NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, a county (inland), bounded
on the north by the counties of Leicester, Rutland,
and Lincoln; on the east by those of Cambridge,
Huntingdon, and Bedford 5 on the south by Buckinghamshire
and Oxfordshire; and on the west by Oxfordshire
and Warwickshire; it extends obliquely from 52°
to 52° 42' (N. Lat.), and from 8' to 1° 19' (W. Lon.),
and includes an area of one thousand and seventeen
square miles, or six hundred and fifty thousand eight
hundred and eighty statute acres. The population, in
1821, was 162,483. This county, which in the ancient
British times was the most southern part of the
territory of the Coritani, was included by the Romans
in the division of Flavia Ceesariensis, and by the Saxons
in the kingdom of Mercia. It suffered repeatedly and
severely from the ravages of the Danes, to which its
situation particularly exposed it. Hamtune, now Northampton,
was in the possession of those invaders for
nearly forty years: Towcester appears to have been
burned by them, and King Edward the Elder ordered
it to be rebuilt. In the year 921, the same sovereign
marched with his army to Passenham, in order to
expel .the Danes from this part of the country. The
central situation of the county, and that of its capital,
the ancient town of Northampton, have occasioned
the former, -in the earlier periods of English history,-
to become a scene of action in almost every civil war
that has agitated the nation; and the latter, where
the royal court was often held, to be frequently chosen
as a military rallying-point, or for holding important
national councils. Any details of these transactions,
anterior to the reign of Charles I., belong more properly
to the histories of particular places within the
county, and some mention of the most important of them
will be found in the preceding article on the town of
Northampton. IH February 1642, a petition of the
knights, gentlemen, and freeholders of the county was
presented to the parliament, commending its exertions,
and entreating a continuance of them. On the commencement
of hostilities, several skirmishes took place
in Northamptonshire, and on the 6th of May, 1643, the
parliamentarians were defeated by the Earl of Northampton,
at Middleton-Cheney. In this county also;
on the 14th of June, 1645, was fought the memorable
battle of Naseby, between Sir Thomas Fairfax and the
king in person, which gave the final blow to the power
of the latter. When the king had been placed in the
hands of the parliamentary commissioners, he was
brought to TEloldenby, or Holmby House, on the 16th of
February, i647, and remained there until the 4th of
June, when he was seized by Cornet Joyce. General
Monk, in his march to the south, reached Northampton
about the 24th of January, 1660, on which day an
address was presented to him by the gentlemen, ministers,
and freeholders of this county, requesting him to
use his power to restore the freedom of parliament, and
procure the adoption of other salutary measures 5 and
on the 15th of March following, a letter, subscribed by
above fifty of the most considerable Northamptonshire
gentlemen, was presented to the same general at Whitehall,
thanking him for having procured the restoration
of the excluded members to their seats in the house.
Northamptonshire is contained in the diocese of
Peterborough, and province of Canterbury, excepting
the parishes of Gretton and Nassington, which are in
the diocese of Lincoln, and that of King's Sutton, which
is a peculiar belonging to the Dean and Chapter of
Lincoln, in the diocese of Peterborough. It forms an
archdeaconry, comprising the ten deaneries of Brack-
ley, Daventry, Haddon, Higham-Ferrers, Northampton
Oundlej Peterborough, Preston, Rothwell, and Wel-
"don, containing two hundred and ninety-three parishes,
of which one hundred and seventy-two are rectories,
ninety-three vicarages, and twenty-nine perpetual curacies.
For purposes of civil government it is divided
into the nineteen hundreds of Shipping-Warden, Cleley,
Corby, Fawsley, Greens-Norton, Guilsborough, Hamfordshoe,
Higham-Ferrers, Huxloe, Navisford, Nobottle-
Grove,0rlingbury, Polebrooke, Rothwell, Spelhoe, King's
Sutton, Towcester, Willybrook, andWymersley, and the
liberty of Nassaburgh/or Peterborough. Of these, the
hundreds of Corby, Hamfordshoe, Higham-Ferrers, Huxloe,
Navisford, Orlingbury, Polebrooke, Rothwell, and
Willybrooke, and the liberty of Nassaburgh, or Peterborough,
are in the eastern division of the county, and
the rest in the western. It contains the city of Peterborough,
the borough of Higham-Ferrers, the borough
and market-towns of Brackley and Northampton, and
the market-towns of Daventry, Kettering, Oundle,
Thrapston, Towcester, and Wellingborough. Two knights
are returned to parliament for the shire; two representatives
for the city of Peterborough; two for each of
1 the boroughs of Brackley and Northampton; arid one
for that of Higham-Ferrers. Northamptonshire is
included in the Midland circuit: the assizes are held
at Northampton, where is the county gaol: the quarter
sessions are held at Northampton on January 14th,
April 22d, July'15th, and October 21st; and at Peterborough
on January 13th, April 21st, July 14th, and
October 20th. There are seventy-nine acting magistrates.
The rates raised in the cotmty for the year
ending March 25th, 1827, amounted to £168,068. 1.,
the expenditure to £167,352, of which, £148,175. 13.
Was applied to the relief of the poor.
The general aspect of the county exhibits great
beauty and variety; extensive flats being of rare occurrence.
The greater part of it is agreeably diversified
by gentle undulations, the valleys being watered by numerous
rivulets, and the whole forming an interesting
scene of vale and upland. The entire surface is available
for agricultural purposes 5 the trees and hedge-rows
flourish luxuriantly, and the county is in numerous
places adorned with woods and ornamented grounds.
The higher and middle parts are more particularly ornamented
with extensive woods, which are intersected
by numerous vistas and beautiful lawns. The summits
of the hills around Daventry, which are supposed to
be the highest land in the county, are only about eight
hundred feet above the level of the tide in the Thames,
at the mouth of the Grand Junction canal at Brentford,
The county contains no land that can properly
be called bog: the lowest is Peterborough fen. The
climate is favourable both to health and vegetation; the
county being seldom visited by deep falls of snow, or
long-continued rains. These advantages it derives
from its inland situation and moderate degree of elevation;
the aqueous vapours from the distant ocean being
in some measure exhausted before their arrival here,
and even when they reach the county, overcharged with
snow, there are no mountains to precipitate an immediate
and heavy fall.
The fertility of the soil renders it equally well
adapted either for corn or pasturage; and although
numerous instances of light soils occur, yet by much
the greater portion is of a strong heavy staple, which
is applied to the culture of beans and wheat, while in a
state of open common; but when enclosed is generally
laid down to permanent grass'. the lighter enclosed
lands are kept more in tillage. The land varies considerably
in nature and quality, but seldom changes
abruptly: the general excellency of the Northamptonshire
soils seems owing partly to their sufficient depth,
and partly to the looseness and porous nature of the
stony substratum. They may be classed as follows;
first, the black, or dark-coloured soils, being generally
a deep strong loam, on a strong gravelly or clay-loam
substratum: of these the county has a greater proportion
than of any other; as they extend over the whole
of the western part of it, from Market-Harborough, on
the Leicestershire border, to its most southern extremity,
and include the whole of its rich upland feeding-pastures,
and a part of its cultivated common fields and enclosures.
Daventry field and its neighbourhood consist, however,
generally of brownish or greyish loam,  on a rubble
stone bottom: a considerable tract north and east of this
has also a similar soil, resting on a clay, marl, or sandy
bottom, but sometimes on a stony substratum. Second,
the red land, as it is called, which includes the
brown and snuff-coloured loams, is tolerably extensive,
comprising a portion of the common fields, as well as
enclosures, and extends over a large tract of country,
to the north-west of Northampton, and through various
other parts of the county, in divers shades of colour and
consistence. Third, the white or grey loams, which are
inferior in fertility to the above; they are found to the
south of  the Nen, from which river, in an extensive
district lying south'of Northampton, they extend to the
borders of Buckinghamshire. Fourth, the miscellaneous
upland district, including the light thin soils near Stam
ford, and those dispersed in other parts of the county,
not classing with the above descriptions, such as the
sands of Harlestone, &c.: this, with some exceptions,
includes the whole north-eastern portion of the county,
beyond Rothwell, Kettering, and Wellingborough. Fifth
the soil of the natural meadows and pasture-lands of
the vales, and of the fen land north of Peterborough,
consisting of the decomposed matter of decayed grasses
and aquatic vegetables, combined with the sediment of
the streams, which, being drained and consolidated,
forms the basis of meadow soil. The red soils are of the
lightest quality, the grey or black soils more tenacious;
the latter having less of sand, and more of calcareous
earth in their composition, with a loose substratum
of a kind of stone, generally either half or wholly calcareous.
Of the superficies of the county about one hundred
and fifty thousand acres are in common fields, by much
the greater part being under tillage; and there are one
hundred and fifty thousand acres of modern enclosures,
in alternate grass and tillage, besides occasional, though
rare, instances of tillage in the ancient enclosures. On
the arable land of the open fields the following course
of crops is practised; first year, fallow or turnips; second,
wheat and some barley; and third, beans, with
a few acres of oats, and occasionally a few peas, vetches,
or a little barley. The newly-enclosed lands are cropped
thus; first year, fallow or turnips; second, wheat,
or barley after the turnips; third, beans or peas; fourth,
barley, with red clover; fifth and sixth, clover; seventh,
part beans, and part oats. Wheat is cultivated in large
quantities in both the open fields and the enclosures,
on the red friable soils, and is supposed annually, to occupy
sixty thousand acres, the general average produce
being estimated at twenty-five and one-third bushels
per acre. About thirty-three thousand acres are annually
sown with barley, the average produce being thirtyone
bushels per acre; this is the favourite crop on the
red and light sand soils. Oats are grown on twentyfour
thousand acres annually, the average produce per
acre being forty-two bushels, and the quantity thus
raised is not only sufficient to supply the consumption of
this county, but also contributes to meet the demands
of the neighbouring counties of Leicester, Warwick,
Buckingham, Hertford, and Bedford. Rye is cultivated
to a considerable extent, particularly in the vicinity of
Northampton, and upon the light lands in other quarters;
it occupies about three thousand acres, which
produce, on an average, thirty-two bushels each: this
grain is also frequently sown immediately after harvest,
to form spring food for sheep. The quantity of beans
cultivated is very considerable, as they annually occupy
an extent of thirty thousand acres: the average is
twenty-one and two-thirds bushels per acre, and notwithstanding
the great consumption within the county,
by horses employed on the thoroughfares to London, a
considerable surplus remains to be exported to other
districts. Peas are grown in a much less quantity than
beans; vetches are extensively cultivated in most parts
of the county, and considerable quantities are kept for
seed: these two crops annually occupy about fifteen
thousand acres, and green crops thirty thousand acres,
while thirty thousand more remain in fallow. Turnips
are cultivated, in considerable quantities, upon all the red
light soils; the Swedish turnip is grown in most parts
of the county. Rape or cole-seed is cultivated, but not
generally; cabbages are grown in the field in several
parts of the county; clover is not only sown for hay
and pasture, but much is also kept for seed. Sainfoin
is cultivated on the soils that have a stony substratum.
Hemp is grown to a considerable extent in the fenny
district on the borders of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire;
of flax there is but very little. Lentils are produced
on the poor common fields of Easton and Collyweston,
near Stamford. Woad is cultivated and prepared
for the dyers by persons whose sole occupation it
is 5 the crop is gathered three times during each season.
Onions are grown about Northampton, to a great extent
ana in high perfection; the same neighbourhood is also
famous for carrots.
The grass land, including not only all pleasure
grounds, but also clover and other artificial and temporary
grasses, is computed to amount to three hundred
and seventy-five thousand acres. The extent of
meadow land is not less than forty thousand acres
the most considerable tract being that on both sides of
the river Nen, which, commencing in different branches
many miles above Northampton, extends down to
Peterborough, and, in consequence of its sinuousness,
is upwards of sixty miles in length. The meadow
land is generally rich, owing to the frequent
inundations; but it frequently sustains great damage
from floods, particularly upon mowing-grass. The
upland pasture occupies a much greater extent, the
strong deep loams having been foxind naturally' disposed
to turf, and affording herbage on which cattle and
sheep fatten with great rapidity. About one-half of the
enclosed land has long been laid down, and principally
occupied as grazing or dairy farms. Prom Northampton
westward, a great quantity of cheese is made, and in
that part of the county south of the Coventry and London
road are numerous dairies, the produce of which
is chiefly butter: some of the fresh butter from this
-county is sold in London as " Epping butter." In the
parishes of Grafton-Regis, Yardley-Gobion,Potters-Pury,
and a large district in that neighbourhood, there are
considerable dairies, the chief produce of which is butter
for the London market, as also about Charwelton and
between Daventry and Banbury, from which much
butter and pork is sent to London: dairies are also
kept in several other districts. As manure, lime is extensively
used; marl, but little 3 woollen rags are employed
to a considerable extent j and, besides what are
procured in the county, considerable quantities are
purchased in Leicestershire and other neighbouring
counties.
Numerous sheep and cattle are fattened on the pastures;
of the sheep many are bred within the county,
and the rest brought from other districts. Most .of
the cattle are brought from other parts of. the island:
those bred in the county are almost wholly an improved
variety of the long-horned breed: of the sorts
brought in from distant places, the short-horned Holderness
cows, which are supplied from Yorkshire, are
generally preferred for the dairy, particularly in the
south-western part of the county, in consequence of the
greater quantity of milk which they afford: there are,
however, numerous dairies of the long-horned breed.
The. calves are seldom reared, being sold when a few
days old to dealers, who carry them to the markets of
Buckinghamshire and other counties, where they are
purchased by dairy-farmers from Essex, to be fattened
for the London market. The oxen fattened, by far the
greater part of which are brought from distant parts of
the kingdom, include almost all sorts; they are principally
fattened at grass, and great numbers are sold
from the pastures, but some are [kept through the
winter; those chiefly in the graziers' hands are of the
long-horned Hereford, and of the Devon, Scotch, and
Welch breeds, with a few of a mixed kind bred in the
county, and others of a particularly small kind from
Monmouthshire, called Pontypools, from the fair at
which they are generally purchased; cattle from Staffordshirej
Shropshire, and Ireland are also introduced:
a great many half-fed cattle are brought from Staffordshire
and other counties, early in the spring, to be fat
tened in the early feeding-pastures of this county. A
few black cattle are grazed in the open field lordships:
very few oxen are worked. It is computed that, besides
what are consumed in the county, or sold in the neighbouring
districts, fifteen thousand head of fat cattle are
annually sent to London from Northamptonshire. The
sheep of the common fields are considered the original
breed of the county, but are much inferior to those or
the ancient pastures, having longer legs, smaller and
less compact bodies, and sometimes horns, and well
adapted for folding, which is constantly practised with
them: their wool is of a combing quality. A great
portion of the county, particularly the middle and
northern tracts, has an improved breed, which is a cross
between the old stock and the new. Leicester sheep,
being extremely handsome, well-made, and much disposed
to fatten; they will also thrive on comparatively
bare pastures; the wool is less in quantity, but of better
quality than that of the old breed; their pelts are lighter j
and they are considered altogether much more profitable,
and are ready for the butcher at an earlier age;
the weight of the full-grown wether varies from
twenty-five to forty pounds per quarter. London is
annually supplied with about one hundred thousand
sheep and lambs from this county. The beef and mutton
produced annually are supposed to be nearly equal in
weight, amounting each to about twenty-seven millions of
pounds; the number of sheep is estimated at two hundred
and fifty thousand, that of cattle at about thirtythree
thousand seven hundred and fifty. The most
approved hogs are a cross between the Berkshire and
Tonquin breeds; they have fine bones, thin hides, thick
bodies, short legs, and a disposition to fatten rapidly.
The horses bred in the county are chiefly for draught
or other purposes of husbandry; they are mostly of the
strong black breed; but the number being insufficient
for its supply, many are brought from the counties
of Derby, Lincoln, and York, generally when about two
or three years old: the number kept is estimated at
twenty thousand.
Northamptonshire does not abound in fruit trees,
though there are a few productive orchards in different
parts of it. There is much excellent garden-:
ground around Northampton, besides some very good
orchards of different kinds of fruit for domestic use.
A considerable portion of the county, supposed to be
about one-fourth, remains unenclosed; yet the waste
lands are of comparatively trifling extent. Some of
the hilly land near Daventry is confined to sheep-walks,
and of the same description are, the common of Stoke-
Bruerne, and a few others; the whole amount of unproductive
land, with the exception of. Peterborough fen,
being less than one thousand acres. The great Peterborough
fen is a perfectly level tract, originally formed,
like the adjoining fen-lands of the counties of Cambridge
and Lincoln, by the deposits of the neighbouring
rivers Ouse, Nen, and Welland, containing between six
and seven thousand acres, and having a fine soil susceptible
of the highest cultivation. It is situated between
Peterborough and Crowland, forming the north-eastern
extremity of the county, and is subject to the depasturage
of the cattle, horses, and sheep of the thirty-two
parishes and townships which are comprised in the
soke of Peterborough; the right of common, however,
is considered by its possessors to be of very little value,
the drainage of this extensive tract being in a very imperfect
state. The woodlands are very extensive; so
much so, when the excellence of their soil is considered,
as to form objects of considerable national importance;
they may be arranged into the four distinct classes of
forests, chases, purlieu woods, and woods and plantations
on freehold property. The forests are held by the same
tenure as the other crown lands; the most considerable
is that of Rockingham, situated towards the north-west
ride of the county. This was anciently one of the
largest forests in the kingdom, extending for about thirty
miles in length, from Northampton to Stamford, and
about eight in breadth, from the river Nen to the
Welland and the Maidwell: it now reaches from the
vicinity of Wansford, on the great north road, towards
Weldon and Rockingham, and still further to the southwest,
forming an almost continued chain of woodland
for a distance of nearly twenty miles; its boundaries
are not very exactly defined, but it is supposed to contain
from eight to ten thousand acres. It consists of
three divisions, called the bailiwicks of Rockingham,
Brigstock, and Clive or Cliffe, each of which is divided
into several walks; the three bailiwicks were formerly
under the superintendence of one warden, or masterforester;
but that oifice was abolished by Charles I., who
appointed a master-forester to each, since which period
the bailiwicks have been wholly distinct, with respect to
their government and management. The election of
verderers is still continued, although, since the abolition
of the office of warden, and the discontinuance of the
forest courts, their office has been little more than
nominal. The next in extent isWhittlebury, or Whittlewood
Forest, which reaches along the southern border
of the county to the south of Towcester, for a distance
of upwards of eleven miles, and contains about seven
thousand acres. This forest, which is part of the
honour of Grafton, is under the superintendence of a
lord-warden, a lieutenant or deputy warden, two verderers,
a woodward, a purlieu-ranger, five keepers, and six
page-keepers; the Duke of Grafton is hereditary lordwarden;
the number of deer kept in the forest is
about eighteen hundred, of all sorts. If to these two be
added the remaining one, Salcey Forest, between Northampton
and Newport-Pagnell, to the south of the road,
the whole will amount to, about twenty thousand acres.
The forest of Salcey was likewise made part of the
honour of Grafton, by act of parliament, in the 33d of
Henry VIII., and, by a grant in reversion made in the
25th of Charles II., the Duke of Grafton has now the
property of the underwood in the several coppices.
This forest is under the governm'ent of a warden, a
lieutenant, or deputy-warden, two verderers, a woodward,
three yeomen-keepers of the three walks into
which it is divided, and one page-keeper: no courts
are now held for the forest. The chases of Geddington
and Yardley are of considerable extent; the
former having been anciently a part of the forest of
Rockingham, and the latter of that of Salcey: the
purlieu woods are numerous, and cover large breadths
of land; and these, together with the extensive woods
and plantations that abound on freehold property,
amount to twenty thousand acres more.
The whole of what are now considered forest woods
are subject to the depasturing of deer, and, at a stated
time of the year, to that also of the cattle belonging to
the inhabitants of the neighbouring townships, who claim
commonage. The underwood in the forests and chases
chiefly consists of black and white thorn, ash, sallow,
maple, and a small proportion of hazel: it is generally
cut at from twelve to eighteen years' growth; and the
different woods are divided into as many parts, or sales,
as the number of years' growth of. the underwood may
amount to, so that a regular rotation in cutting takes
place every year: those parts which had been last cut,
the. proprietors of the underwood are empowered, by
the ancient laws and customs of the forests, to fence in
for four years against the deer, and tor seven years
against the cattle. A considerable portion is made into
hurdles for folding sheep; the remainder is chiefly
used as fuel. The principal trees are oak, ash, elm,
and poplar: besides which are considerable quantities
of other white wood, as beech, chesnut, lime, &c. A tail
of oak timber is generally made in that part, or sale,
in which the underwood has been last cut. In some
parts of Whittlebury Forest the timber is not very thick
upon the ground, but in most parts the spaces which
are thus left are occupied by thick masses of underwood;
this part of the produce belongs, by a grant of
the crown in the time of Charles II., to the Duke of
Grafton and his heirs male for ever, with the right of
fencing out the deer and all commonable cattle during
nine years after cutting; the timber is reserved for the
crown; the number of parishes having right of common
for such cattle and horses as they can support
through the winter is fourteen. Salcey Forest contains
some large oaks, but they are thin upon the
ground. Geddington Chase is supposed to contain
about fourteen thousand acres, of which about twelve
thousand are woodland, the remainder consisting of
lawns, ridings, and vistas: it once formed part of Kockingham
Forest, but permission was given by the crown
to the ancestors of the Montagu family tp disafforest
it, and convert it to its present state: deer are kept in
it, and it is subject to a commonage, from May-day to
about Martinmas, for the adjoining townships: it is in
every respect managed like the forest-woods in fencing
out the deer and cattle from the recently felled portions;
it also contains a valuable stock of large oak
timber. Yardley Chase once formed part of Salcey Forest,
but has likewise been disafforested. Purlieu woods
are those which are situated immediately in the vicinity
of the forests, and which have at some time formed
part of it: but the respective owners having obtained
grants and permissions from the crown to disafforest
them, and appropriate them to their own use, they are
not now subject to any of the laws and regulations that
regard the forest-woods. From the extensive woods above
enumerated a considerable supply is procured for the
navy. The common fuel is wood and coal: of the former
the county itself produces abundance; and though of
coal it used to have but a scanty supply, which was obtained
at a very dear rate, yet great quantities are now
brought into it from the Staffordshire collieries, by
means .of the Grand Junction canal: some are also
brought up the river Nen from the north. Several societies
have been formed for the promotion of improvements
in agriculture, one of which holds its meetings at
Wellingborough, another at Lamport, and a third at
Peterborough.
The mineral productions include neither coal nor
any of the metals; but limestone in great plenty is
found in almost every part of the county, and is used
in some instances to form enclosures, but is more extensively
burned into lime, or used in the making and
repairing of roads. Freestone for building is raised
at Brackley, at Kingsthorpe, near Northampton, and at
various other places; it is often of a calcareous nature.
A whitish kind of slate, used for roofing, is dug in considerable
quantities at Collyweston, near Stamford} the
laminae are generally of a good size, but rather thick
and heavy; most of the buildings in that and the neighbouring
townships are covered with it: it is customary
to.raise large blocks of it in the autumn, which being
placed in a position different from what they had in the
quarry, the rain insinuates itself between the layers
and, in frosty weather, the water expanding, splits the
block into plates of a proper thickness. Good clay
for making bricks and tiles is found in different parts of
the county.
The principal articles of manufacture are shoes
bone-lace, and woollen stuffs, the latter confined chiefly
to moreens, tammies, and calimancoes. In Northampton,
Wellingborough, and some other towns,
many persons are employed in making shoes for the
supply of the army and navy, and the shops in London,
and some for exportation to different foreign
countries, about seven or eight thousand pair being
manufactured weekly; the leather is purchased partly
in this and the neighbouring counties, but is obtained
chiefly from. the London market. In Wellingborough
and its neighbourhood, and towards the south-western
corner of the county, lace-making affords employment
to a great proportion of the population, chiefly young
women and boys. The manufacture of silk stockings
is carried on at Towcester and at Kettering, and at
Towcester wool-stapling constitutes the principal branch
of trade: the material is, in the first instance, purchased
of the growers, or farmers, in the neighbourhood, and,
after having undergone a very minute assortment, the
finest is sent into Yorkshire, for the .clothiers, or into
Leicestershire for the hosiers, and the other qualities disposed
of to other markets, while some of the longest staple
only is reserved to be worked at home. At Daventry
there is a considerable manufactory for whips. The
produce of the soil exported from the county consists of
wheat, wheat-flour, oats, beans, timber, oak-bark, fat
cattle and sheep, wool, butter, and cheese: the manufactured
exports are chiefly shoes, lace, and woollen stuffs,
which are sent to London, and various other parts of
Great Britain; also to Ireland, America, and the West
Indies; the stuffs are sold to the London and Yorkshire
markets, to persons who dress and dye them.
The imports are chiefly lean cattle, store sheep, coal,
iron, deals, and leather.
All the principal rivers of the county rise within its
limits; they are the Nene, the Welland, the Ouse, the
Charwell, the Avon, and the Learn. The Nene is the
most considerable; it takes its rise near Catesby and
Hellidon, in the hundred of Fawsley, near the borders
of Warwickshire, and being quickly joined by a number
of other small streams in the vicinity of Daventry, it
runs directly eastward to Northampton, where it becomes
navigable; from that town its course is for the
most part in a north-easterly direction, which it pursues
through the county for nearly the whole length
of its south-eastern side, and at a short distance from
its -borders, passing the towns of Wellingborough,
Thrapstone, Oundle, and Peterborough: at the distance
of a few miles above Wansford bridge, however,
it begins to form the southern boundary of the county,
which it separates from Huntingdonshire, and so continues
as far as the last-mentioned town, where it
wholly quits it. The Welland rises near Hothorpe m
the hundred of Rothwell, and immediately becoming
the northern boundary of the county, winds by Rockmgham
and Stamford, at which latter place it becomes navigable,
and finally quits it at its north-eastern extremity.
The-Ouse has its rise in a spring, called Ousewell,
near Brackley, in the hundred of King's Sutton, in
the southernmost part of the county, which it soon
quits; but, after taking a circuitous course through a
part of Buckinghamshire, it touches upon it again at
Stony-Stratford, soon however diverging from it towards
Newport-Pagnell. The Charwell, rising near the source
of the Nene, and running southwards through a small
portion of Oxfordshire, afterwards forms the boundary
between that county and Northamptonshire for a few
miles, finally quitting it at its south"western extremity, in
its course to the Thames. The Avon, rising on the borders
of this county and Leicestershire, and taking a westerly
course, forms the boundary line between them for the
distance of a few miles,, and then enters the county of
Warwick. The Learn, rising near the sources of the
Nene and the Charwell, almost immediately enters Warwickshire.
The county abounds, almost in every part
of it, with fine springs and numerous smaller streams;
and derives considerable benefit from its canal navigation,
more especially in the conveyance of coal.
The Oxford canal runs for a considerable distance
along its western confines, through a small projecting
portion of which it passes, in the vicinity of Barby
and Braunston, and through another at its southwestern
extremity, near the river Charwell. The
Grand Junction canal commences, at the Oxford canal,
at Braunston, and is continued, after having passed
through a tunnel about a mile in length, in a devious
south-easterly course, to Weedon, where, having
crossed the great London road, it is carried over a
valley, by means of an embankment of earth nearly
half a mile in length and about thirty feet high, under
which pass one small river and two carriage roads:
it soon after again. crosses the London road, and is
continued in a south-easterly direction by Lower Heyford,
Bugbrooke, Gayton, Blisworth (where it passes
under another tunnel), Stoke-Bruerne, Grafton-Regis,
and Cosgrove, at which latter place it quits the
county for Buckinghamshire: it is navigable for barges
of sixty tons' burden. It was intended to make a collateral
cut from this canal at Gayton to the river Nene,
at Northampton; but this communication has been
effected by means of a railway. The only other artificial
navigation is that of the Union canal, so called
because .it was designed to unite the navigation of the
Trent and Soar, with that, of the Grand Junction canal
and the Nene; commencing from the navigable channel
of the river Soar above Leicester, it was intended to
enter this county near Market-Harborough, aiid be continued
to Northampton, where it was to communicate
with the Nene, and the Grand Junction canal.
The road from London to Holyhead, through Buckingham
and Shrewsbury, or through Birmingham, enters
this county from Mixbury in Oxfordshire, and passing
through Barley-Mow, Croughton, and Aynho, re-enters
the latter county. The .road from London to Holyhead,
-through Chester, enters from Stony-Stratford in Buckinghamshire,
passes through Towcester, Daventry, and
Braunstpn, and quits for Willoughby in Warwickshire;
this is also the road from London to Warring-
ton, Lancaster, and Carlisle. The road from London to
Manchester and Preston, through Derby, enters from
Stoke - Goldington in Buckinghamshire, and passing
through Horton, Northampton, Kingsthorpe, Brixworth,
and Kelniarsh, quits the county for Market-Harborough
in Leicestershire; this is also the road from London to
Sheffield, Settle, Kirkby - Lonsdale, and Whitehaven,
through Derby. The road from London to Halifax and
Clitheroe, through Bedford, Nottingham, and Rotherham,
enters the county from Bletsoe in Bedfordshire, and passing
through Higham-Ferrers, Kettering, and Rockingham,
quits it for Uppingham in Rutlandshire. The road from
London to Manchester and Clitheroe, through Leek,
branches from the former Manchester road at Northampton,
and passing through Welford, quits the county
for Kegworth in Leicestershire. The road from London
to Scarborough, through Huntingdon and Lincoln,
enters from Yaxley in Huntingdonshire, and passes
through Peterborough and Glinton to Market-Deeping
in Lincolnshire. The great mail-roads are for the most
part level, wide, and good; some of the collateral turnpike-
roads are likewise kept in good repair; but the
cross roads are much neglected. Few counties, however,
possess a greater number of handsome, well-built stone
bridges; not only the larger streams, but every brook
and rivulet being crossed by a stone arch.
Of the four consular or military ways made by the
Romans in Britain, two are still visible in different parts
of this county. The Watling-street, having crossed the
Ouse, enters Northamptonshire at Old Stratford, and
running towards its western border, passes the Lesser
Avon at Dow bridge, and proceeds into Leicestershire;
its course may very easily be traced. The Ermin-street
enters the county from Cambridgeshire at Castor, on
the eastern side, and subsequently divides into two
branches, which direct their courses into Lincolnshire
by two different points on the Welland. Most of the
Roman fortresses and garrisons were erected either
upon these ways or in their vicinity. Stations and forts
are also thought to have been erected on the southern
banks of the Nene, to guard the passages and fords, and
prevent the inroads of the Britons inhabiting the woods
on the other side, which extended from the Nene to the
Welland. On the course of the Watling-street there
are supposed to have been three principal stations
within the limits of this county, viz. Lactodorum, which
is placed at Towcester; Benaventa, or Bennavennum,
which has been variously placed, at Weedon-Beck, at
Castle-Dykes, and near Daventry; which latter supposition
seems to be the most probable; and Tripontium,
usually placed at Lilbourn, though Horsley supposes it
to have been at Rugby in Warwickshire. Parts of the
Ermin-street are still lofty and conspicuous between
Castor and Upton, and again in the parish of Barnack;
the only station in the county on this line was Durobrivce,
at or near Castor. Remains of tesselated pavements,
coins, &c., have been found in various places,
especially at Weldon, and at Cotterstock near Oundle.
Besides the intrenchments already mentioned as either
decidedly Roman, or supposed to be such, there are
several other ancient encampments of considerable magnitude,
such as Arbury Banks, Raynsbury Camp, and
" the Boroughs," at Guilsborough.
Of ancient church architecture this county affords
numerous interesting specimens. Peterborough cathedral
and the contiguous buildings display some fine and
varied examples, from the early Norman down to the
latest English. St. Sepulchre's church, at Northampton,
is one of the remaining few built by the Templars on
the model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem; St.
Peter's, in the same town, and the churches of Castor,
Barnack, Earls-Barton, Barnwell,Twywell, and Spratton,
also furnish specimens of the Anglo-Saxon or the early
Norman style. Among large churches displaying fine
examples of enriched and florid architecture may be
enumerated those of Fotheringhay, Oundle, Lowick,
Kettering, Higham-Ferrers, Wellingborough, and Finedon.
The elegant crosses at Geddington and near Northampton
are two of the only three now remaining of
the monuments erected by Edward I. to the memory
of his queen, Eleanor. In sepulchral monuments of
marble, brass, &c.,, Northamptonshire is considered to
be richer than any part of the kingdom, of equal or
smaller extent, Middlesex alone excepted; which circumstance
seems to be in some degree accounted for by
the number of noble families that have been settled
here from an early period. The number of religious
houses of all denominations, including colleges, hospitals,
&c., was about fifty-five; the remains of monastic
buildings are inconsiderable, excepting Peterborough
cathedral, which was the conventual church of the
ancient abbey of Medeshamsted, or Peterborough; to
which may be added the anciently collegiate churches
of Fotheringhay, Higham-Ferrers, and Irthlingborough.
Of ancient mansion-houses the county affords a few
interesting specimens, particularly in those of Burleigh,
Kirby, Castle-Ashby, Fawsley, Rushton, and
Drayton. Burleigh House, the seat of the Marquis of
Exeter, is the finest among the great number of modern
seats which adorn this highly ornamented county;
amongst which Althorp, the property and residence of
Earl Spencer, is, also one of the most distinguished.
There are mineral springs at Astrop, Northampton, and
Wellingborough; and at Rothwell, a petrifying well and
a bone well.