﻿lOM 



NORTH-WESTERN' TERRITORV. 



NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 



1030 



NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. [Hudson's Bat Territories.] 



NORTH WITCHFORD, Cambridgeshire, a hundred in the Isle of 

 Ely, which has been constituted a Poor-Law Union. North Witch- 

 ford hundred, which is co-extensiye with the Poor- Law Union, contains 

 seven parishes and townships, with an area of 59,823 acres, and a 

 population in 1S51 of 16,243. 



NORTHALLERTON, the capital of the North Riding of York- 

 shire, a market-town, parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Pooiv 

 Law Union, in the pariah of Northallerton, is situated on the Great 

 North road, in 54° 20' N. lat, 1° 27' W. long., distant 33 miles 

 N.N.W. from York, 225 miles N.N.W. from London by road, and 

 250} miles by the Great Northern, North Midland, and York and 

 Newcastle railways. The population of the borough in 1851 was 4995. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Cleveland and diocese 

 of York. The borough returns one member to the Imperial Parlia- 

 ment. Northallerton Poor-Law Union contains 40 parishes and town- 

 ships, with an area of 68,132 acres, and a population in 1851 of 12,424. 



The town of Northallerton consists chieHy of one wide street, 

 with numerous diverging lanes. The river VViske passes near the 

 town. The town is lighted with gas, and has a handsome modem 

 ■esmons-house, to which is attached a house of correction. The church 

 is a spacious cruciform edifice, erected near the end of the 14th cen- 

 tury. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyan apd Primitive 

 Methodists, Baptists, and Qunker& Besides the Free Grammar school, 

 which is free to four boys, has a small endowment, and had 35 scholars 

 in 1851, there are National, British, and Infant schools; Kaye'a 

 Charity ; Widow Boine's Charity : Dr. Kettlewell's Charity ; a savings 

 bank, and the Maison Dieu, or hospital, founded in 1476, and snbsc- 

 qnently rebuilt by the inhabitants. Quarter seaaions and a county 

 court are held in the town. In the vicinity are some flour-mills, in- 

 cluding a steam-mill ; linen and leather are made, and brick- and tile- 

 making, malting, and brewing are carried on. Wednesday is the 

 market-day, and there are five yearly fairs. Raoes are held annually 

 in October. A castle, founded here by Hugh Pudsey, bishop of 

 Durham, was razed to the ground by order of Henry II. 



NORTHAMPTON, the county town of Northamptonshire, a market- 

 town, municipal and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor- 

 Ijiw Union, is situated on the left bank of the river Nen, in 52° 14' 

 N. lat., 0' 64' W. long., distant 06 miles N.W. from London by road 

 •od 674 inilea by the London and North-Westem railway. The popu- 

 lation of the borough in 1851 was 26,657. The borough is governed 

 by 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor ; and returns 

 two members to the Imperial Parliament. The livings are in the 

 archdeaconry of Northampton and diocese of Peterborough. North- 

 ampton Poor-Law Union contains 17 parishes and townships, with an 

 area of 20,453 acres, and a population in 1851 of 30,544. 



Northampton is a very ancient town. Simon de St Liz, on whom 

 the Conqueror conferred the earldom of Northampton, built a eastle 

 here ; and in the following reigns several ecclesiastical councils and 

 parliaments were held in this town. In the civil wars of John, North- 

 ampton Cattle was held for the king, and besieged in vain by the 

 barons in 1215. In 1265 Northampton was token by the barons, but 

 recovered by the party attached to Henry III. In the commence- 

 ment of the War of the Rosea, a great battle was fought near the 

 town on the 10th of July, 1460, in which the Lancastrians were 

 defeated by the Earl of March (afterwards Edward IV.) and the Earl 

 of Warwick. The king, Henry VI., was taken ; and the queen and 

 the young Prince of Wales escaped with difficulty. In the civil war 

 of Charles I. Northampton was taken by Lord Urook, and fortified 

 for the Parliament. In 1075 the town was nearly consumed by fire. 

 In 1720 it was considerably damaged by a flood. 



Northampton is pleasantly situated on a slope rising from the Nen, 

 over two branches of which are three bridges. The houses are well 

 built, chiefly of freestone, and the streets are well paved, and lighted 

 with gns. The market-square is a large open area in the centre of 

 the town. Among the principal edifices are the shire-hall, a spacious 

 building of Grecian architecture ; the cotmty jail ; the town-hall ; the 

 boroDgh jail ; the new corn-exchange ; the temperance-hall and public- 

 rooms; the theatre; the barracks; and the infirmary. All Saints 

 church, in the centre of the town, at the intersection of the principal 

 (treats, was erected after the great fire of 1675 : at the west end is the 

 origraal embattled tower, which escaped the fire. St. Giles's church 

 is alarge omoiform building of early English character, with windows 

 of the Norman, decorated, and perpendicular characters ; a tower 

 rises from the intersection of the nave and transepts. St. Peter's 

 church, a remarkably fine and curious specimen of enriched Norman, 

 has been recently restored. St. Sepulchre's was built probably about 

 the beginning of the 12th century, and is one of the very few ronnd 

 ahnmhea. It has eight piers with Norman capitals, and plain pointed 

 •rdiaa of later date ; there is a chancel with a north and south aisle 

 on the east side of the round port, and ogood tower and spire of 

 perpendicular character on the west side. 'There are several district 

 ohnrohea. Among the numerous dissenting meeting-houses is the 

 Costla Hill meeting, which contains a mural tablet to the memory of 

 Dr. Doddridge, who exercised his ministry, and conducted an academy 

 for the education of ministers in this town for more than 20 years. 

 Tha Independents have two other chajwls; the Baptists have Ave 

 ehopebj the Wesleyan Methodists two ; nd the Frimitive and As30- 



ciation Methodists, Unitarians, Quakers, Roman Catholics, and 

 Mormons, have one each. Of the religious houses which existed before 

 the Reformation the hospitals of St. Thomas and St. John still 

 remain. The Free Grammar school, founded in 1511, is free to 25 

 boys. There are a Blue-coat school for 25 boys ; a Yellow school 

 for 20 boys ; a Blue-coat school for 30 girls ; several Parochial, 

 National, British, and Infant schools ; and a school supported by the 

 Wesleyan Methodists. There are also a mechanics institute, which iu 

 1S51 had 670 members, and a library containing 10,000 volumes, a 

 natural history and an archaeological society, a savings liank, the general 

 infirmary, the royal Victoria dispensary, and the general lunatic 

 hospital and asylum. The architectural society of the archdeaconry 

 of Northampton holds its meetings in the town. 



The principal branch of trade carried on in Northampton is boot- 

 and shoe-making, iu which about 2500 persons are employed. The 

 articles are sent to London and other parts of England, or are exported. 

 Considerable business is done in currying leather; some stockings 

 and lace are made. There are iron- and brass-foundries, corn-mills, 

 breweries, and coach-works. Markets are held ou Wednesday and 

 Saturday, the principal, that held on Saturday, being a cattle-market. 

 About 1 2 fairs are held in the course of the year ; the one held on the 

 1 9th of September is called the cheese fair. There is also a wool fair. 

 In the vicinity of the town are numerous market-gardens. The 

 assizes for the county, quarter sessions, and a county court are held at 

 Northampton. The Pytchley Hunt races are held annually iu March. 



NORTHAMPTON. [Massachuseits.] 



NORTHAMPTONSHIRt;, an inland county of England, is bounded 

 N. by the counties of Leicester, Rutland, and Lincoln ; E. by those of 

 Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Bedford ; S. by those of Buckingham 

 and Oxford; and W. by Warwickshire. It lies between 81° 59' and 

 52° 40' N. lat, 0° 8' and 1° 20' W. long. Its greatest length from 

 north-east to south-west is 66 miles ; its greatest bi-eadth at right 

 angles to the length is 26 miles, but the average width is htirdly so 

 much 08 16 miles. Its area is 1016 squai-e miles. The population in 

 1841 was 199,228 ; in 1851 it was 212,380. 



Surface and OMtv/ij. — The surface of the county is undulating; 

 the hills do not rise to a great height, but present gentle declivities, 

 separated by intervening vales watered by rivulets and rivers. A 

 nearly continuous range of heights nms just within the nurtheru 

 boundary, commencing near Duddington, and running iu a south- 

 western direction to the neighbourhood of Watford, where it turns 

 more to the south, au'l meets at Woodford another range that crosses 

 the southern division of the county to the north of Towcester. At a 

 short distance east of Woodford a chain of bills runs nearly due south 

 from the range north of Towcester to the most southern part of tha 

 county. The highest land is about Daventry, where Arbury Hill 

 rises to the height of 804 feet above the level of the sea. The general 

 elevation is about 300 feet above the sea level. The north-eastern 

 extremity of the county, near Peterborough, belongs to the great fen 

 district, and is only a few feet above the level of the sea. 



The eastern border of the county, comprising the heights east of 

 the valley of the Nen, adjacent to Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire, 

 is occupied by the Oxford clay, which forms the separation between 

 the middle and lower divisions of the oolitic series. The north of the 

 county, the central parts, and the south-eastern border are occupied 

 by the oolites. At CoUyweston and Easton, near the Welland, beds 

 of forest mai-ble are quarried for roofing-slates. Ou the slope of the 

 hills ou the right bank of the Nen, at Raunds and Stanwick, near 

 Higham Ferrers, a shelly stone of a blue colour is quarried, sufficiently 

 compact to take a tolerable polish. At the base of the oolitic forma- 

 tion, all along the line of r.-iilway from Peterborough to Towcester, 

 an important bed of iron-stone has been recently discovered. The 

 western border of the county and one or two valleys penetrating into 

 the interior are oocujiied by the li;u!. Limestone is obtained in great 

 plenty in almost all parts of the county. Good clay for making bricks 

 and tiles is found in various places. 



Hydrography and Communication!. — The greater part of the county 

 belongs to the basin of the Nen, which river is formed by the confluence 

 of two streams which unite their waters near Northampton, where the 

 Nen becomes navigable, and flows north-east through the county by 

 Wellingborough, Higham Ferrers, Thrapston, and Oundle ; below 

 Oundle it reaches the border of the coimty, which it sepixrates for 

 some distance from Huntingdonshire. At Peterborough the navigable 

 channel of the Nen leaves the county altogether ; but the Catswater 

 drain, which is an ancient channel or aim of the river, follows the 

 border some miles farther, till it unites with an arm of the Welland 

 from near Croyland. The length of the Nen iu this county or on 

 the border is about 60 miles; that of the Catswater dralu about 

 8 miles. Its principal tributaries are the Iso (24 miles long), and 

 the Harper's Brook and the Willow Brook (each about 15 miles 

 long). These tributaries are not navigable. The WcUatid rises at 

 Sibbortoft in this county, 5 miles south-west of Market llarborough, 

 and flows to the border of the county, which it separates succes- 

 sively from Leicesterahiro, Rutlandshire, and Lincolnshire. That part 

 of the course of the Welland whicli bilonga to Northamptonshire 

 is about 50 miles. The navigation commences at Stamford, fioui 

 which town there Is a navigable cut to Deeping. The Avon rises at 

 Noa-by, and hu tha upi>cr part of Its coui-se iu this oouuty, and the 



