NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
feveral of Conftantine, Conflans, &c. were difcovered at 
the fame time. At Cotterftock, near Oundle, a teflel- 
lated pavement was found in the year 1736 : it meal'ured 
about twenty feet fquare; and among the rubbifh were 
found fragments of urns, with fliells, tiles, horns, and 
bones of beads. In the year 1798 fome further difcove- 
ries were made in the fame field ; confiding of one pave¬ 
ment nearly perfeft, and fragments of feveral others ; alfo 
feveral coins, &c. At Thorpe, near Peterborough, Dr. 
Stukeley fays that a Mofaic pavement was found ; and at 
Stanwick, near Higham-Ferrers, Bridges defcribes a tef- 
fellated floor to have been found. The names ofTlchefler 
and Cheder near Wellingborough, induce us to expeft 
fomething Roman there, and accordingly we find the re¬ 
mains of an encampment at Cheder, of nearly a fquare 
form, which included an area of about twenty acres 
within its outer banks. Parts of brick pavements, coins, 
foundations of walls, and other ancient relics, have been 
found at this place, which is on the banks of the river 
Nen. Such are the chief vediges which have been difco¬ 
vered relating to the Romans in this county; and from 
tbefe it is evident, that nearly the whole of the open parts 
of it was fubfervient to their military domination. 
Soon after the Saxons had ufurped pofleflion of Britain, 
they fubdivided it into different kingdoms or dates ; and 
the prefent county was included within the Mercian mo¬ 
narchy ; and it is not only probable, but well authenti¬ 
cated, that the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, alternately 
and l'ucceflively took pofleflion of the chief Roman fla- 
tions, and adapted them to their refpeftive modes of at¬ 
tack and defence. During the Saxon dynafly, this county 
was under the epifcopal jurifdiftion of Dorcheder in 
Oxfordfhire, and after the year 1072 fubjeft to that of 
Lincoln. It continued a part of that diocefe, till Henry 
VIII. having feized the temporalities, and fecularized 
the abbey of Peterborough, appointed this town and 
church as one of the new' fees in the year 1541 ; at the 
fame time he ordained, by letters patent, that it fhould 
confifl of a bifliop, a dean, fix prebendaries, and an arch¬ 
deacon. 
The greated portion of Northamptonfhire was formerly 
occupied by the foreds of Salcey, Whittlewood, and 
Rockingham ; and thefe dill cover above 18,000 acres of 
land. This fpace, however, is not w holly devoted to 
woods ; for within the boundaries numerous deer, cat¬ 
tle, horfes, and fheep, are fed. The prevailing fydem of 
hufbapdry is grazing; and many of the farmers arejudly 
noted for the fkilful management, both of their land 
and flock. The furface of this county is peculiarly ad¬ 
vantageous for cultivation, having neither dreary wades 
nor rugged mountains ; but is every-vvhere fufficiently 
regular for all the purpofes of husbandry and tillage. 
Every hill is cultivated, or may be kept in a profitable 
date of padurage; and every inequality in the furface 
contributes to its ornament and beauty. The upper and 
middle parts of the county are abundantly covered with 
extenfive woods, which are interfered with numerous 
viflas and lawns. 
The extenfive trafts of woodlands in this county con- 
fid either of foreds, chafes, or purlieu-woods. Of the 
foreds, the principal is that of Rockingham^ which is 
lituated in the northern part of the county, and extends 
for nearly twenty miles in one direction. The two large 
foreds of Whittlewood and Salcey lie towards the fouth- 
ern border of the county. There are two chafes, Ged- 
dington and Yardly ; the former was once a part of 
Rockingham-fored ; but permifllon w'as given by the 
crowm, many years fince, to the ancedors of the Monta¬ 
gue family to difaffored it, and convert it into a chafe. 
Yardly-chafe was once a part of Salcey-fored, but has 
alfo been difafForefled. Purlieu-woods are thofe which are 
lituated in the vicinity of the foreds, and which at one 
time formed a part of them; but the refpeftive owners, 
having at fome former periods obtained grants from the 
crown to difaffored them, and to cdnfider them as their 
219 
own private property, they are not now fubjeft to any of 
the regulations of the fored-woods. The purlieu-woods 
are numerous and extenfive in this county, particularly 
towards the fouthern fide, and upon the borders of Rock¬ 
ingham-fored ; and, befides thefe, there are feveral fmali 
trafts of woodland very advantageoufly fituated in va¬ 
rious parts of the county. The underwood in the foreds 
and chafes principally confids of black and whitethorn, 
alh, fallow, maple, and a fmali proportion of hazel. 
The Fored of Salcey is fituated near the fouth-eaflern 
border of the county, where it joins Buckinghamfhire. 
From a perambulation made in the time of king Edward 
I. it appears that the limits had been extended by king 
John ; but that the woods and lawns, aftoreded by that 
monarch, were difafForefled by Edward, according to the 
tenourof the Charta de Forefla, and in confequence of a 
grant of a fifteenth part of the moveables of all his fub- 
jefts. The lands now coniidered as fored, and in which 
the crown is poflefled of the timber and other valuable 
rights, extend in length about two miles and a half, and 
in breadth nearly one mile and a half, and contain 184.7 
acres, 23 poles. The whole is divided into four walks, 
viz. Hanflop, Piddington, Hartwell, and the Deputy 
Ranger’s walk. This fored is under the government of 
the following officers; viz. a warden or mafler-foreffer, 
lieutenant or deputy warden, two verderers, a woodward, 
three yeomen-keepers of the feveral walks of Hanflop,. 
Piddington, and Hartwell, one page-keeper, and the fur- 
veyor-general of the woods and foreds. The number of 
deer kept in this fored is about 1000 of all forts ; and the 
number killed annually is about twenty-eight brace of 
bucks, and twenty of does; of which four bucks and 
four does are fupplied for the ufe of his majedy’s houfe- 
hold, in purfuance of warrants from the board of green- 
cloth. In a furvey taken in 1783, there were reported 
then to be in this fored only 2918 oak-trees fit for the 
navy, containing by computation 3745 loads of timber, 
fquare meafure, being little more than one tenth part of 
the quantity fit for naval ufe growingin thisforeff in 1608. 
The Fored of Whittlewood, though principally belong¬ 
ing to the county of Northampton, extends into the ad¬ 
joining counties of Oxford and Buckingham, and has- 
been formerly of very confiderable extent. A perambu¬ 
lation made in the reign of Edw-ard I. defcribes leparately 
the parts lying within the three counties above named. 
The bounds of the fored, and the operation of the forefl- 
laws, were greatly extended in the 15 th of Charles I. but 
an aft of parliament in the next year, redored the ancient 
limits, as prefcribed by the perambulation of Edw-ard I. 
and confirmed 20 James I. But a part only of the lands 
within thofe limits feems now to be confidered as fored : 
that part contains 5424 acres, 1 rood, 11 poles, and is 
almoff entirely encompafled with a ring-mound, which- 
has been its boundary beyond the memory of the oldefl 
man. The whole is divided into five walks; viz. Hazel- 
borough, Sholbrook, Wakefield, Hanger, and Shrobb. 
By grant of n Anne, the duke of Grafton holds the 
office of lord warden, or mafler-forefler, which gives him 
the pofleflion of the chief lodge, called the Wakefield 
Lodge, with the gardens, pleafure-grounds, and inclofed 
meadow-lands, containing together nearly 117 acres, 
with the padurage for cattle, in common with the dean, 
in an inclofed lawn, called Wakefield Lawn, containing 
upwards of 245 acres. His grace has alio, as hereditary 
keeper, the cuflody and management of the deer. The 
number of deer at prefent kept within the fored is com¬ 
puted to be about 1800 of all forts. In the furvey made 
in the year 1608, Whittlewood-forefl is dated to con¬ 
tain 51,046 timber-trees of oak, then valued at 25,755k 
and 360 decaying trees, valued at 123I.6S. 8d. The quan¬ 
tity of timber is not mentioned; but, according to the 
computation mentioned in Salcey-fored, it mud have 
been from 40 to 50,000 loads, girt-meafure, or from 60 
to 75,000 loads, fquare-meafure. By the furvey taken in 
1783, there appeared to be growing in this fored 5211 
timber- 
