NORTHAMPTON, county town of Northamptonshire, Eng land, 66 m. N.W. by N. from London by L.M.S.R. Pop. (1931) 92,314.
British and Roman remains have been discovered near Nor thampton and it became the chief settlement of the Angle tribes early in the 6th century. It was occupied by the Danes in the reign of Edward the Elder. The mayor was the chief officer in the 13th century, and Henry VI. granted the incorporation charter in 1460. Tanning was an industry in the time of Edward I. and in 1675 a law was made forbidding strangers to purchase hides in the town except on fair-days. Boots and shoes were made here in the reigns of John and Edward I., and by the 17th century Northampton was one of the most noted places in England for their manufacture.
Northampton has been the meeting-place of several important councils and parliaments. In the wars between John and his barons the castle withstood a siege by the latter, but in 1264 it was occupied by the barons under the earl of Leicester. In the Wars of the Roses it was the scene of the battle in which Henry VI. was defeated and taken prisoner in 1460. During the Civil Wars of the 17th century it was held for the parliament by Lord Brooke. In 1675, 600 houses were destroyed by fire.
The town is situated on the river Nene. The main roads con verging upon the town meet near the centre in a market-place. All Saints church was rebuilt after the fire of 1675, but retains its Decorated embattled tower. The church of St. Giles, a cruci
form structure in the 12th century, has been greatly changed, and besides a Norman doorway contains Early English, Dec orated and Perpendicular work. St. Peter's is supposed to be of the same date and its interior is Norman. St. Sepulchre's, one of the four round churches remaining in England, may have been built by the Knights Templars at the close of the 11th century. Northampton is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, and there is a pro-cathedral. Near the town there were a Cluniac priory of St. Andrew, a house (Delapre) for nuns of the same order, and one for Augustinian canons; but the first has disap peared, the site of the second is occupied by a modern mansion, and of the third there are only slight fragments. Some portions of the castle were re-erected on a new site of ter their destruction when the Castle station was built by the L.M.S. Company. In Hardingstone, south of the town, is one of the original Eleanor crosses. The free grammar school was founded in 1552. The char itable foundations include St. John's hospital (12th century) and St. Thomas's hospital, founded in 1450 in honour of Thomas a Becket. There is a race-course north of the town. The staple trade is the manufacture of boots and shoes. There are also currying, tanning and textile works, breweries, iron foundries and brick works. The cattle market is extensive.