Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/605

Rh NORTHAMPTON 557 the Romans Northamptonshire formed part of Flavia Cassaricnsis. It was crossed by two great Roman roads, the Watling Street and the Ermine Street : the former entered the county near Stony Stratford and passed by Towcester and Weedon to Lilbourne, where it crossed the Avon ; the latter crossed over from Castor near Peterborough into Lincolnshire. From the large number of remains discovered within its limits Northamptonshire would appear to have been very extensively occupied by the Romans. The principal ftoman stations within its limits were Irchester, on the north side of the Neiie, where numerous pieces of pottery, coins, and slabs with inscriptions have been found ; Castor, the seat of a celebrated Roman pottery, the extent of which and the finish of whose workman ship are attested by the tesselated pavements and other relics, as well as by the kilns for bricks and earthenware, that have been dug xip ; Benaventa, supposed to be Borough Hill, where excavations have brought to light traces of very extensive buildings ; Lactodurum, supposed to be Towcester, where, however, very few Roman remains are now visible ; Isannavatia, probably at Burnt Walls, a large field covered with remains of Roman buildings ; and Tripontium, sup posed to be Lilbourne, where there are traces of camps on both sides of the river. There were also encampments at Arbury Hill, Barrow Hill, Castle Dykes, Chesterton, Guilsborough, Hunsborough, Rains- borough, Sulgrave, and Wallow Bank, besides numerous small camps and posts at other places, especially along the valley of the Nene, which is thickly strewn with tesselated pavements and other remains. Northampton formed part of Middle Anglia, and was included in the Saxon kingdom of Mercia. In the time of Tostig, and according to some at an earlier period, it was attached to Northumberland, and formed no part of Mercia. When the Northumbrians in 1065 rebelled against Tostig and chose Morkere for their earl they marched southwards to Northampton, where they were met by Harold and received from him the confirmation of Morkere in the earldom ; but the shires of Northampton and Huntingdon were detached from it, and bestowed on Siward s young son Waltheof, who became earl of Northampton and Huntingdon. After the Conquest the district became, on account of its extensive forest, a favourite resort of the kings of England, who occupied the castles of Northampton and Ilockingham. During the Civil War Northamptonshire was the scene of many skirmishes in addition to the great fight at Naseby, while the battle of Edgehill took place on its borders. Although Northamptonshire was rich in monastic foundations, remains, except of the abbey-church of Peterborough, afterwards the cathedral, are of small importance, the principal being the foundation and parts of the walls of St James s Abbey at Duston near Northampton, part of the church of the Cistercian abbey of Tipewell near Daventry and of the Cluniac priory at Daventry, and the priory church at Ashby. At Geddington, and also at Northampton, there is an Eleanor cross in good preservation. For the architecture of its churches Northampton holds a place scarcely inferior to any other English county. To the Saxon period belong the tower of Earls Barton church, which stands on an eminence, probably the mound of an old English strong-house ; the tower and other portions of Brigstock ; the ground plan and other portions of Wittering ; the remarkable tower of Barnack ; and Brixworth church, constructed in part of Roman materials, and supposed to include part of a Roman basilica. Of Norman, besides the cathe dral of Peterborough, the finest examples are St Peter s and St Sepulchre s, Northampton, and the tower of Castor. Higham-Ferrers, formerly a collegiate church, Early English and Decorated, is one of the most remarkable churches in the county, both on account of the beauty of its architecture and the number of monuments and brasses it contains. Of the other churches, most of them represent ing more than one style of architecture, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, the standard of excellence is generally so high that it is impossible to select a few for special notice in preference to others. The last surviving fragments of the enclosing wall of Northampton Castle were only demolished in 1878. A gateway at Rockingham, and earthworks at Higham-Ferrers and Brackley are worthy of men tion. Some castellated ruins remain of Fotheringhay Castle, which was founded soon after the Conquest by Simon de St Liz, was rebuilt by Edmund, son of Edward III. , and for many years was a favourite residence of the princes of the house of York. To it Mary Queen of Scots was removed in September 1586, and it was the scene of her trial in the October following, and of her execution, 8th February 1587. The current statement that the castle was razed by James I. after his accession to the English throne is a mistake, but it was allowed to go to decay, and its materials were gradually used for other buildings. Barnwell Castle, founded by William the Con queror, and an interesting example of the defensive construction of the period, is still a fine ruin, which includes four of the round towers and an imposing gateway. Holdenby Manor House, where Sir Christopher Hatton was born, and where Charles I. was staying when he was carried away by Cornet Joyce, has been demolished. Among the ancient mansion-houses are Castle Ashby, the seat of the Comptons, the oldest portion belonging to the reign of Henry VIII. ; Althorp, the seat of the Spencers, of various dates ; Drayton House, of the time of Henry YI. ; the vast pile of Burghlcy House, founded by Lord Burghley, but more than once altered and enlarged ; and Kirby Hall, built by Sir Christopher Hatton. amptonshire (1851) ; Architectural Notices of the Churches in the Archdeacon of Northampton (1848-49); Hudson, Brasses of Northamptonshire (1853); and North Church Hells of Northamptonshire (1878). NORTHAMPTON, a municipal and parliamentary borough, and the county town of Northamptonshire, is situated on the slope and summit of an eminence rising above the river Nene, on the main line of the London and North- Western Company, on several branch railway lines, and on a branch canal connecting it with the Grand Junction Canal, 65 miles north -north -west from London. It is divided into four nearly equal parts by two main streets, each about a mile in length, running north and south and east and west, and crossing each other at right angles. In the centre of the town there is a very spacious market square, with a fine drinking fountain, erected in 1860 on the site of the old cross, destroyed by the fire of 1675 which levelled a great part of the town. The older houses are substantially built of stone, the newer ones of brick with stone facings. Formerly there were seven parish churches, but of these only four now remain, All Saints, St Giles s, St Peter s, and St Sepulchre s. All Saints was rebuilt after the fire of 1675, but retains its old Decorated Gothic embattled tower, which scarcely harmonizes with the style of the modern building, the principal feature of which is the fine Ionic portico. The Plan of Northampton. church of St Giles s was originally a cruciform structure of the beginning of the 12th century, but has been greatly changed, and, besides a fine Norman doorway, contains specimens of Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular. St Peter s, near the ancient castle, is supposed to be of the same date with it, and its interior is a fine specimen of Norman architecture. St Sepulchre s, one of the four round churches still remaining in England, is supposed to have been built by the Knights Templars at the close of the llth century. The Roman Catholic cathedral, in the Gothic style, was founded in 1844, and greatly enlarged in 1863. Among the educational establishments are a free grammar school (1552), a Government school of art (1871), and a blue- coat school, in addition to charity, church, and school-board schools. The charitable foundations comprise St John s Hospital, founded in the 12th century; St Thomas Hospital, founded 1450, in honour of Thomas Becket ; the general