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Founding
Founding of Northampton
town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, UK
- 1189
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Founding
town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, UK
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Northampton ( nor-THAMP-tən) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town 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 settlements in England without city status; the population of its overall urban area was recorded as 249,093 in the 2021 census. The parish of Northampton alone had 137,387.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 is also thought to have built the medieval town walls, which enclosed about 245 acres (99 ha) and had four main gates. Since demolished, 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 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, was situated east of Bridge Street. Medieval tunnels remain 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 maintained law and order and collected taxes. 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 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 a closed body until 1835.
In 1261, King Henry III established a University of Northampton by royal charter. Had it survived, it would have been the third oldest university founded in England after Oxford and Cambridge. However, after members of the university sided with Simon de Montfort in rebellion against the King, in 1265 the king revoked his decision, suppressing the university on the grounds that it was a threat to Oxford's academic hegemony.
Markets and fairs were a key element in the town's economy in medieval times. The Market Square came to prominence in 1235, with Henry III ordering that the sale of goods in All Saints churchyard should be relocated there. Street names in the town give an indication of trades and market centres; The Drapery, Woolmonger Street, Mercers Row, Gold Street, Sheep Street and Horse Market. Cloth and wool were very important but these industries declined. In 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 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 near and 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 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 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, was a royalist (Cavalier) and backed King Charles I, the people of Northampton supported Parliament and Oliver Cromwell's 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, 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 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 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 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 the fire, apart from buildings made of stone; these included 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 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 a water wheel, on the River Nene.
A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of Gibraltar Barracks in 1797.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Northampton”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.