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Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. It is about 67 mi km 0 north-west of London and around 50 mi km 0 south-east of Birmingham, and lies on the River Nene. It is the county town of Northamptonshire.The district's population is 200,100 and the town population is 189,474, making Northampton the 21st-largest settlement in England, and the UK's 3rd-largest town without official city status, after Reading and Dudley. Northampton is the most populous district in England that is not a unitary authority, a status it failed to obtain in the 1990s local government reform. Northampton's population has increased greatly since the 1960s, largely due to planned expansion under the New Towns Commission in the early 1960s.

Economy

Northampton was a major centre of shoemaking and other leather industries, although only specialist shoemaking companies such as Church's and Trickers, Montez commented ''Who are these guys The Beatles? I try to keep up with the British scene, but I don't know their work''. The University of Northampton was established in 2005 after several years as a University College and previously Nene College.

In 2006 Northampton became a government expansion zone with new growth by West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC), an unelected quango. The initial target is 37,000 new homes. Expansion begain in 2007 at Upton and St Crispins.

Some expansion will be on brownfield sites such as Ransome Road, Far Cotton, an inner suburb and in existing borough boundaries. WNDC will also oversee the redevelopment of Northampton into a primary regional centre to service the expanded population, and comparable to UK cities such as Coventry, Leicester and Nottingham with a population of approximately 300,000 by 2018-2021.

Government and politics

Northampton is administered by both Northampton Borough Council, run from May 2007 for the first time by the Liberal Democrats, and also Northamptonshire County Council. From 2005 the latter has been controlled by the Conservative Party. The Borough Council runs services such as housing, waste collection and smaller planning items in the Borough. The County Council looks after social services, education and libraries in the whole county. Since April 2006 major planning decisions such as large housing schemes and new roads have been the responsibility of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC), an appointed body.

Northampton is represented in Parliament by two MPs:

Brian Binley, Conservative, (Northampton South)

Sally Keeble, Labour (Northampton North)

Both of these constituency boundaries change significantly from the next General Election after 2005 with the creation of a new constituency, South Northamptonshire, which takes a large part of the south of Northampton borough.

Transport

Northampton is near junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1 London to North Yorkshire motorway. The A45 and A43 can be accessed by a partially completed ring road. The A14 is close by to the north.

Northampton railway station is on the Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line, and has regular services to London and Birmingham provided by London Midland. Virgin Trains also provide some services to London and the north, with a small number of Pendolinos running each day.

Sywell Aerodrome is the nearest airfield but only has a grass runway. A concrete runway for jet aircraft is due to open mid 2009. For international links, East Midlands Airport and Luton Airport are quickly accessible by the M1; Birmingham International Airport via the M1/M6 and also by train.

In the town, buses are operated by Stagecoach, First Northampton and MK Metro (Arriva) from the Greyfriars Bus Station. Stagecoach provide travel to outlying villages and towns during the day. National Express cover routes between major towns. There are good local links to Daventry, Wellingborough, Oxford, Rushden, Kettering, Corby and Market Harborough.

Northampton is the terminus of an arm of the Grand Union Canal. The arm connects to the River Nene and from that to the River Great Ouse and the North Sea. No longer used for freight, the waterway is now popular with anglers and narrowboaters. Principal outlying villages on the canal include Gayton, Blisworth, Braunston and Stoke Bruerne.

Education

Until 2004 the county operated a three-tier system involving lower, middle and upper schools. The controversial move to a two-tier system was announced in 2001, with the aim of improving educational standards. A complete list of primary and secondary schools in the town and surrounding area is available on the County Council website.

University

Secondary schools

Northampton School for Boys became the top performing comprehensive school in the country in 2007.

For a complete list see the NCC site. and a critical Ofsted report.

Overstone Park School (co-educational, 2–18)

Leisure

Formal parks include: Abington Park; The Racecourse, home in summer to the Balloon Festival and originally used for horse-racing until 1904; Delapre Park; Bradlaugh Fields; Becket's Park, named after Thomas Becket as are nearby Becket's Well and Thomas á Becket pub. There is a park around an Iron Age fort in West Hunsbury.

Billing Aquadrome leisure park is on the eastern outskirts with a caravan site, marina, funfair, bar, riverside restaurant and converted water mill with original workings. Other smaller ones are Thorntons Park and Victoria Park.

The main shopping centre is the Grosvenor Centre built in the 1970s. The town has one of Britain's largest market squares, dating from 1235. Outside the centre the Weston Favell Centre built in the 1970s is in the eastern district together with various out of town retail and leisure parks.

Contemporary culture

The Derngate and Royal theatres are in Guildhall Road, opposite Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. They were renovated and reopened in 2006, at a cost of £15 million. is a 900-seat theatre/conference centre based on the Grade-II listed former Cannon Cinema, in Abington Square used mainly by the voluntary and charitable sector. It was restored by the Jesus Army as part of their Jesus Centre project.

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery has a world-class collection of historical footwear, and also Italian art, glass and ceramics, plus visiting exhibitions and local history. There is also a smaller historical museum in a former mansion within Abington Park.

The old Fishmarket, opposite the market square, was renovated by the NAC ( ). As it has three art gallery spaces, retail units, a cafe, and an arts studio and is host to exhibitions by leading artists and live music, community events and workshops.

An independent contemporary arts gallery is , funded by the Arts Council, with eight studios. There is also the at the Avenue campus of Northampton University. Northamptonshire runs an annual county-wide event in which artists' studios are open to the public.

The university is spending £3m on its Portfolio Innovation Centre, and by early 2009 it will house up to 45 creative freelancers, digital media developers, and designers.

Two commercial cinemas are also in the town: Vue (formerly UCI) at Sol Central, Cineworld (formerly UGC, Virgin Cinema and MGM) at Sixfields. There is also the subsidised at Lings Forum, whose film programme is widely varied and includes art-house and non-mainstream films.

Many local music venues provide events. One venue is The Roadmender, which used to be run and funded by the council and later brought by The . It is host to mainstream touring bands and one off gigs.

Sport

The town is home to Premiership Rugby union club Northampton Saints, who play at Franklin's Gardens in the St James area. ''The Saints'' had its greatest moment when it won the Heineken Cup in 2000 at Twickenham, beating Munster 9-8. There are also a number of ''Junior'' rugby clubs in the area, the most successful of these at producing young players are and Old Northamptonian's who have produced Ben Cohen (rugby player) and Steve Thompson amongst others.

League Two football club Northampton Town, known as ''The Cobblers'' from the town's shoemaking background, are based at Sixfields Stadium. Established in 1897, in their centenary season of 1997 they reached Wembley through the play-offs and beat Swansea City 1-0 with an injury time winning free kick from John Frain. It was the first club to set up a trust for supporters to work with the club as many have done. There is an athletics track adjacent to the ground. There are also three non-league clubs in the United Counties Football League: Northampton Spencer; Northampton Sileby Rangers; and Northampton Old Northamptonian Chenecks.

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, known in limited overs cricket as ''The Steelbacks'', play at the County Ground, in the Abington area.

provides an artificial whitewater course for canoes, kayaks and rafts.

trained the young Olympic swimmer Caitlin McClatchey.

Collingtree Golf Club hosted the British Masters in 1995.

Northampton International Raceway near Brafield is a leading venue for stock-car racing and hosts the European Championships every July. Speedway racing has been staged at Brafield in the 1950s and again in the 1960s. In the 1950s the team was know as The Flying Foxes and in the 1960s they were known as The Badgers.

Speedway was also staged at the greyhound stadium in Northampton in the pioneer days of the late 1920s.

Notable buildings

Northampton's oldest standing building, the Church of The Holy Sepulchre, is one of the largest and best-preserved round churches in England. It was built in 1100 on the orders of the first Earl of Northampton, Simon de Senlis, who had just returned from the first Crusade. It is based on a plan of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The current All Saints' Church was built on the site of a great Norman church, All Hallows, which was almost completely destroyed by the Fire of Northampton in 1675. All that remained was the medieval tower and the fine vaulted crypt, but by 1680 All Saints had been rebuilt, with the help of donations from all over England, including 1,000 tons of timber from King Charles II, whose statue can be seen above the portico. Famously, the poet John Clare liked to sit beneath the portico of the church.

The Guildhall in Northampton (see picture at top) was constructed mostly in the 1860s in Victorian Gothic architecture, and extended in the 1990s. It is built on the site of the old town hall.

78 Derngate contains an interior designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke and is the only major domestic commission outside Scotland. It is open to the public.

The 127.45 abbr=yes tall Express Lift Tower is a dominant feature in the area. Terry Wogan conducted a radio phone-in during the 1980s to come up with a name for it: ''Northampton Lighthouse'' was suggested as Northampton is one of the furthest places from the sea. It is also known as the ''Cobblers' Needle''. It was built to facilitate the testing of new lifts at the Express Lifts factory. It is visible from most of the town, but is now redundant. The tower has however been listed as being of architectural importance in the town.

Northampton Castle (now only remaining as a rebuilt postern gate in a wall outside the railway station and the hill on which it stood) was for many years one of the country's most important castles. The country's parliament sat here many times and Thomas Becket was imprisoned here until he escaped.

The Carlsberg UK brewery is located in the town.

Delapre Abbey – former Cluniac nunnery, founded by Simon de Senlis - later the County Records Office and site of the second Battle of Northampton.

Queen Eleanor's body rested here on its way to London – and the nearby Eleanor cross at Hardingstone commemorates this. The Cross is also referred to in Daniel Defoe's a ''Tour through the whole island of Great Britain'' where he describes the Great Fire of Northampton, ''...a townsman being at Queen's Croos upon a hill on the south side of the town, about two miles off, saw the fire at one end of the town then newly begun, and that before he could get to the town it was burning at the remotest end, opposite where he first saw it.''

Greyfriars Bus Station, built in the 1970s to replace the old Derngate station, was featured on Channel 4's ''Demolition'' programme and, cited as the ugliest transport station in the UK, was suggested worthy of demolition.thumb]]

Northampton & County Club, established in 1873, was the old county hospital before becoming a private members' club; the cellars are medieval.

Other notable church buildings include: St Edmunds, closed 1978 and demolished 2007 with the bells now in Wellington Cathedral, New Zealand; St Giles; St Matthew's, built 1893 ; Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate & St Thomas of Canterbury, the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton and seat of the Bishop of Northampton.

Related towns

Twin Towns

20px Marburg, in Hessen, Germany; 75,000 inhabitants. Has links with the brothers Grimm and one of the oldest universities in Germany;

20px Poitiers, Vienne, south-west France 100,000 inhabitants.

US towns with the same name in several east coast states include: Maryland, Massachusetts, New York , North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Notable residents

Alan Moore, writer of ''V for Vendetta'', ''Watchmen'', and ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'', is a lifelong resident. His novel ''Voice of the Fire'' is a fictionalised history of the town.

The modern architect Will Alsop was born, raised, and studied for his Foundation degree in the town. Designed North Greenwich tube station on the London Underground Jubilee Line extension.

Actresses: Judy Carne, born Joyce Botterill on 27 April 1939 in the town. Best remembered for her phrase ''Sock it to me!'' on Laugh-In. Joan Hickson, who played Miss Marple, comes from Kingsthorpe. ''Birds of a Feather'' actress Lesley Joseph grew up in the town. Nanette Newman, actress and author, was born here.

Comedian Alan Carr attended what is now Weston Favell School. Host of Channel 4's ''Sunday Night Project''. His father Graham Carr managed Northampton FC.

Journalist and broadcasters Andrew Collins grew up in the town and wrote about it in his memoir ''Where Did It All Go Right?''; Former BBC radio presenter Anna Murby is from the county; Jo Whiley, a BBC Radio 1

Actor Robert Llewellyn (Kryten from ''Red Dwarf'') was born here and lived at 47 Booth Rise until the age of 13 (source: Anglian TV's ''Celebrity Going Home: Robert Llewellyn'' (2004))

Des O'Connor lived here, worked at Church's for some years and played for the Cobblers (Northampton Town FC).

The late Delia Derbyshire, who produced the original ''Doctor Who'' theme tune, spent her final years in the town.

James Morrison singer/songwriter lived in the town for 18 months and went to Kingsthorpe Middle School

Myrea Pettit, fantasy artist of fairies, flowers and butterflies learned her craft in Northamptonshire.

Derek Redmond, Olympic runner, was born and raised here. He attended Roade Comprehensive School, now Roade Sports College, where the sports hall is named after him.

Professional wrestler Norman Smiley was born here.

Matt Smith, actor, who will play the eleventh Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' and will be the youngest actor in the role, went to Northampton School for Boys.

Nearby is Althorp, the country estate of Earl Spencer where Diana, Princess of Wales is buried. Charles Spencer, the current and 9th Earl Spencer (b.1964) is her brother. In 1989, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles & Diana, made an official visit to Northampton and Diana was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough. The Royal Pioneer Corps from the former Simpson Barracks, which were located at Wootton in the south of the town, stood guard of honour on the day. There is a bronze plaque in her memory on the outside of the Guildhall extension.

TV presenter Michael Underwood lives in the town and attended what is now Weston Favell School.

Marc Warren, who played Danny Blue in the BBC's Hustle series, was born in Kingsthorpe.

Marcia Matilda Falkender, Baroness Falkender, formerly Marcia Williams and private secretary to Prime Minister Harold Wilson was educated at Northampton High School for girls.

Stuart Pearson Wright, award winning artist, was born here in 1975.

Scientist Francis Crick, born in the town in 1916, along with James D. Watson discovered the structure of DNA, and went on to win a Nobel Prize. In December 2005, a public sculpture called ''Discovery'' by Lucy Glendinning was erected in Abington Street as a memorial to Crick .

Walter Tull, Northampton Town FC player who became Britain's first black army officer during the First World War.

Composers: William Alwyn, Sir Malcolm Arnold and Edmund Rubbra were born here.

Elizabeth Bowen, 20th century Anglo-Irish writer, lived here after her marriage.

Charles Bradlaugh was the famous radical MP and member for the town.

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)- a puritan poet later based in Massachusetts.

Alban Butler (1710-1773) - the author of ''Lives of the saints''

John Clare, the poet, was detained in Northampton County Lunatic Asylum, now St Andrew's Hospital, and remained until his death in 1864.

Errol Flynn acted in the Northampton Repertory Theatre between 1933 and 1934.

James Harrington (1611-1677), philosopher and author of ''Oceana'', was born at nearby Upton Hall.

Jerome K. Jerome, author of ''Three Men in a Boat'' and other works, died here in 1927.

Spencer Perceval was a local MP and Prime Minister. He was shot in the House of Commons by assassin John Bellingham in 1812.

Victorian cricketer and pioneer missionary Charles (''C.T.'') Studd who played in the first Ashes test, was born at Spratton.

VV Brown, artist-songwriter-producer

James Chapman, Northampton-based Mercury-nominated musician

Media

Newspapers The ''Northampton Chronicle & Echo'' is the town's only paid-for newspaper. It is published Monday to Saturday each week and has a daily circulation of approximately 21,000 copies. Newspapers issued free of charge, but with a town circulation only, are ''The Mercury'' (Thursday) and ''Northants on Sunday'', both from the publishers of the ''Chronicle & Ech''o, and the Herald and Post (Thursday). These free papers tend to be mostly advertising media with limited news coverage.

Radio Three stations are based in the town, two of which broadcast county-wide. BBC Radio Northampton broadcasts news, topical items and some music, switching to a regional network after 7pm. A commercial station, Heart 96.6 (formerly Northants 96), broadcasts mostly popular music. A community radio station, Inspiration FM was awarded a 5 year licence on 24 July 2008 and will soon be broadcasting in Northampton.

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