A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



fens is well-nigh impossible, so the Buke Horn Drove from Powder Hill Farm to Peakirk is 

 used as the limit of the Wetland district in this direction. From Peakirk the boundary line 

 takes into the Welland district, Glinton, part of UflFord and Barnack parishes, Burghley Park, 

 Easton-on-the-Hill, the quarries of Collyweston, Fineshade, the parish and wood of Wakerley, 

 and the woods of Laxton, Harringworth and Gretton. Then the line passes over Rocking- 

 hamshire to Pipewell Lodge, and to the north of Desborough, Arthingworth and Oxendon to 

 the parish of Sibbertoft. 



This narrow strip, drained by the Welland, contains the most interesting botanical 

 ground in the county. 



The surface of the greater part of the district is dry, and the gentle slopes of the sides of 

 the valley are almost destitute of marshland. From the summit of the watershed extensive 

 and pleasing views can be obtained over large extents of the counties of Leicester, Rutland, 

 and Lincoln. The low-level of the fens is almost entirely drained, and it is only in a few 

 ditches of the fens that any remains of the old flora are preserved. 



In the combes of Sibbertoft the yellow star of Bethlehem {Gagea fasckularis) and the 

 everlasting pea {Lathyrus sy/vestris) have been found. 



The columbine {Aquilegia vulgaris), the wood barley {Hordeum syhaticum, Huds. Elymus 

 europaus, L.), which is so characteristic of calcareous soil, and the bladder sedge [Carex 

 vesicaria), have been gathered about Fineshade. 



Wakerley woods are very rich, and yield the small-leaved lime {Tilia u/mifolia. Scop. 

 T. parvtfolia, Ehrh.) as a native tree, and also the crested cow-wheat {Melampyrum criitatum, 

 L.), the yellow cow-wheat [M. pratense), the herb Paris {Paris quadrifolia), the hound's tongue 

 {Cynoglossum officinale), the deadly nightshade {Atropa Belladonna), the wood vetch {Ficia 

 sylvatica), the caper spurge {^Euphorbia Lathyris) as a native I believe, the shepherd's rod 

 (Dipsacus pilosus), the yellow archangel {Lamium Galeobdolon), the wood-rufF {Asperula odorata), 

 the crosswort {Galium Cruciata), the Canterbury bell {Campanula Trachelium), the wood 

 gromwell {Lithospermum officinale, L.), the orpine {Sedum Telephium), the ploughman's spike- 

 nard {Inula Conyza), the wood spurge {Euphorbia amygdaloides), and the brambles Rubus 

 rhomhifolius and R. Bellardi. 



Gretton woods, partly on the Northampton sands, also possess the lady's mantle 

 {Alchemilla vulgaris, var. filicaulis). In the remains of Rockingham Forest the wild service tree 

 {Pyrus Torminalis), the mistletoe {Viscum album), and the bear's-foot {Helleborus viridis, var. 

 occidentalis) have been found. 



The old quarries in the Lincolnshire limestone of Barnack and Southorpe, where the 

 stone for the erection of Peterborough Cathedral was quarried, and those at Easton-on-the-Hill 

 and Collyweston, where at the base of the limestone are fissile beds which afford the well- 

 known Collyweston slates, now covered to a considerable extent with grass, contain many 

 extremely interesting species, some of which have been known to grow there since 1650. 

 Among these are the pasque flower {Anemone Pulsatilla), the base rocket {Reseda luted), the 

 least mouse-ear chickweed {Cerastium semidecandrum), the small cranesbill {Geranium pusillum), 

 the lady's fingers {Anthyllis Vulneraria), the quinancy wort {Asperula cynanchica), the hairy 

 tower mustard {Arabis hirsuta), the carline thistle {Carlina vulgaris), the cat's-foot {Antennaria 

 dioica), the ploughman's spikenard {Inula Conyza), the spotted cat's-ear {Hypochaeris maculata), 

 the marjoram {Origanum vulgare), the wild basil thyme {Calamintha arvensis), the yellow-wort 

 {Blackstonia perfoliata), the fellwort {Gentinna Amarella), the man orchis {Aceras anthropophora), 

 the pyramidal orchis (0. pyramidalis), the frog orchis {Habenaria viridis), the spider orchis 

 {Ophrys aranifera^ extinct ?, and the grasses Avena pubescens, A. pratensis, Bromus erectus, 

 Brachypodium pinnatum, and Festuca ovina. 



The grassy roadsides and pastures in the neighbourhood of Barnack and Wakerley have 

 yielded the hairy bladder campion {Silene Cucuhalus, var. puberula), the meadow saxifrage 

 {Saxifrage granulata), the woolly-headed thistle {Cnicus eriophorus), the tansy {Tanacetum 

 vulgare), the elecampane {Inula Helenium), the upright or heath cudweed {Gnaphalium 

 syhaticum), the black mullein {Verbascum nigrum), the vervain {Verbena officinalis), the hawkweed 

 {Crepis biennis), the sulphur-clover {Trifolium ochroleucon), the round-leaved horsemint {Mentha 

 rotundifolia), the calamint {Calamintha montana or menthifolia), the basil thyme (C. arvensis), the 

 field gentian {Gentiana campestris), the blue milk-vetch {Astragalus danicus), the horse-shoe 

 vetch {Hippocrepis comosa), the field chickweed {Cerastium arvense), the dropwort {Spiraa 

 Filipendula), the knotted parsley {Caucalis nodosa), the wild licorice {Astragalus glycyphyllos), the 

 clustered bell-flower {Campanula glomerata), and other species. 



The downy woundwort {Stachys germanica) formerly occurred in some old quarries 



66 



