Discover Northampton, Northamptonshire

Northampton, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northampton_6.04.2008_002.jpg
Author: Gambitek


Northampton, the county town of Northamptonshire, is a large market town in East Midlands, England. It is situated on the River Nene, about 108 km (67 mi) to the northwest of London. The town covers 80.76 sq km (31,18 sq mi) and has a population of 213,000 people (2012 estimate), making it the third largest town in English without city status, behind Reading and Dudley.

Archaeological excavation has revealed evidence of human presence in the Northampton area going back to the Bronze Age. The town itself is believed to have been established as a farming village during the Anglo-Saxon period, in the 7th century. It was then known as Hamtun.

Northampton grew from a village to a town during the Norman period, around the 11th century. The Normans built a castle here. According to the survey from the Domesday Book of 1086, it had a population of 1,500 people.

Northampton Market Square: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northampton_Market_Square_Lights_4.jpg
Author: Mickapedia


During the English Civil War Northampton supported the Parliamentarians. For that, it was punished by King Charles II by having its town walls and castle torn down. Major fires in 1516 and 1675 further destroyed the medieval town. A rebuilt Northampton developed into a center for footwear and leather goods, particularly from the late 18th century.

The contruction of the Grand Union Canal into Northampton further accelerated its development. This was followed by the London-Birmingham railway line which reached Northampton in 1845. The prosperity of the 19th century came to an end at the turn of the 20th century, with a decline in the shoe industry, forcing unemployment to rise.

In the 21st century the town of Northampton has evolved into a commuter town for people working in London.

DNA Discovery Memorial, Northampton: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Discovery%27_memorial_to_Francis_Crick_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1222951.jpg
Author: ceridwen

Visiting Northampton

Take the M1 motorway to Junction 15 then continue north on the A508 road to reach Northampton.

Places of Interest in Northampton

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.