Edinburgh , and Glasgow —were included in this category. There
2884-527: The River Nene broke its banks . Flooding occurred on Good Friday , 10 April 1998, a day which became known locally as "the long Good Friday". Since that time river banks have been raised and flood mitigation lakes created west of the town. Robert Adams , a sculptor and designer was born in Far Cotton. Chief Inspector Walter Dew , who was involved in the hunt for both Jack the Ripper and Dr. Crippen ,
2987-438: The county borough of Northampton. The civil parish of Far Cotton continued to exist until 1932, but as an urban parish it did not have a parish council, always being directly governed by the urban district or borough councils above it. In 1931 the parish had a population of 7268. Far Cotton is in the ecclesiastical parish of St Mary. From 1900 onwards Far Cotton was therefore part of Northampton. A new civil parish covering
3090-433: The goods shed . Bridge Street Station closed in 1964 and St John's Street closed in 1939, leaving only Castle station serving the town. It is now known simply as Northampton railway station . Tram lines were also laid down in the town in 1881 and electrified in 1903. 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
3193-434: The restoration 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. From then on, the castle was used as a court and a jail, but its physical condition worsened. The new council of the town had to pay £200 to have its charter renewed and also required all officials to swear
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3296-737: The 13th century, Northampton had a large Jewish population centred on Gold Street. In 1277 – two years after Edward I passed the Statute of the Jewry – some Jewish residents were executed while the remainder were driven out of town. Archaeological sites include a medieval Jewish cemetery and the Northampton Medieval Synagogue . The First Barons' War caused significant destruction to Northampton. The barons besieged Northampton Castle in protest at King John's oppression of his subjects. In retaliation, royalist forces destroyed
3399-572: The 18th century. The town continued to expand with the arrival of the Grand 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 a New Town in 1968, accelerating development which has continued into the 21st century. Northampton unsuccessfully applied for city status four times; in 1992, 2000, 2002 and 2022. The earliest reference to Northampton in writing occurred in 914 under
3502-455: The 50,000 minimum and then promoted Acts to constitute them county boroughs. The granting of county borough status was the subject of much disagreement between the large municipal boroughs and the county councils. The population limit provided county councils with a disincentive to allow mergers or boundary amendments to districts that would create authorities with large populations, as this would allow them to seek county borough status and remove
3605-983: 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 the East Midlands region but is also referred to in Government planning as being part of the South Midlands "growth area". The town is 30 miles (48 km) south-southeast of Leicester , 16 miles (26 km) north-northwest of Milton Keynes , 43 miles (69 km) west of Cambridge , 37 miles (60 km) northeast of Oxford and 37 miles (60 km) southwest of Peterborough . Northampton
3708-531: The Briar Hill district show evidence of a Neolithic encampment within a large circular earthwork where local farmers assembled for tribal ceremonies and seasonal events from approximately 3500 BC to 2000 BC. During the British Iron Age , people typically lived in protected hill forts . Present-day Hunsbury Hill is an example of this settlement; a circular ditch and a bank faced with
3811-527: The Commissions did not complete their work before being dissolved, a handful of new county boroughs were constituted between 1964 and 1968. Luton , Torbay , and Solihull gained county borough status. Additionally, the Teesside was formed from a merger of the existing county borough of Middlesbrough , and the municipal boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees , Redcar and Thornaby ; Warley was formed from
3914-563: The Delapre and Rushmere Division. As of 2021, following local government reorganisation , the parish now forms part of the Delapre ward of West Northamptonshire Council . Far Cotton was first recorded in 1196 under the name Cotes. That name derived from the Old English "Cot" meaning a cottage or hut, Cotes being a plural form. Cotton derives from the same word and is also plural and thus meant "cottages" or "huts." Historically Far Cotton
4017-491: The East Staffordshire district, and Teesside, which was split up between three non-metropolitan districts. County boroughs to be abolished prior to 1974 were: The county boroughs of Belfast and Derry were created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . In Northern Ireland , local government has not used county boroughs since 1973, but they remain in use for lieutenancy . For administrative purposes
4120-592: The Elder , Saxon King of Wessex (who controlled the southern and western part of the English Kingdom of Mercia) in 921 In the 9th century Regenhere of Northampton , an East Anglian Saint with localised veneration , was buried in Northampton. By 918, Northampton had an earl and an army dependent upon it, whose territory extended to the River Welland . Edward the Elder turned Northampton into
4223-596: The House of Commons lobby in 1812. By the late 19th century, Northampton had acquired a reputation for political vanguardism . In 1880, radical non-conformist Charles 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 the 1918 general election , representation
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4326-515: The Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1972 (that abolished them from 1974). Only four districts with more than one county borough were formed: Wirral , Sandwell , Sefton and Kirklees . Elsewhere, county boroughs usually formed the core or all of a district named after the county borough – with the exceptions of Halifax, whose metropolitan district was named Calderdale , Burton upon Trent, which became part of
4429-538: The Parliamentary armies were manufactured in Northampton during the Civil War, and a further 2,000 for Cromwell's New 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. The War ended with a Parliamentary victory, resulting in England becoming a Commonwealth , which lasted a decade. Following
4532-451: The ancient parish of Hardingstone . The Northampton parliamentary constituency was extended south of the River Nene in 1868 to include the Cotton End and Far Cotton areas of the parish. In 1871 the parts of the parish within the Northampton constituency were made a local government district called Hardingstone, despite the village of Hardingstone being in the part of the parish outside the local government district. The Hardingstone district
4635-536: The area was created in 2020 under the name "Far Cotton and Delapre", as part of the preparation for the abolition of the borough of Northampton the following year to become part of West Northamptonshire. As part of the regeneration of the town, overseen by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation , many brownfield sites in Far Cotton underwent redevelopment in the first decade of the twenty-first century including
4738-631: The centre of one of the new shires, and it prospered as a river port and trading centre. In 940, it resisted the invading forces of Danish opposition in Northumbria when the Mercians successfully defended the town in a siege by King Olaf of York , but was burnt in 1010 by a Danish army, and again in 1065 by the rebellious northern earls Edwin and Morcar . Despite this, the Domesday Book records Northantone as possessing 316 houses with
4841-614: The commission extended to a review of the division of functions between different tiers of local government, and thus fell outside its terms of reference, and its report was not acted upon. The next attempt at reform was by the Local Government Act 1958, which established the Local Government Commission for England and the Local Government Commission for Wales to carry out reviews of existing local government structures and recommend reforms. Although
4944-703: The county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county. These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire , whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of Corby , East Northamptonshire , Kettering and Wellingborough districts. These new authorities came into being on 1 April 2021. Elections for
5047-433: The county borough of Smethwick and the non-county boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis ; and West Hartlepool was merged with Hartlepool . Following these changes, there was a total of 79 county boroughs in England. The Commission also recommended the downgrading of Barnsley to be a non-county borough, but this was not carried out. The county boroughs of East Ham , West Ham and Croydon were abolished in 1965 with
5150-418: The creation of Greater London and went on to form parts of London boroughs . The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , and replaced with non-metropolitan districts and metropolitan districts , all beneath county councils in a two-tier structure. In Greater London and the metropolitan counties the lower tier districts retained a wider range of powers than in
5253-476: The creation of a boundary commission to bring coordination to local government reform. The policy in the paper also ruled out the creation of new county boroughs in Middlesex "owing to its special problems" . The Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed on 26 October 1945, under the chairmanship of Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve , delivering its report in 1947. The commission recommended that towns with
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#17327931889405356-414: The current site of All Saints' Church . His son, Simon II de Senlis , built St Peter's Church on a site between a former Anglo-Saxon palace and Northampton Castle. Simon II de Senlis also founded Delapré Abbey – another Cluniac priory – which still stands today. Other priories in medieval Northampton include St James' Abbey , Graye Friers, Blackfriars and Whitefriars. St. John's, a medieval hospital,
5459-553: The east, followed by Briar Hill, Camp Hill and East and West Hunsbury in the south of the town, mainly to accommodate the overflow population of new residents from the London area. In the town centre, older buildings were demolished and replaced or redeveloped for other buildings, including the former Greyfriars bus station , the Grosvenor Centre , Peacock Place (now Market Walk), shops, flats and hotels. Although growth
5562-511: The existing eight Northamptonshire councils be scrapped for new unitary authorities. In March 2018, following suspension 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
5665-647: 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. The devastation led to an Act of Parliament for the rebuilding the town. Local people and businesses helped to raise around £25,000 towards the rebuilding of the town centre based around the Market Square. Streets were widened and buildings made of brick and stone and tiled to prevent such devastation again. In an act of reconciliation, King Charles II donated timber from
5768-416: The former borough boundaries but inside the designated New Town. The town tried for unitary status during the 1990s UK local government reform , but failed and it remained a non-metropolitan district until its abolition in 2021. On Good 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
5871-460: The functions of both boroughs and counties). Although unitary authorities are functionally equivalent to county boroughs, only in Wales is the title given official recognition by Act of Parliament. [REDACTED] The map depicts the county boroughs in England immediately prior to their abolition in 1974. County boroughs in Wales and Northern Ireland are not shown. This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between
5974-437: The local community for more than 200 years. The East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust is responsible for the provision of statutory emergency 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 to serve Northampton, St Andrew's became a charity and private healthcare provider when
6077-519: 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. Following World War I ,
6180-421: The market. 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
6283-420: The name Ham tune . The prefix "North" was added later to distinguish it from other towns called Hampton, most prominently Southampton . The Domesday Book (1086) records the town as Northantone , which evolved into Norhamptone by the 13th century and later Northampton by the 17th century. Present-day Northampton is the latest in a series of settlements that began in the Bronze Age . Remains found in
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#17327931889406386-506: The new authorities were due to be held on 7 May 2020, but these were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and took place in May 2021. A year prior to these changes, three new civil 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 a Town (parish) Council . Northampton Town Council
6489-485: The new housing estates of Riverside Wharf, Cotton End and Southbridge. Extensive development was to occur on former disused warehouses east of Far Cotton. Nunn Mills was to be developed to build over 3,000 new houses on a brownfield site. There will also be an improved Marina in and around Becket's Park and Midsummer Meadow. The main shopping sector of Far Cotton is St Leonard's Road which connects Towcester Road and London Road. There are also shops on Gloucester Avenue. There
6592-509: The non-metropolitan counties. This situation did not persist long. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council were abolished, returning the metropolitan boroughs to a status equivalent to the former county boroughs, but sharing some powers (police and transport for example). In the 1990s, many of the nonmetropolitan former county boroughs were reformed again as unitary authorities – essentially
6695-402: The non-metropolitan district of Northampton was administered by both Northampton Borough Council and Northamptonshire County Council . Propositions for the borough to become a unitary authority failed during the 1990s local government reform and again, in 2011, when the motion was voted down by the council. However, in 2016, the borough council and all seven Northamptonshire MPs called for
6798-625: The oath of allegiance and some confirmed by the Crown. The town centre was further destroyed by the Great 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. Matters were worsened because most buildings were chiefly made of wood and covered with thatch. An estimated 600 buildings were destroyed, amounting to £150,000 lost. Very little survived
6901-540: The old county borough, in other cases much larger). Burton upon Trent became an unparished area in the East Staffordshire borough, and has now been divided into several parishes. In Wales, several principal areas are county boroughs: For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other principal areas of Wales called " counties " (including " cities and counties ") as all these areas are run by unitary authorities (i.e.: have
7004-540: The original model existed until 2001. Under the Local Government Act 2001 (which replaced most existing local government legislation in Ireland), the term "County Borough" was abolished and replaced with "City" (and hence, "Corporation" with "City Council"). However Kilkenny , while a traditional city, was never a county borough. Under the Local Government Reform Act 2014 , the borough of Kilkenny
7107-494: The parish outside the urban district, whilst the part inside the urban district became a parish called Far Cotton. The confusion of having a Hardingstone Urban District which did not contain Hardingstone itself did not last long; in 1896 the urban district was divided into two urban districts called Far Cotton and St James. The Far Cotton Urban District was short-lived; it was abolished four years later in 1900 and absorbed into
7210-689: The population of Northampton. In 1377, the population was 2,200. The town was rapidly losing its wealth and its importance as a national centre. In 1460, the Second Battle of Northampton took place during the War of the Roses in the meadows between the River Nene and Delapré Abbey. The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and King Henry VI was taken prisoner. In 1484, the Mayor declared that Northampton
7313-401: The royal forests of Salcey and Whittlebury to help with the rebuild. In 1678, the Sessions House and what is now County Hall were amongst the first buildings to be completed. A Georgian town with new houses, shops and workshops eventually grew out of the old medieval town destroyed by the fire. In 1742 Edward Cave opened Marvel's Mill , the world's first cotton mill to be driven by
7416-589: The same as a county borough. As a result, by 2015, most former county boroughs were either metropolitan boroughs or unitary authorities with a status similar to the old county boroughs. In England, most of those former county boroughs that did not gain unitary authority status— Barrow-in-Furness , Burnley , Canterbury , Carlisle , Chester , Eastbourne , Gloucester , Great Yarmouth , Hastings , Ipswich , Lincoln , Northampton , Norwich , Oxford , Preston , and Worcester —have given their names to non-unitary local government districts (in some cases coterminous with
7519-450: The shoe industry was increasingly in decline, despite the town's factories supplying over 23 million pairs of boots to the armed forces. A total of 1,700 men from the town were lost of the 6,000 killed from the Northamptonshire Regiment . The town expanded further during the 1920s and saw the erection of Northampton Power Station , which supplied electricity to areas as far away as Wolverton , until its closure in 1975. Much council housing
7622-405: The tax base from the administrative county. County boroughs to be constituted in this era were a mixed bag, including some towns that would continue to expand such as Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea . Other towns such as Burton upon Trent and Dewsbury were not to increase in population much past 50,000. 1913 saw the attempts of Luton and Cambridge to gain county borough status defeated in
7725-687: The time of the Peace of Wedmore in 878 the Burgh was in possession of the Danes and became the base for one of the Danish armies. A ditch was dug around the settlement and it was fortified with earth ramparts . Having conquered Mercia , the Danes turned the settlement into a centre for military and administrative purposes, which was part of the Danelaw . The Danish army of Northampton however submitted to Edward
7828-438: The town achieved independence from Northamptonshire in 1888 when it became a county borough . It had 6 electoral wards from 1898, 9 wards from 1900 and 12 wards from 1911. Northampton was granted modern borough status in 1974, when it was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district, a subdivision of its non-metropolitan county (Northamptonshire). From 1974 until 2021, the town had a two-tier structure of local government:
7931-486: The town council, these are: 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 as health visiting and physiotherapy and also funds hospital care and other specialist treatments. Northampton General Hospital is an NHS trust hospital which founded in 1744 and moved to its present site in 1793, and has continued to provide healthcare to
8034-519: The town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle , an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England . Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton , all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town
8137-616: The town willingly became the main Parliamentarian garrison 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 and General Fairfax marched from the town to Naseby , where Charles I's Royalist army was decisively defeated. Over 4,000 pairs of leather shoes and 600 pairs of cavalry jack-boots for
8240-530: The town's first railway station, Bridge Street station . This was followed by the opening of Castle station in 1859 on the site of part of the historic Northampton Castle, and later St. John's Street station in 1872. The Northampton loop of the West Coast Main Line was built in the late 1870s. Castle station was rebuilt and expanded over the site of Northampton Castle, the remains of which were purchased and demolished in 1880 to make way for
8343-598: The town, but in 1815, the Grand Union Canal reached the town, joining the River Nene, giving the town a direct link to the Midlands coalfields and to Birmingham , Manchester and London. The first railway to be built into Northampton was the Northampton and Peterborough Railway , a branch from the main London and Birmingham Railway from Blisworth to Peterborough through Northampton which opened in 1845 along with
8446-493: 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. The importance of Northampton at this time is underlined by the fact that only London, York and King's Lynn had mayors by this date. The mayor later ruled with 24 councillors and 48 freemen in
8549-704: The turn of the Millennium, the town has continued to expand. Northampton applied for city status in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium, in 2002 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II and most recently in 2022 to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II , but failed on all three occasions and remains a town. In 2006, Northampton became a government expansion zone with new growth promoted by West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC), an unelected quango , which has provoked
8652-644: The two county boroughs in Northern Ireland were replaced with two larger districts ( Belfast and Londonderry ). The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created county boroughs in Ireland. Under the Act, four former counties corporate ( Cork , Dublin , Limerick and Waterford ) became county boroughs. Galway became a county borough in 1986. In the Republic of Ireland , the relevant legislation remained in force (although amended), and county boroughs on
8755-579: Was "in great desolation and ruin". The Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 led to further destruction of what remained of the medieval town. Northampton was severely affected by Plague between March and September 1638 when 665 people died. The royal connection to Northampton Castle became less significant, and by the time of the English Civil War , Northampton was decidedly pro-Parliament. Though Spencer Compton , Earl of Northampton,
8858-514: Was a hamlet in the parish of Hardingstone . It expanded with the arrival of the Northampton and Peterborough Railway , opened in 1845. The original line, on which Northampton Bridge Street railway station was situated, was entirely south of the Nene while the medieval town was north of the river. St Mary's Church was built in Towcester Road in 1885 to the design of Matthew Holding. There
8961-565: Was a royalist ( Cavalier ) and backed King Charles I , the people of Northampton supported Parliament and Oliver Cromwell 's republican Roundhead army. The town had a long history of religious dissent from the Lollards and Puritanism 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 notorious ship money tax in 1636, petitioned Parliament in 1642 against papists and bishops . When war broke out in 1642,
9064-564: Was a threat to Oxford's scholastic hegemony, Henry III dissolved the university in 1265. 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. 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. Cloth and wool were very important but these industries declined. In
9167-447: Was also built largely to the east, north and south of the town, including Abington , Far Cotton , Kingsley, Kingsthorpe and Dallington – areas which had been incorporated within the borough's boundaries in 1901. 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. After World War II , Northampton vastly changed. In 1959,
9270-491: Was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460 . The town largely supported the Parliamentary Roundheads during the English Civil War , which prompted Charles II to order the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 also destroyed much of the historic town. Northampton was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of
9373-470: Was an additional category of large burgh in the Scottish system (similar to a municipal borough in England and Wales), which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire. When county councils were first created in 1889, it was decided that to let them have authority over large towns or cities would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be
9476-480: Was an iron ore quarry at Far Cotton from 1883 to 1889 run by the Hunsbury Hill Iron Company. The quarry was bounded by Rothersthorpe Road on the north, Towcester Road on the east and the main railway on the west. At the southern end of the quarry it extended across the top of the northern end of the railway tunnel. Much of the site is now built on. The ore was taken by horse-drawn tramway through
9579-420: Was appointed in May 1935 to "investigate whether the existing status of Merthyr Tydfil as a county borough should be continued, and if not, what other arrangements should be made" . The commission reported the following November, and recommended that Merthyr should revert to the status of a non-county borough, and that public assistance should be taken over by central government. In the event county borough status
9682-401: Was born in the village in 1863. Northampton Northampton ( / n ɔːr ˈ θ æ m p t ə n / nor- THAMP -tən ) is a town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire , England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the unitary authority of West Northamptonshire . The town
9785-410: Was enlarged in 1874 to take in the ecclesiastical parish of St James , which had been created in 1872 covering the growing western suburbs of Northampton. Local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894 , which also said that parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. Hardingstone parish was therefore reduced to cover just the part of
9888-406: Was established, whilst the areas of Kingsthorpe, and Far Cotton and Delapré also gained parish councils. In addition, there are nine registered parish 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. County borough County borough
9991-521: Was held in 1380. Significant events in the castle's history include the trial of Thomas Becket in 1164, the publication of the Assize of Northampton in 1176, the declaration of peace with Scotland in the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton , the passage of the Statute of Northampton in 1328 and the imposition of poll tax in 1380. Royal tournaments and feasts were also held at the castle. Simon de Senlis
10094-510: Was inaugurated as a constituency in 1295; for many centuries it returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons . Spencer Perceval was elected as one of these in 1796 and became Prime 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 owner John Bellingham in
10197-464: Was raised to 100,000 by the Local Government Act 1958 . The viability of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil came into question in the 1930s. Due to a decline in the heavy industries of the town, by 1932 more than half the male population was unemployed, resulting in very high municipal rates in order to make public assistance payments. At the same time the population of the borough was lower than when it had been created in 1908. A royal commission
10300-464: Was reduced to one MP. In 1974, the original Northampton seat was replaced by the new constituencies of Northampton North and Northampton South , which both elected one MP each, beginning in the February 1974 general election . For the 2010 general election , the new South Northamptonshire constituency took a southern sector of the borough. The southern sectors transferred to Northampton South for
10403-564: Was retained by the town, with the chairman of the Welsh Board of Health appointed as administrative adviser in 1936. After the Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. A government white paper published in 1945 stated that "it is expected that there will be a number of Bills for extending or creating county boroughs" and proposed
10506-485: Was situated east of Bridge Street. A network 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. 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 King Richard I granted the town its first charter in exchange for money to fund his crusades. The charter allowed
10609-406: Was slower than planned, the population grew from 105,421 in 1961 to 157,217 by 1981, with 15,655 new homes added to the town between 1970 and 1985. The borough boundaries also changed following a split of the Northampton parliamentary constituency into Northampton North and Northampton South in 1974. Northampton was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district which also covered areas outside
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