North End is referred to in newspaper reports and appears on some maps of Northampton between 1746 and the early part of the 19th century. But where exactly was it and what was its full extent?
Of course All Saints, Northampton is not ‘lost’, it is there in plain sight and for 300 years has been an iconic feature of the town. This building, however, is not the first church on this site. The original All Saints (or All Hallows, as it was sometimes known) was tragically damaged by a fire […]
Most railway enthusiasts in Northampton will be well aware that the first railway station in Northampton was on the Blisworth to Peterborough extension of the London and Birmingham railway. The town’s first passenger station was located in Bridge Street and opened in 1845. However, this was not the first railway in the town. At the […]
The area around St Peter’s church was surveyed in 1743 along with the remains of the castle site. A helpful article appeared in the Journal of the Northants Natural History Society and Field Club in 1908 written by Rev R M Sargeantson, drawing on a previous article in 1904 by Mr A Adcock both eminent […]
The Deserted Medieval Villages Another are another “lost” landscape feature of Northamptonshire. These were extensively researched between 1958 and 1965 and comprehensive details appeared in 1966 as “The Deserted Villages of Northamptonshire” by K. J. Allison, M.W. Beresford and J.G. Hurst. Maurice Beresford subsequently edited a comprehensive gazetteer of lost villages in the UK in […]
An earlier post about the Civil War, 1643: Skirmishes in Kingsthorpe Hollow drew attention to a stream in Kingsthorpe Hollow that is now largely forgotten – Wallbeck. This stream is one of many water assets in the town that in former times would have played a significant role in the life of the inhabitants than […]
Deeds are often an overlooked resource by family historians. Written in what might seem impenetrable legal language to the researcher and using terms that are unfamiliar in modern usage. This is a mistake as they often provide the framework for putting together family, social and business relationships. They link property to people through business transactions. […]
Squares through time Over the years Northampton has lost a number of its squares, some completely and remembered only in street name, others have shrunk to a size significantly less than their former extent and others have succumbed to traffic thoroughfares. The public square has been important through history, and we can trace its origins […]
Of the hundreds of people who work in the Moulton Park area of Northampton, few are probably aware that the ground on which they walk was formerly known as King’s Park and was indeed one of the King’s hunting parks.
Old maps reveal a lot about our town. The landscape of St James and Duston has changed unrecognisably in the last 100 years. Looking at an OS map surveyed in 1883 shows an extensive standard gauge railway over a larger part of this area linking various industrial facilities together. My journey started from Stenson Street, […]