NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, an inland county of England, nearly in the centre of the kingdom. It is of an irregular and very extended figure, being about 67 miles in length. In the widest part it is 30 miles, and in the narrowest not more than eight in breadth. Its contents are 965 square miles, or 617,600 acres. The land is thus appropriated; about 290,000 acres are in arable cultivation, 235,000 acres are in pasture, and about 86,000 are uncultivated, or occupied as forests and woodlands. It contains one city, eleven market towns, 301 parishes, and is divided into 1901 liberties. Population.In the year 1811, the county was returned as containing 28,957 houses, with 30,860 families, and 141,353 inhabitants. The families employed in agriculture were 15,235, those engaged in trade and manufactures were 12,100, and those of other descriptions 3525. Of the inhabitants, the males were 68,279, and the females 73,074. In the preceding year, the baptisms of males were 1973, of females 1896; the burials were of males 1276, and of females 1323, the marriages were 1090. Boundaries.From its oblong shape, lying obliquely across the middle of the kingdom, Northamptonshire comes in contact with, and is bounded by, a greater number of other counties than any other division of England. Proceeding from the north, on its western side, it touches upon Lincolnshire, Rutlandshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, and Oxfordshire; and on its eastern side, it is bounded by Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Cambridgeshire. The whole of the county is within the Northamptonshire diocese of Peterborough, with the exception of three parishes that are under the see of Lincoln. It is generally a pleasant country, with such undulations as give an agreeable variety; but, owing to the numerous inclosures, the prospects are not in general extensive, except upon the summits of the higher hills. The centre of the county is a level elevation, from which the rivers have their rise, and descending in opposite directions, take a course both to the German Ocean and the English Channel. Agriculture.The agriculture of this county partakes so much of the nature of the several counties that border it as to be almost as various, and not to merit any particular description. The most important rural pursuit is the grazing of cattle, for which the excellent pastures are admirably adapted. These, when fattened, are sent in weekly droves to the market of Smithfield for the supply of the metropolis, where they are highly esteemed. The arable land produces excellent wheat, beans, and oats; but the soil in general is not well calculated to raise good barley. The artificial grasses, clover, trefoil, sainfoin, and rye-grass, are very extensively cultivated, and, aided by turnips, form important articles of food for the flocks and herds. Forests.Within this county are several large forests belonging to the Crown, with two chaces, over which the King has certain rights. The largest of these is the Forest of Rockingham, in the northern part of the county; it extends over 11,000 acres. The land, in many instances, belongs to individuals; but the royal deer have, under certain restrictions, the range over the whole. Whittlewood Forest contains about 5000 acres. It is stocked with about 1000 deer; a proportion of which, according to ancient prescription, are killed annually for the royal household and for the great officers of the Government, who receive them as a matter of right, attached to their appointments. This forest contains much excellent naval timber, which is reserved for the use of the Government; but, from the reports of the commissioners, appears to be very negligently preserved, and very injudiciously managed. Salcey Forest is about 1850 acres. This tract was formerly covered with most valuable ship timber, but has furnished for the navy but a very small proportion of what it is capable of. The mixture of opposite interests in this kind of property diminishes its productiveness to all the parties interested in it. The Underwood does not belong to the Crown. The individuals who own it cut it down every twenty-one years. During the following nine years it is inclosed, and for the remaining twelve is open for the deer to feed on the land. The Crown enjoys only this right of pasture and the timber trees. The pasture does not belong exclusively to it, for many of the surrounding parishes possess also a right to turn their cattle into the forests, under ancient grants and prescriptions, and with limitations, of a complex nature, which are productive of perpetual dissensions and litigations. The rangership of these forests is hereditary in the Dukes of Grafton, who have, during the last century, derived from it a very large income, whilst the revenue to the Crown has been very trif- Northamptonshire. ling; scarcely amounting to £. 200 per annum on an average of the last hundred years. Rivers and Canals. The only navigable river in this county is the Nen or Nine. It rises in the western part, flows across, and then runs north, till it enters by Lincolnshire into the German Ocean. The Welland rises in the county, soon forms the boundary between it and Leicestershire and Rutlandshire, and only becomes navigable after entering Lincolnshire at Stamford. The other rivers, the Ouse, the Avon, the Leam, and the Charwell, though they have their sources in Northamptonshire, are but inconsiderable rivulets till they enter the contiguous counties. The benefits of internal navigation have been very freely bestowed here by the canals, which afford great facilities to intercourse. The Oxford Canal connects it with that city. The Grand Junction Canal, communicating on one hand with London, and on the other with Liverpool and Manchester, passes through the county. The Grand Union Canal connects it with Leicester. Thus the heavy products, especially coals, are brought to every part on very moderate terms. Antiquities. The remains of Roman and Saxon antiquities are very numerous. Among the former, the Watling Street Road, the Ermine Street Road, the camps of Arbury, of the Boroughs, and of Rainsbury, and the tessellated pavements at Cotterstock, at Stanwick, and at Woodford Field, have engaged the attention of Stukely and other eminent antiquarians. As there were more than sixty monasteries and other religious houses at the period of the Reformation, whose traces may now be seen, they, with the baronial castles, present a wide field for the researches of the lovers of antiquity; but the bare enumeration of them would be incompatible with the limits of this work. Manufactures. The manufactures of this county are chiefly of a domestic nature, and carried on in the dwellings of the workmen. Boots and shoes are made for foreign markets, and, in war, for the supply of the army. Both fine thread and silk lace are made, and afford employment to the females, who are taught the art in schools for that purpose, and attain great perfection. The principal places for collecting the lace are Northampton and Wellingborough. A large quantity of horse whips were made at Daventry, and though diminished in some degree, the trade is still continued there. Titles, &c. The titles derived from this county are Duke of Grafton; Marquis of Northampton; Earls of Peterborough, Fitzwilliam, Spencer, and Harrington; Viscount Sackville; Barons Braybrooke and Lilford; and as second titles, Baron Burleigh to the Marquis of Exeter, Viscount Milton to Earl Fitzwilliam, Viscount Brackley to the Earl of Bridgewater, and Baron Finch to the Earl of Winchester. The members returned to the House of Commons are nine, viz. two for the county, two each for Northampton, Peterborough, and Brackley, and one for Higham Ferrers. The most celebrated natives of Northamptonshire have been, Robert Browne, founder of the sect of Independents; Mrs Chapone; John Dryden the poet; Fletcher the dramatist; Fuller the historian and divine; Harrington, author of the Oceana; Hervey, author of Meditations and other works; Knolles the historian of the Turks; Dr William Paley; Bishop Wilkins, and Thomas Woolston. The catalogue of all the noblemen and gentlemen's seats in this county would extend to a long list, and we, therefore, can only notice the most remarkable of them. Castle Ashby, Marquis of Northampton; Aldwinckle, Lady Lilford; Althorpe, Earl Spencer; Ape-thorpe, Earl of Westmoreland; Brinworth, Walter Strickland, Esq.; Burleigh, Marquis of Exeter; Cannons Ashby, Sir J. E. Dryden; Cottesbroke, Sir James Lanham; Courteen Hall, Sir William Wake; Dean, Earl of Cardigan; Drayton, Duke of Dorset; Easton Neston, Earl Pomfret; Ecton, Samuel Isled, Esq.; Fawsley Park, Sir Charles Knightley; Finedon Hall, Sir William Dolben; Horton, Sir Robert Gunning; Kirby, George Finch Hatton, Esq.; Lamport, Sir Justinian Isham; Lilford, Lord Lilford; Martin's Thorpe, Earl of Denbigh; Milton Abbey, Earl Fitzwilliam; Rockingham Castle, Lord Sondes; Salcey Forest, Earl Euston; Wakefield Lawn, Duke of Grafton; Walgrave, Sir James Langham; Whittlebury, Lord Southampton. The towns whose population exceeds 1000 are the following:— Houses. Inhabitants. Northampton, 1600 8427 Peterborough (city), 829 3674 Wellingborough, 746 3999 Kettering, 732 3242 Daventry, 550 2758 Towcester, 479 2245 Oundle, 377 1833 Long Buckby, 368 1631 Brackley, 293 1580 Rothwell, 330 1451 Middleton Cheney, 246 1172 Raunds, 211 1101 Welford, 195 1024 King's Sutton, 229 1020 King's Thorpe, 229 1009 See Pitt's General View of the Agriculture, &c. of Northamptonshire; Morton's Natural History of Northamptonshire; Whalley's History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire; Brayley and Britton's Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. II. (w. w.)