134-643: Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire , England, in the civil parish of Brington , which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin church is the parish church. The village’s name means 'Farm/settlement connected with Bryni'. In 1508, John Spencer from Wormleighton in Warwickshire purchased the estate of Althorp outside Great Brington with its moated house and several hundred acres of farmland. He had grazed sheep here from
268-694: A Mr Harrison, the superintendent of works. With the passing of the Land Drainage Act 1930 , the Welland Catchment Board was created. They had spent £91,537 on the outfall by 1937. Towards the end of the Second World War , E. G. Taverner, the chief engineer for the drainage board, devised a plan to relieve flooding in Spalding by creating a bypass channel, and building the Greatford Cut to divert
402-527: A area known as the 'Boston Deeps' at Tabs Head, where it also meets the mouth of The Haven close to the RSPB nature reserve at Frampton Marsh . Download coordinates as: The origin of the name for the river is unknown but appears to be Pre-English. In Old English the form was Weolud and may have changed to the Middle English form due to folk-etymology or Scandinavian influence. The Welland ( Weolud )
536-548: A bank, while the New River , a drainage channel to the south and east of it, is bounded by another bank. The land between the channels forms Crowland High Wash, Crowland Fodder Lots and Cowbit Wash. The southern bank is variously named Corporation Bank, Wash Bank and Barrier Bank. These washlands were designed to be flooded in extremis , although the building of the Coronation flood relief channel has made this purpose obsolete. Beyond
670-558: A causeway to the south, carries the Welham to Weston by Welland road over the river, while a four-arched bridge dating from the early nineteenth century carries the Ashley to Medbourne road. Macmillan Way , a long-distance footpath, crosses on its way from Abbotsbury in Dorset to Boston, Lincolnshire . Medbourne Brook joins from the north, after which the river approaches a dismantled railway and
804-523: A comprehensive system of state-funded secondary schools. From May 2021 compulsory education in the county is administered by North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council. The county is home to private schools Oundle , Quinton House School , Wellingborough School , Spratton Hall School , Northampton High School . The county's music and performing arts trust provides peripatetic music teaching to schools. It also supports 15 local Saturday morning music and performing arts centres around
938-490: A continental people in the form of the Hallstatt culture , and over the next century a series of hill-forts were constructed at Arbury Camp, Rainsborough camp, Borough Hill , Castle Dykes, Guilsborough , Irthlingborough , and most notably of all, Hunsbury Hill . There are two more possible hill-forts at Arbury Hill ( Badby ) and Thenford . In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of
1072-794: A few weeks sleeping in gardens next to the river in Deeping St James. The seal was spotted further downstream in Spalding as it eventually made its way back to the sea. On the south bank of the river below Fosdyke bridge, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust have established Moulton Marsh nature reserve, on a strip of land where soil was excavated to raise the banks in 1981. Habitat is provided by some broad-leafed woodland, covering 15 acres (6.1 ha), several salt-water lagoons and tidal scrapes, covering 35 acres (14 ha), and 40 acres (16 ha) of saltmarsh. A variety of birds can be seen, including little grebe and water rail , which spend
1206-667: A group of adventurers led by the Earl of Bedford were granted permission to drain Deeping Fen, South Fen and Crowland. The work included making the Welland deeper and wider from Deeping St James to its outfall beyond Spalding, and the construction of side drains. These included a drain running from Pode Hole to below Spalding, which is still known as Vernatt's Drain, after one of the adventurers called Sir Philibert Vernatti . Although declared completed in 1637, efficient drainage would have to wait until
1340-706: A licence is required to use it. From there to the Wash, it was managed by the Port of Fosdyke Authority, but since they went into administration, the Environment Agency have also managed the section from Fosdyke Bridge to below the Holbeach River. In its upper reaches the river supports a wild brown trout population and the occasional grayling. Chub and perch dominate the middle reaches around Stamford, with pike, perch, zander, roach, bream, rudd, ruffe, gudgeon and eels inhabiting
1474-514: A number of small industrial centres which specialise in engineering and food processing. Much of Northamptonshire's countryside appears to have remained somewhat intractable as regards early human occupation, resulting in an apparently sparse population and relatively few finds from the Palaeolithic , Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. In about 500 BC the Iron Age was introduced into the area by
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#17330847592551608-687: A river system with a catchment area of 609 square miles (1,580 km ). Within this area, 257 miles (414 km) of waterway are designated as "main river", and are therefore managed for flood control by the Environment Agency under the River Welland Catchment Flood Management Plan (CFMP). Of this total, the 14 miles (23 km) below Spalding are tidal, and have sea walls to protect the adjacent land from flooding, while 56 miles (90 km) are fresh water, but run through low-lying land, and are therefore embanked. Within
1742-507: A scheme would only cost £13,000, and the work went on for many years. The effects of the embankments had resulted in the bed of the river below Fosdyke being around 7 feet (2.1 m) lower by 1845. In 1867, the River Welland Outfall Act enabled the trustees to raise money to repair the walls where the tide had washed away some of the fill behind the fascines. A dredger was employed between 1889 and 1890, which had been invented by
1876-463: A shorter 5-mile (8 km) cut from Spalding to Fosdyke. They requested help from Grundy, who proposed a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) cut to Fosdyke, and that the outfall of Vernatt's drain should be moved 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream. Improvements to the drain were carried out under an act of Parliament, the Fen Drainage Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3 . c. 16) obtained in 1774, and another act of Parliament,
2010-409: A year, as well as a minor injury unit to serve Eastern Northamptonshire. This was opened to relieve pressure off Kettering General Hospital, and has also replaced the dated Rushden Memorial Clinic which provided at the time about 8,000 appointments a year, when open. In June 2008, Anglian Water found traces of Cryptosporidium in water supplies of Northamptonshire. The local reservoir at Pitsford
2144-557: Is Arbury Hill southwest of Daventry , at 225 m (738 ft). There are Iron Age and Roman remains in the county, and in the seventh century it was settled by the Angles and Saxons , becoming part of Mercia . The county likely has its origin in the Danelaw as the area controlled from Northampton, which was one of the Five Boroughs . In the later Middle Ages and Early Modern Period
2278-488: Is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire , Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire , Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to the south and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement and the county town . The county has an area of 2,364 km (913 sq mi) and a population of 747,622. The latter
2412-687: Is a landlocked county in the southern part of the East Midlands , sometimes known as the South Midlands . The county contains the watershed between the River Severn and The Wash , and several important rivers have their sources in the north-west of the county, including the River Nene , which flows north-eastwards to The Wash, and the Warwickshire Avon , which flows south-west to the Severn. In 1830, it
2546-402: Is concentrated in the centre of the county, which contains the county's largest towns: Northampton (249,093), Corby (75,571), Kettering (63,150), and Wellingborough (56,564). The northeast and southwest are rural. The county contains two local government districts , North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire , which are both unitary authority areas . The historic county included
2680-427: Is due to have tens of thousands additional homes built between 2010 and 2020. In North Northamptonshire (Boroughs of Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants), over 52,000 homes are planned or newly built and 47,000 new jobs are also planned. In West Northamptonshire (boroughs of Northampton, Daventry and South Northants), over 48,000 homes are planned or newly built and 37,000 new jobs are planned. To oversee
2814-523: Is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 921 AD. Richard de Rulos, who was Lord of Deeping Fen during the reign of William the Conqueror erected a strong embankment to prevent flooding of the meadows adjoining the river, which then became fertile fields and a pleasure garden. During the reign of Henry III (1207–1272), complaints were made that of the two channels below Crowland,
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#17330847592552948-703: Is joined by the Stoke Albany Brook, approaching from the south. The river remains on the south side of the railway, while the county border follows a meandering course to the north of it, but rejoins the river near the Bringhurst to Cottingham road. The bridge over the river is plain, but to the north of it is an eighteenth-century causeway, some 110 yards (100 m) long, which is made of stone and pierced by seven large arches and numerous smaller arches for drainage pipes. The causeway has two large semi-circular passing places on its western side. The Welland passes to
3082-627: Is just over the border in Bedfordshire but has a Northamptonshire postcode. A study commissioned by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd (NEL) reported that Northamptonshire's motorsport sites attract more than 2.1 million visitors per year who spend a total of more than £131 million within the county. Northamptonshire forms part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area which also includes Milton Keynes , Aylesbury Vale and Bedfordshire . This area has been identified as an area which
3216-569: Is made of iron with stone piers, and was erected by Stamford Town Council in July 1881, to replace an earlier bridge which was washed away in a flood. Beyond Stamford, the river passes the site and ruins of the Benedictine St Leonard's Priory . Hudd's Mill marks the point at which the Stamford Canal left the river. The present mill building dates from 1751 and 1771. The River Gwash , which
3350-522: Is the most populous civil parish in England, and (prior to 2021) was the most populous urban district in England not to be administered as a unitary authority (even though several smaller districts are unitary). During the 1990s local government reform , Northampton Borough Council petitioned strongly for unitary status, which led to fractured relations with the County Council. The Soke of Peterborough
3484-416: Is within the historic county of Northamptonshire, although it had had a separate county council since 1889 and separate courts of quarter sessions before then. The city of Peterborough has been a unitary authority since 1998, but it forms part of Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes . In early 2018, Northamptonshire County Council was declared technically insolvent and would be able to provide only
3618-514: The A361 between Kilsby and Banbury (Oxon) and all B, C and unclassified roads. Since 2009, these highways have been managed on behalf of the county council by MGWSP, a joint venture between May Gurney and WSP. River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some 65 miles (105 km) long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash . The river rises in
3752-716: The Danelaw – with Watling Street serving as the boundary – until being recaptured by the English under the Wessex king Edward the Elder , son of Alfred the Great , in 917. Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York , who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942. Consequently, it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town-names and settlements. The county
3886-513: The Earl of Manchester and others 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of land in return for the drainage works. They were also obliged to maintain the banks of the river, to ensure that both the Welland and the Glen were kept clean and free-flowing, and to ensure that no tolls were charged for navigation on any part of the river below East Deeping. The inadequacy of the outfall and a spate of bad weather stopped them from completing their task. They tried renting out
4020-646: The Labour Party and two from the Conservative Party . Several of the constituencies have been marginal in the past, including the Northampton seats, Wellingborough, Kettering, and Corby, which were all Labour seats before 2005. In the 2016 EU referendum, all of the Northamptonshire districts voted to Leave, most by a significant margin. From 1993 until 2005, Northamptonshire County Council, for which each of
4154-602: The Lincoln Drainage, etc. Act 1794 ( 34 Geo. 3 . c. 102), was obtained in 1794 to sanction the Wyberton cut, although the work was not carried out, and Grundy's cut was built under a new act of Parliament of 1801. Several prominent civil engineer considered the problems of Deeping Fen and the river outfall at the end of the 1700s. Two reports were produced, one by George Maxwell, and the second by Edward Hare, who had been assisted by William Jessop and John Rennie . They formed
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4288-733: The Nene Valley near Raunds . A large fort was built at Longthorpe . After the Romans left, the area eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia , and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda . From about 889 the area was conquered by the Danes (as at one point almost all of England was, except for Athelney marsh in Somerset ) and became part of
4422-627: The Soke of Peterborough . The county is characterised by low, undulating hills, particularly to the west. They are the source of several rivers, including the Avon and Welland , which form much of the northern border; the Cherwell ; and the Great Ouse . The River Nene is the principal river within the county, having its source in the southwest and flowing northeast past Northampton and Wellingborough. The highest point
4556-563: The South Midlands has been described as " Motorsport Valley ... a global hub" for the motor sport industry. The Mercedes-AMG and Aston Martin Formula One teams have their bases at Brackley and Silverstone respectively, while Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines and, formerly, Cosworth , are also in the county at Brixworth and Northampton respectively. International motor racing takes place at Silverstone Circuit and, formerly, Rockingham Motor Speedway ; Santa Pod Raceway
4690-593: The Spencer family where Diana, Princess of Wales grew up. Many generations of the Spencer family are buried at Great Brington church, including Diana's father the 8th Earl Spencer , who died in 1992. The death of Diana had an effect on the village – the pub was renamed from The Fox and Hounds to the Althorp Coaching Inn and the post office gained currency exchange facilities following the large increase in tourism to
4824-713: The Wars of the Roses , the Battle of Northampton took place and King Henry VI was captured. The now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots , before her execution. During the English Civil War , Northamptonshire strongly supported the Parliamentarian cause, and the Royalist forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 in the north of
4958-405: The 1480s. In 1508, impressed by the quality of the land, he eventually bought it and rebuilt the house. In 1511 he made further purchases to acquire much of the surrounding countryside, including the villages of Little Brington and Great Brington as well their parish church of St Mary the Virgin , from Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset . Just outside the village is Althorp House , the home of
5092-511: The 1960s and 1970s, several sections of the river above Stamford were made straighter and deeper, to reduce the risk of flooding of agricultural land. To address the habitat and environmental issues causes by such engineering work, the Welland Rivers Trust, a limited company and charitable trust , was set up in 2010. They are seeking to direct regeneration of the river by co-ordinating various organisations, which are known collectively as
5226-409: The 19th century. In the north of the county a large ironstone quarrying industry developed from 1850. In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to "[enjoy] a very pure and wholesome air" because of its dryness and distance from the sea. Its livestock were celebrated: "Horned cattle, and other animals, are fed to extraordinary sizes: and many horses of the large black breed are reared." Nine years later,
5360-545: The 73 electoral divisions in the county elected a single councillor, had been held by the Labour Party; it had been under no overall control since 1981. The councils of the rural districts – Daventry, East Northamptonshire, and South Northamptonshire – were strongly Conservative, whereas the political composition of the urban districts was more mixed. At the 2003 local elections, Labour lost control of Kettering, Northampton, and Wellingborough, retaining only Corby. Elections for
5494-623: The County of Huntingdon and Peterborough, was not reinstated as a Shire county in its own right in 1974. Instead, Huntingdonshire was transferred to and became a district of Cambridgeshire. Since 1965, Northamptonshire has been one of the small number of English counties that does not contain a city. In 1879, a local government district was created covering the three parishes of Market Harborough and Great Bowden and Little Bowden . When elected county councils were established in 1889, local government districts were placed entirely in one county, and thus
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5628-409: The County of Northamptonshire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The longest span is 16 feet (4.9 m), and the cutwaters carry inscribed stones recording the county's involvement. To the north, an early nineteenth-century stone rubble arched bridge carries the road over a drainage ditch near Lolham Mill, while an eighteenth-century bridge, probably rebuilt in the following century, crosses
5762-656: The Fens for land drainage. It was built in 1833, and ran until 1952, when it was replaced by electric pumps. It now forms part of a museum of land drainage run by the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board, in partnership with South Holland District Council. Vernatt's Drain passes through a sluice to join the river, while the sluice that protects the entrance to the River Glen is navigable, to allow boats to reach Tongue End, some 11.5 miles (18.5 km) upstream from its mouth. There are pumping stations for Sea Dike and Lords Drain, and
5896-414: The Glen. The eastern third is mostly alluvial soils , and it is this part that relies on artificial pumping to prevent flooding. Rainfall over the area varies between 26 and 30 inches (660 and 760 mm) per year, which is quite light, and because the land is efficiently drained during the winter months, there are few reserves, making the area prone to drought in the summer months. For much of its length
6030-450: The Glen. The reservoir covered 8 acres (3.2 ha) and provided water to scour the channel below the sluice. His son, John Grundy, Jr. , took over after the death of his father in 1748, and spent nearly £10,000 on bank repairs between then and 1764. He rebuilt Perry's sluice soon after 1750, with taller doors and a set of tide gates to prevent the tide moving upstream, and rebuilt the navigation lock in 1754. After 1764, Thomas Hogard became
6164-521: The Greatford Cut, which has carried the diverted waters of the West Glen river since the early 1950s. This section is crossed by King Street , which follows the course of a Roman road . Where it crosses the Maxey Cut, to the south of the original channels, there are a series of 14 arches which comprise Lolham Bridges. They are grouped into five structures to cross the channels in the area, and were funded by
6298-562: The Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough , Stamford and Spalding , to reach The Wash near Fosdyke . It is a major waterway across the part of the Fens called South Holland , and is one of the Fenland rivers that were laid out with washlands . There are two channels between widely spaced embankments with the intention that flood waters would have space in which to spread while
6432-656: The M1 to the M40 motorway , passing through the south of the county to the junction west of Brackley, and the A45 links Northampton with Wellingborough and Peterborough. The county road network (excluding trunk roads and motorways), managed by West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council, includes the A45 west of the M1 motorway , the A43 between Northampton and the county boundary near Stamford,
6566-511: The Maxey cut. Below Spalding, there were no restrictions on headroom, which allowed small coasters to reach the town. The bridge at Fosdyke was a swing bridge , to comply with the provisions of the Fosdyke Bridge Act of 1870. The demise of such traffic allowed it to be replaced by a fixed bridge with headroom of 16.5 feet (5.0 m), but the powers of the original Act had to be rescinded, and
6700-400: The Port of Fosdyke Act was obtained in 1987 to allow this to happen. The redundant wharfs at Fosdyke have been developed to provide moorings for yachts and other pleasure craft. The lock at Fulney has three sets of gates, two pointing towards the sea, and a third between them which points upriver. Thus, the lock can only be used when the level below it is higher than the level above it, and as
6834-428: The River Glen at Surfleet. Perry was an engineer of some repute, who had set the standard for engineering reports in 1727, when he published his recommendations for the North Level of the Fens. His plans were approved, and the Adventurers offered to give him land covering nearly 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) in payment for the work. He sold one-third of the land to finance the project, and began work in 1730. Cowbit sluice on
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#17330847592556968-418: The Soke had its own county council , making it an autonomous district of Northamptonshire. In 1965, the ancient Soke of Peterborough was abolished by the Local Government Boundary Commission ; the city of Peterborough and the surrounding villages that were previously part of the Soke, were transferred to the newly created county of Huntingdon and Peterborough . The new county of Huntingdon and Peterborough
7102-408: The South Drain and the Folly River, also a drain, meet. The river is officially navigable below this point. Through Crowland and Cowbit to the edge of Spalding , the river is laid out with washlands , which were historically used as pasture, because the river was allowed to flood the land when tidal levels prevented the water discharging into the sea. The river is bounded on the north and west by
7236-407: The Welland Valley Partnership. They published a major document outlining their proposals in February 2013, and by 2020 had completed 36 enhancement projects. The river as far as Stamford was used by the Romans for navigation, as it formed part of a system including the Car Dyke , which ran along the western edge of the Fens and crossed the river near the modern Folly River. Navigation to Stamford
7370-421: The Welland forms the county boundary between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire or Rutland , and lower down between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire . The Welland rises in the Hothorpe Hills in the parish of Sibbertoft , Northamptonshire and it issues at Spring Croft, Church Street. Sibbertoft sits astride one of the principal watersheds in England. Within 2 miles (3.2 km), the small stream forms
7504-458: The Welland had six 6-foot (1.8 m) wide gates which were operated by chains connected to a treadwheel. At high tide, water was penned in Cowbit Wash, between banks which were set well back from the main channel. The bed of the river below the sluice was loosened by dragging wooden rollers with iron spikes over it. At low tide, the sluice gates were opened, and the flow scoured out the silt for some 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream. A navigation lock
7638-522: The area. The Macmillan Way long distance footpath passes through Great Brington. Nearby settlements include Little Brington , Nobottle and Long Buckby [REDACTED] Media related to Great Brington at Wikimedia Commons This Northamptonshire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( / n ɔːr ˈ θ æ m p t ə n ʃ ər , - ʃ ɪər / nor- THAMP -tən-shər, -sheer ; abbreviated Northants. )
7772-504: The average weather for Northamptonshire from the Moulton weather station. Between 1974 and 2021, Northamptonshire, like most English counties, was divided into a number of local authorities. The seven borough/district councils covered 15 towns and hundreds of villages. The county had a two-tier structure of local government and an elected county council based in Northampton , and was also divided into seven districts each with their own district or borough councils: Northampton itself
7906-424: The bare essential services. According to The Guardian the problems were caused by "a reckless half-decade in which it refused to raise council tax to pay for the soaring costs of social care" and "partly due to past failings, the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer." Some observers, such as Simon Edwards of the County Councils Network , added another perspective on
8040-443: The basis for the Deeping Fen Act 1801. The channel above Spalding was made deeper, the north bank was made stronger, and the North and South Drove Drains were enlarged through the fen. One of Rennie's recommendations had been to replace the windmills which drove the drainage pumps with a steam pumping station at Pode Hole, but this was not implemented. After reports by Rennie and Thomas Pear in 1815, and by Rennie alone in 1818 and 1820,
8174-425: The border between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. It flows westwards, before looping round, passing through the grounds of Hothorpe Hall in Theddingworth , now a conference centre, to flow generally eastwards through Lubenham to Market Harborough . One of the driveways to Thorpe Lubenham Hall is carried over the river by an early nineteenth century ashlar bridge which is a Grade II listed structure. To
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#17330847592558308-493: The canal crossed on the level, joins from the north, and the remains of the canal follow the river on its north bank. Below Uffington , the county border follows the old course of the river, first to the south to Tallington and then to the north, while the main course now flows along the Maxey Cut to Peakirk . The old course consists of two streams, fed by sluices from the Maxey Cut, which meander to The Deepings . The eastern stream supplied power to Lolham and Maxey mills, while
8442-412: The catchment area, 179 square miles (460 km ) are below sea level, and would be flooded without such defences. The basin runs in a broadly south-west to north-east direction, with an extension to the north around the West Glen and East Glen rivers. The underlying geology consists of Lias clays at the western end of the catchment, with Lincolnshire limestone in the centre, including the valleys of
8576-441: The cause of the financial crisis, the United Kingdom government austerity programme : "It is clear that, partly due to past failings, the council is now having to make some drastic decisions to reduce services to a core offer. However, we can't ignore that some of the underlying causes of the challenges facing Northamptonshire, such as dramatic reductions to council budgets and severe demand for services, mean county authorities across
8710-435: The construction of Pode Hole pumping station in 1827. At Crowland the river used to split into two channels, one broadly following the present course of the river, and the other joining the old South Ea to reach the River Nene near Wisbech . Dugdale, writing in 1662, described the Spalding channel as "a most slow course". The river no longer flows through Crowland, but the unique triangular Trinity Bridge , which spanned
8844-452: The country face funding pressures of £3.2bn over the next two years." In early 2018, following the events above, Government-appointed commissioners took over control of the council's affairs. Consequently, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government commissioned an independent report which, in March 2018, proposed structural changes to local government in Northamptonshire. These changes, implemented on 1 April 2021, saw
8978-519: The county and provides a range of county-level music groups. There are seven colleges across the county, with the Tresham College of Further and Higher Education having four campuses in three towns: Corby , Kettering and Wellingborough . Tresham, which was taken over by Bedford College in 2017 due to failed Ofsted inspections, provides further education and offers vocational courses and re-sit GCSEs . It also offers Higher Education options in conjunction with several universities. Other colleges in
9112-765: The county are: Fletton House , Knuston Hall , Moulton College , Northampton College , Northampton New College and The East Northamptonshire College . Northamptonshire has one university, the University of Northampton . It has two campuses 2.5 miles (4.0 km) apart and 10,000 students. It offers courses for needs and interests from foundation and undergraduate level to postgraduate, professional and doctoral qualifications. Subjects include traditional arts, humanities and sciences subjects, as well as entrepreneurship, product design and advertising. The main acute National Health Service hospitals in Northamptonshire Northampton General Hospital , which also operates Danetre Hospital in Daventry, and Kettering General Hospital . In
9246-437: The county was described as "a county enjoying the reputation of being one of the healthiest and pleasantest parts of England" although the towns were "of small importance" with the exceptions of Peterborough and Northampton. In summer, the county hosted "a great number of wealthy families... country seats and villas are to be seen at every step." Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of "spires and squires" because of
9380-404: The county was relatively settled, although Northampton was the location of engagements during the First and Second Barons' Wars and the Wars of the Roses , and during the First English Civil War Naseby was the site of a decisive battle which destroyed the main Royalist army. During the Industrial Revolution Northamptonshire became known for its footwear, and the contemporary county has
9514-455: The county, Northampton being the largest and most populous. At the time of the 2011 census a population of 691,952 lived in the county, with 212,069 living in Northampton. The table below shows all towns with over 10,000 inhabitants. As of 2010 there were 16 settlements in Northamptonshire with a town charter: Like the rest of the British Isles , Northamptonshire has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification ). The table below shows
9648-526: The county. King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647. George Washington , the first President of the United States of America, was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656. George Washington 's ancestor, Lawrence Washington, was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was he who bought Sulgrave Manor from Henry VIII in 1539. It
9782-421: The east of Lubenham, the river passes Old Lubenham Hall, part of an H-plan house built in the late sixteenth century and modified in the early eighteenth century. King Charles I is believed to have stayed there before the Battle of Naseby . Three arms of a square moat surround the house, and the site is a scheduled ancient monument . The county border leaves the river on the west side of Market Harborough, as
9916-488: The eastern edge of Stamford near Hudd's Mill, to Market Deeping , where it would rejoin the river. The decision was ratified in 1623 by a grant of James I , and the corporation expected to have the work completed by 1627. However, they were unable to find a suitable contractor to carry out the work, and failed to reach agreement on terms with David Cecil in 1636, and two other potential contractors after that. Finally in 1664, an alderman from Stamford called Daniel Wigmore took
10050-609: The end of the Second World War. A water taxi service was launched in Spalding in July 2005. Its route is from just off Spalding's High Street upstream along the river, turning onto the Coronation Channel, and going to Springfields Outlet Shopping & Festival Gardens, and back. Vessels of 110 by 30 feet (33.5 by 9.1 m) and drawing 8 feet (2.4 m) can still proceed along the estuary at high water, and can travel inland as far as Fulney lock. They cannot pass through
10184-532: The entire County Council were held every four years – the last were held on 4 May 2017 . The County Council used a leader and cabinet executive system and abolished its area committees in April 2006. Historically, Northamptonshire's main industry was manufacturing of boots and shoes. Many of the manufacturers closed down in the Thatcher era which in turn left many county people unemployed. Although R Griggs and Co Ltd,
10318-521: The existing county council and district councils abolished and two new unitary authorities created in their place. One unitary authority, West Northamptonshire , consists of the former districts of Daventry , Northampton and South Northamptonshire ; the other, North Northamptonshire , consists of the former East Northamptonshire district and the former boroughs of Corby , Kettering and Wellingborough . Northamptonshire returns seven Members of Parliament (MPs). As of 2024 , five are currently from
10452-404: The fens should be drained, as the banks of the river and of the neighbouring Glen were in a poor state of repair. They suggested that Thomas Lovell should undertake the work, which he did, at a cost of £12,000, for which he received 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) of the land which was reclaimed as a result of the work. Unrest in the early 1600s resulted in most of the works being destroyed, but in 1632
10586-509: The field to modify the results. He oversaw a programme of repairs to the Deeping Bank, which ran for 12 miles (19 km) along the north and west side of the river, while John Scribo was employed to do the same for the Country Bank, which ran for 6 miles (9.7 km) on the south and east. Grundy made the river deeper above Spalding, and also constructed a sluice and reservoir at the mouth of
10720-444: The flow is diverted through the Coronation channel, the town is protected by Marsh Road sluice and a sea lock to the east. Below the town, it is approached by Vernatt's Drain, which runs parallel to the river carrying water pumped from Deeping Fen, and is crossed by the A16 road bridge. Nearby is Pinchbeck Marsh Pumping Station , which houses the last beam engine and scoop wheel to be used in
10854-554: The government is encouraging development in the South Midlands area, including Northamptonshire. The city and Soke of Peterborough were part of the historic county of Northamptonshire; from the time that formal county boundaries were established by the Normans in the 11th century, to 1965. The Church of England Diocese of Peterborough that covers Northamptonshire is still centred at Peterborough Cathedral . The city of Peterborough had its own courts of quarter sessions and, later,
10988-525: The job. He built the cut and 12 locks, which included the High Lock and the Low Lock on the river at Deeping St James, at a cost of £5,000. In return for his expenditure, he was given the lease of the tolls for the next 80 years, for which he paid a rent of one shilling (five pence). The cut, known as the Stamford Canal , is one of the earliest post-Roman canals in England. It opened in 1670, around 100 years before
11122-544: The junction, remains in the centre of the town. Spalding had been a port from a time before any of the river improvements were made. The townspeople had refused to repair the river during the reign of Henry III , for they claimed that here it was part of the sea. Its importance as a port increased with the river improvements and the Stamford Canal, and although it did not have a customs house, by 1695 it had various officials who acted as customs officers for goods arriving at
11256-567: The land they had been granted, but many tenants were unable to pay the rent, due to the poor state of the drainage which reduced crop yields. In April 1729, the Deeping Fen Adventurers received a letter from Captain John Perry, expressing the opinion that the only way to improve the drainage was to improve the river outfalls, and proposing the construction of scouring sluices on the river at Spalding, on Vernatt's drain at its outfall, and on
11390-463: The lock as it is only 62.3 by 27.8 feet (19.0 by 8.5 m) and at normal summer water levels, can accommodate boats drawing 2.6 feet (0.79 m). The river is officially navigable to the point at which the Folly River joins it, but the length of boats allowed on this section is restricted to 35 feet (11 m) long, considerably less than the lock dimensions would suggest. Navigation on this stretch
11524-520: The lower lengths around Spalding. A collaboration between the Welland Rivers Trust, the Wild Trout Trust and the Environment Agency has resulted in the construction of a rock ramp, to allow migrating sea trout to pass up the river beyond the weir on the Maxey Cut, which was acting as a barrier. Some 300 tons of rock, with 50 tons of finer material forming a top layer, were used to create the ramp. The finer material ensures that water mainly flows over
11658-746: The manufacturer of Dr. Martens , still has its UK base in Wollaston near Wellingborough , the shoe industry has deeply declined as manufacturing has moved away from England. There were over 2,000 shoemakers in the region in the mid 19th century, today the number is over 30 left. Large employers include the breakfast cereal manufacturers Weetabix , in Burton Latimer , the Carlsberg brewery in Northampton , Avon Products , Nationwide Building Society, Siemens , Barclaycard , Saxby Bros Ltd and Golden Wonder . In
11792-402: The mill stream. Another pair of early nineteenth-century bridges, built of coursed limestone with ashlar dressings, carry the road over the northernmost channel. The bridge at Deeping Gate carries the date 1651, and is a Grade II* listed stone structure with three round arches. After the remains of Deeping High lock and Deeping Low lock, there is a junction where the old course, the Maxey Cut,
11926-629: The money could not be raised at the time, due to the financial crisis caused by the French Wars . Grundy's shorter channel had been finished by 1810, improving both drainage and navigation. James Walker reported in 1835 on further improvements, making the recommendation that the river below Spalding should be constrained between high banks, so that the scouring action of the water would dredge its own channel. Rather than excavating, which he estimated would cost £70,000, he suggested using fascines made of thorn branches, around which silt would be deposited. Such
12060-587: The north of Corby near Rockingham , and then to the south of Caldecott , where it becomes the county border between Northamptonshire and Rutland , and the Eye Brook , which has been dammed to form the Eyebrook Reservoir , joins from the north. As it flows past Harringworth , the river forms two channels, with the county border following the smaller, northern channel. It is crossed by the 1,275-yard (1,166 m) Welland Viaduct , with its 82 brick arches, which
12194-442: The numbers of stately homes and ancient churches. Prior to 1901 the ancient hundreds were disused. Northamptonshire was administered as four major divisions: Northern, Eastern, Mid, and Southern. During the 1930s, the town of Corby was established as a major centre of the steel industry. Much of Northamptonshire nevertheless remains rural. Corby was designated a new town in 1950 and Northampton followed in 1968. As of 2005
12328-468: The one to Spalding was more favourable to the passage of barges, but the Abbot of Crowland had obstructed and narrowed its course by planting willow trees. In the fourteenth century, Spalding was charged with failing to scour and repair the river, causing damage to the king's liege people, but argued that because it was tidal at this point, it was an arm of the sea, and so they were not responsible. The river
12462-482: The outfalls of the Risegate Eau and Five Towns drainage channels before the final bridge at Fosdyke is reached. After passing Fosdyke Bridge the river passes into Moulton Marsh where it is joined by the Holbeach River, the river from this point then enters a area of extensive salt marshes with estuary like features which make up what is known as 'The Fosdyke Wash' at the very south-western edge of The Wash where
12596-532: The parish of Little Bowden, a neighbourhood of Market Harborough, was transferred from Northamptonshire to Leicestershire . Until 1832 and 1835, Stamford Baron St Martin which forms the southern part of the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire was part of Northamptonshire as St Martin Without . It was later incorporated into the then Municipal Borough of Stamford under the then Parts of Kesteven . Northamptonshire
12730-537: The planned developments, two urban regeneration companies have been created: North Northants Development Company (NNDC) and the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. The NNDC launched a controversial campaign called North Londonshire to attract people from London to the county. There is also a county-wide tourism campaign with the slogan Northamptonshire, Let yourself grow . Northamptonshire County Council previously operated
12864-481: The port facilities at Spalding; however, by the 1820s, ships could only be loaded with 40 tons each as the river silting had worsened. Trade records indicate that in 1829, vessels carried just under 20,000 tons to and from Spalding, and by 1835 this had increased to over 34,000 tons. There was pressure from merchants to cater for larger vessels, and with later improvements, carried out under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1837, barges and sloops of up to 120 tons could use
12998-415: The port. Because the river was maintained for drainage, some commercial traffic continued despite the railways, and tolls of £478 were collected on 11,690 tons in 1888. Coal for Spalding gasworks arrived by boat until the early 1900s, and the last regular trade was the carriage of corn, hay and straw from Spalding to Fosdyke, where the cargo was transferred to larger ships. All commercial carrying had ceased by
13132-527: The provision of steam engines was authorised by an act of Parliament in 1823. The trustees appointed by the 1801 act continued to manage Deeping Fen until they were replaced in 1939 by the Deeping Fen, Spalding and Pinchbeck Internal Drainage Board , subsequently renamed the Welland & Deepings Internal Drainage Board. Plans to re-route the outfall along a new channel which would meet the River Witham at The Scalp, near Boston , were authorised in 1794, but
13266-498: The quays and warehouses. Exports included oats, coleseed, rape oil, hides and wool, with a much greater variety of imports, including stone, timber, coal, groceries, glass and beeswax. More exotic imports included French and Spanish wines, and some of the first imports of tea, coffee and chocolate. The drainage of Deeping Fen was again addressed when the Draining Deeping Fen Act 1664 ( 16 & 17 Cha. 2 . c. 11) awarded
13400-465: The ramp, rather than through it. The ramp also enables young eels or elvers to move up the river, and provides habitat for stone loach and bullheads . Large numbers of swans and geese use the river around Crowland, and out to sea. Smaller populations of each can be seen around the Stamford Meadows, and further upstream. In 2015, a grey seal found its way from the Wash up the river and spent
13534-602: The river banks, much of the fertile arable land is composed of marine silt , which suits the bulb-growing for which Spalding is famous. The commercial growing of bulbs was pioneered in the 1880s, with the first large-scale tulip fields introduced by Sam Culpin in 1907. At its peak in 1939, there were 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of bulb fields, and 3000 tons of flowers were exported through Spalding railway station . Tulips were grown on around 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in 1965, but this had reduced to less than 1,000 acres (400 ha) by 1999. Passing through Spalding, where most of
13668-453: The river section below Market Deeping. The canal section was known as the Stamford Canal , and was the longest canal with locks in Britain when it was built. The river provided the final outlet to the sea for land drainage schemes implemented in the seventeenth century, although they were not completely successful until a steam-powered pumping station was built at Pode Hole in 1827. Navigation on
13802-426: The river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations,
13936-539: The river, and a pumping station on the north bank at Stamford Meadows has pumped large quantities of water to the Rutland Water reservoir since its construction in 1975. Stamford was the lowest point at which the river could be forded so the Roman Ermine Street crossed the Welland there. The A16 road crosses the river by a three-arched stone bridge designed by Edward Browning in 1845. Below it, Albert Bridge
14070-561: The river, dating from the fifteenth century but widened in 1919. After the river passes under a railway bridge at Ketton , its flow is swelled by the River Chater . The county border again leaves the river to the west of Stamford while below the town the river forms the border between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire . Just before Stamford, the Great North Road , now labelled the A1, crosses
14204-426: The salt marshes becomes indistinguishable from the sea and from here the river quickly loses the traditional characteristics of being a river as the main river banks move away from the river itself at this point to become the main sea embankments and this leaves the river without a distinguishable mouth as it merely becomes a deep tidal channel known as the “Welland Outfall”, where it finally flows into The Wash itself in
14338-560: The south-west of the county, the towns of Brackley, Towcester and surrounding villages are serviced by the Horton General Hospital in Banbury in neighbouring Oxfordshire for acute medical needs. A similar arrangement is in place for the town of Oundle and nearby villages, served by Peterborough City Hospital . In February 2011 a new satellite out-patient centre opened at Nene Park, Irthlingborough to provide over 40,000 appointments
14472-473: The start of the Industrial Revolution which brought about the " golden age for canals " in Britain. When built, it was the longest canal with locks in Britain, and was very busy with barges carrying flour, malt, coal, timber and limestone. The people of Market Deeping, Deeping Gate and Deeping St James, together with other villages along the river presented a petition to Elizabeth I, requesting that
14606-462: The surveyor of works, but Grundy continued to act as a consultant engineer. Hogard devised a scheme to cut a new channel from the junction of the Welland and the Glen to Wyberton , on the estuary of the River Witham below Boston. At the end of the 7.5-mile (12.1 km) cut, there would be a huge sluice and a navigation lock. The Adventurers asked Thomas Tofield for a second opinion, who suggested
14740-526: The territory of the Catuvellauni , a Belgic tribe , the Northamptonshire area forming their most northerly possession. The Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD. The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county, and an important Roman settlement, Lactodurum , stood on the site of modern-day Towcester . There were other Roman settlements at Northampton , Kettering and along
14874-424: The tide falls, the intermediate gate closes to prevent its use. The principle of there being no tolls for use of the river was established by the 1664 Act of Parliament. This was reversed by the 1794 Act, which imposed high tolls, until they were reduced by the provisions of an Act of Parliament obtained in 1824. The river is now managed by the Environment Agency between Stamford and just below Fosdyke bridge, and
15008-448: The tide in the estuary prevented free egress. However, after the floods of 1947 , new works such as the Coronation Channel were constructed to control flooding in Spalding, and the washlands are no longer used solely as pasture , but may be used for arable farming . Significant improvements were made to the river in the 1660s, when a new cut with 10 locks was constructed between Stamford and Market Deeping , and two locks were built on
15142-527: The town is wholly in Leicestershire, and picks it up again on the east side. The River Jordan joins the Welland in the centre of Market Harborough, flowing northwards to the railway station. Langton Brook and Stonton Brook join from the west near Welham . The county border meanders from side to side across relatively straight sections of the river, suggesting that the channel has been engineered. A three-arched bridge, built in 1881 of fine ashlar masonry, with
15276-409: The upper river stopped, and the locks deteriorated. By April 1863, all traffic had ceased, and Stamford Corporation tried to sell the line at auction, but failed because their ownership of it was disputed. Trade on the lower river was carried in barges and keels. During the early 1800s as trade was increasing, so the river was simultaneously silting up. Around 1800, vessels carrying 60 tons could reach
15410-430: The upper river, including the Stamford Canal, had ceased by 1863, but Spalding remained an active port until the end of the Second World War . The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the river, which is navigable as far upstream as Crowland , and with very shallow draught to West Deeping Bridge, where further progress is hindered by the derelict lock around the weir. The traditional head of navigation
15544-568: The water crisis. The gap in the hills at Watford Gap meant that many south-east to north-west routes passed through Northamptonshire. Watling Street , a Roman Road which is now part of the A5 , passes through here, as did canals, railways and major roads in later years. Major national roads, including the M1 motorway (London to Leeds) and the A14 (Rugby to Felixstowe), provide Northamptonshire with transport links both north–south and east–west. The A43 joins
15678-473: The water. Powers were granted to restore the river using either the old channel or the new one, although it is not clear exactly what was meant by this. There is no evidence that any work was carried out under the terms of the act. The powers were revived in 1620, when Stamford Corporation was given permission by the Commission of Sewers to build a new 9.5-mile (15.3 km) artificial cut, which would run from
15812-514: The waters of the West Glen river into the Welland upstream of Market Deeping. The scheme cost £723,000, with much of the work being carried out by W. & C. French , and the Coronation Channel around Spalding was opened in September 1953. Fulney lock was constructed at the same time to exclude the tide from the upper river, as was the Maxey Cut, an embanked channel that bypasses the villages of Market Deeping, Deeping Gate and Deeping St James. During
15946-639: The west of the county is the Daventry International Railfreight Terminal ; which is a major rail freight terminal located on the West Coast Main Line near Rugby . Wellingborough also has a smaller railfreight depot on Finedon Road, called Nelisons sidings. This is a chart of trend of the regional gross value added of Northamptonshire at current basic prices in millions of British Pounds Sterling (correct on 21 December 2005): The region of Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and
16080-404: The western stream did the same for Tallington Mill, which dates from around 1700, West Deeping mill, and Molecey's mill, which still retains its seventeenth-century undershot waterwheel , modified in the 19th century to Poncelet's improved design , and the only surviving waterwheel of its type in Lincolnshire. At the western edge of Market Deeping the two streams join, and they are also joined by
16214-408: The winter on the lagoons, while the scrapes, which consist of shallow pools and muddy shorelines, are visited by common redshank and little egret . Between the river mouth and the River Witham, a large expanse of saltmarsh provides breeding grounds for common redshank, Eurasian oystercatcher and reed bunting in the summer, and Eurasian wigeon , mallard , common shelduck and common teal in
16348-515: The winter. Birds of prey such as hen harrier and merlin feed on the flocks of linnet and twite , while the mudflats support dunlin , Eurasian whimbrel , and bar-tailed godwit . The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust have a reserve there, which is next to RSPB Frampton Marsh , a reserve managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . The Environment Agency measure the water quality of
16482-491: Was George Washington's great-grandfather, John Washington , who emigrated in 1656 from Northamptonshire to Virginia . Before Washington's ancestors moved to Sulgrave , they lived in Warton , Lancashire. In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Northamptonshire and the surrounding area became industrialised. The local specialisation was shoemaking and the leather industry and became one of Britain's major centres for these crafts by
16616-620: Was Wharf Road in Stamford. The management of the lower river has been intimately tied up with the drainage of Deeping Fen , and the river remains important to the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board , for whom it provides the final conduit to the sea for pumped water. Wildlife in the river varies along its length, the faster headwaters being a habitat for trout and the slower lower reaches for perch. The estuary conditions and flat landscapes beyond Fosdyke favour wading birds and migratory species. The River Welland, with its tributaries, forms
16750-555: Was boasted that "not a single brook, however insignificant, flows into it from any other district". In the west of the county, the hills most commonly referred to as the Northamptonshire Uplands can be found, in this area, the highest point in the county, Arbury Hill , at 225 metres (738 ft), can be found, just to the south of Daventry . The boundary with Lincolnshire is England's shortest ceremonial county boundary, at 20 yards (18 metres). There are several towns in
16884-520: Was completed in 1879, and carries the Oakham to Kettering Line over the valley. Apart from viaducts carrying suburban lines into London, it is the longest railway viaduct to be built in Britain. Uppingham Brook flows eastwards from Uppingham to join on the north bank, and the Jurassic Way long-distance footpath crosses the river at Turtle Bridge. This probably dates from the fourteenth century, although it
17018-454: Was constructed beside the sluice, so that vessels could still gain access to the river above. Perry died in February 1733, and was buried in Spalding churchyard. The lock lasted until it was removed by the Welland commissioners in 1813. Perry was succeeded by John Grundy, Sr. , who published a paper in 1734 on flow in open drains. He calculated theoretic flow rates, and then used observation in
17152-439: Was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1011), as Hamtunscire : the scire ( shire ) of Hamtun (the homestead). The "North" was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south: Southampton – though the origins of the two names are in fact different. Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. In 1460, during
17286-404: Was improved by the canal. Boats used on the canal were small lighters, around 7 feet (2.1 m) wide, capable of carrying from seven to fourteen tons, and normally worked in trains of four vessels. With the arrival of the railways, river trade declined. The Midland Railway reached Peterborough in 1846, and opened their line to Melton Mowbray, passing through Stamford, in 1848. Carriage of coal on
17420-461: Was investigated and a European rabbit which had strayed into it, causing the problem, was found. About 250,000 residents were affected; by 14 July 2008, 13 cases of cryptosporidiosis attributed to water in Northampton had been reported. Following the end of the investigation, Anglian Water lifted its boil notice for all affected areas on 4 July 2008. Anglian Water revealed that it would pay up to £30 per household as compensation for customers hit by
17554-425: Was one of the earlier rivers to be granted an act of Parliament for improvements, to allow navigation to Stamford. The Welland Navigation Act 1571 ( 13 Eliz. 1 . c. 1 ) was granted in the reign of Elizabeth I in 1571, and detailed how Stamford had prospered as a result of the river, but also stated that mills built between Stamford and Deeping had resulted in it no longer being navigable, for they had diverted
17688-551: Was severely restricted by Four Mile Bar footbridge, which provided just 5.25 feet (1.60 m) of headroom, but this was increased when a new single-span arched bridge was installed in early 2007 by the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership. Smaller boats such as canoes, which can be carried around obstructions, can continue up to Stamford, but they must use the old course of the river through the Deepings, rather than
17822-451: Was short lived; it was abolished in 1974. Upon its abolishment, the city of Peterborough and the other settlements that were once part of the former Soke, were transferred to the county of Cambridgeshire, instead of being transferred back to Northamptonshire. Additionally, the former historical county of Huntingdonshire , which had been abolished along with the Soke of Peterborough in 1965 to create
17956-407: Was widened in 1793, and a parapet has been added subsequently. On the road from Barrowden to Wakerley , there is a medieval bridge with five pointed arches, which was widened in the eighteenth century. Fineshade Brook flows from the south to join the river near Duddington , where there is a well-known mill building of earliest known date 1664. A limestone ashlar bridge with four arches crosses
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