Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/85

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 73 NOETHBOUENE. likewise a branch to Market Harborough. The climate of Northamptonshire is generally considered mild and healthy, and the soil, from being very generally well cultivated, is productive, yielding especially corn and grass of a superior quality. It has not the disadvantage of the more western counties, which are subject to very y and continued rains. The pastures are rich, and numbers of cattle are fattened for the London market in the large grazing farms. Many of the Northampton- shire farmers are large breeders of cattle, and rearing of sheep is not neglected, the most common breed being the improved Leicester. The chief manufactures are shoes, which are made at Northampton, and whips and lace at Daventry. There is likewise a good business done at Towcester in wool-stapling, and in pottery at Potterspury. It is calculated that about 14 per cent, of the inhabitants maintain themselves by trade and manu- facture, and about 13 per cent, by agriculture. There are numerous corn-mills, breweries, and mailing-houses, and some iron foundries for agricultural implements. The well-known factory of the London and North- Western railway is at Wblverton. The great military depot, formerly belonging to the East India Company, is at Weedon. The county is in two divisions, a northern and southern, which contain 20 hundreds instead of 30, as at the time of the Domesday Survey. The northern division comprises Corby, Hamtbrdshoe, Higham Ferrers, Huxloe, Polebrook, Rothwell, Willybrook, Navisford, Orlingbury, and Peterborough liberty ; and the southern division Chippenham, Clely, Fawsley, Green's Norton and King's Sutton, Nobottle Grove, Spelhoe, Towcester, Vymernley, and Guilsborough. There are nearly 300 parishes in the shire, besides parts of several others and extra-parochial places. The market towns are North- ampton, Peterborough, Wellingborough, Brackley, Oundle, Towcester, Daventry, Thrapston, and Ketter- ing, all seats of a poor-law union and places where county courts are held. This county is included in the Midland circuit and military district. It is governed by a lord lieutenant, custos rotulorum, a high sheriff, 42 deputy-lieutenants, and about 440 magistrates. In the ecclesiastical divisions it constitutes an archdeac. in the dioc. of Peterborough and prov. of Canterbury. It returns eight members to parliament two each for the northern and southern divisions of the shire, and two each for Northampton and Peterborough. Brackley and High Ferrers were disfranchised at the passing of the Reform Bill. The charities are upwards of 20,000, of which about 5,000 are for the purposes of schools and education. There are many specimens of an- cient ecclesiastical architecture in the county. Brix- worth church, on the road to Market Harborough, is perhaps one of the most remarkable. It is apparently of about the period of the llth century, but has under- gone many alterations at later periods. Brigstock church, between Oundle and Rothwell, is of Anglo- Saxon origin. Those of Castor and Earl's Barton are of the Norman period; the latter has, however, a rkable tower said to be of Anglo-Saxon date, and BO has Barnack church, near Stamford. There are y other churches of ancient date in the county, which will bo found described under the respective 'ica to which they belong. The cathedral at Peter- iderable portions of Norman architec- Thcre are several monastic ruins, the chief being liey, at Duston, near Northampton, h was f'oumlt-il by William IVvorel, a natural son at Conqueror; and J'i)>iw. 11, a Cistercian 'Idcy, near Rockinghum: of these only .ml traces of the walls remain. There ikewise portions of the chapel of Catcsby, a Bene- near Davontry, and of the Cluniae priory at Daventry, besides the church of the priory of in >ns at Canons Ashby, and vestiges of Sew;' i- Towcester. The cross Kettering, erected by Edward I., int> ' lliili'il ruin most noteworthy being Fothi -, -.I,., hi.h was founded soon after the Conquest, and in -which Richard III. was born, and Mary Queen of Scots was executed. This castle was razed to the ground by James I. soon after his accession to the English throne. Barnewell Castle is likewise a fine old ruin. The prin- cipal gateway still remains. Henry VI. was defeated by the Yorkists in this county in 1459 ; and here it was that the battle of Edge Hill in 1642, and again the battle of Naseby in 1645, were fought, the latter deciding the fate of King Charles I. Thero are several seats in Northamptonshire, among which are Drayton House, near Thrapston, of the period of Henry VI. ; Fawsley House, not far from Daventry ; Burghley House, near Stamford, built originally by the great Lord Burghley ; and Kirby Hall, built by Lord- Keeper Hatton. The dukes of Buccleuch, Cleveland, and Grafton, have seats at Boughton, Sudborough, and Wakefield ; the Marquis of Northampton at Ciistlo Ashby ; the earls of Westmoreland, Spencor, Cardigan, Pomiret, Carysfort, Winchelsea, Fitzwilliam, and Euston, at Apethorpe, Althorpe, Deene Park, Easton Neston, Elton, Kirby, Milton, and Saleey Forest. Many other of the nobility and gentry have likewise seats in this county. NORTHAW, or NORTHALL, a par. in the hund. of Cashio, or lib. of St. Albans, co. Herts, 5 miles N.E. of Barnet, its post town, and 3 N.E. of Potter's Bar station on the Great Northern railway. The village is situated on an eminence and is wholly agricultural. There is a mineral spring in the neighbourhood, the water of which is saline, and was formerly much resorted to. The living is a don. cur.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 150. The church, dedicated to St. Thomas-a-Becket, was rebuilt in 1810; it is a cruciform structure, with a square em- battled tower containing one bell. The chancel has a painted window. The register dates from 1564. Tho parochial charities produce about 134 per annum, of which 95 is King James I.'s gift, and goes to the sup- port of the schools. There is a National school for children of both sexes. The trustees of the late Rev. J. A. Trenchard are lords of the manor. NORTHBAR, a vil. in the par. of Beith, co. Ayr, Scotland, 9 miles N. of Irvine, and 2 S.E. of Beith. It is situated on the road from Beith to Itilmarnock. NORTHBECK, a hmlt. in the par. of Scredington, co. Lincoln, 3 miles S.E. of Sleaford. NORTHBOROUGH, or NORTHBURGH, a par. in the lib. of Peterborough, co. Northampton, 2 miles S. of Market Deeping, its post town, and 7 N.W. of Peter- borough. The river Welland, which passes at Deeping- St. James, within a mile of the village, is navigable for barges as far as Stamford. The parish, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. It was formerly written Northburh by the Saxons, and part of it borders on the Fenny district. The soil is fertile, con- sisting chiefly of clay intermixed with sand and gravel. The tithes have been commuted for land, and the glebe consists of 20 acres. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Peterborough, val. 100, in the patron, of the dean and chapter. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient stone structure, with a tower containing two bells. The interior of the church contains tombs of the Claypoles, and other memorials. In it once resided Eliza- beth, the favourite daughter of Oliver Cromwell, who married John Claypole, subsequently created a baronet in 1657, and master of the horse and a lord of the bed- chamber to the Protector. The parochial charities produce about 25 per annum, realised from lands. The venerable seat of the Claypoles, in the decorated style of domestic architecture, has been converted into a farm- house. NORTHBOURNE, a par. in the hund. of Cornilo, lathe of St. Augustine, co. Kent, 3 miles W. of Deal, its post town, and 4 S. of Sandwich. It is situated at the source of a small rivulet which flows on to Sandwich, and from which the parish derives its name. Tin! inhabi- tants aro chiefly engaged in agriculture. Tho land is almost wholly arable, anil hops aro grown rxicnsivi ly. The impropriation belongs to the Archbishop of Cant* T-