Heritage Britain

Northampton, Northamptonshire, England


A Historic Tour of Northampton

A Historic Tour of Northampton

Northampton

Northampton combines a rich heritage and distinguished history with all the energy and vigour of one of the fastest growing towns in the country. Located in the heart of England, halfway between London and Birmingham, the town offers visitors the highest quality and range of accommodation and a strong portfolio of places to see and visit.


Statues and carvings on the town’s magnificent Victorian Gothic Guildhall depict events and people in the town’s fascinating history. Other buildings of architectural interest include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of only four Norman round churches remaining in England, and 78 Derngate a terraced house remodelled by the celebrated art-nouveau architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Fascinating glimpses of Northampton’s past can be seen on the Historic Town Trail, or find out more on a guided walk around the town centre.
In the past Northampton enjoyed a worldwide reputation as the centre of the English shoe industry. Today the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery in Guildhall Road boasts the largest museum collection of boots and shoes in the world and visitors can see shoe fashions across the centuries and the machines that made them.


Dating back to 1235, the town’s impressive Market Square has a bustling traditional market with over 260 stalls, ideal for browsing and bargain hunting. The Square leads off to vibrant pedestrian streets and shopping malls which have all the well-known names, as well as many specialist shops for those who are looking for something just that little bit different.
Visitors are spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment. The elegant Royal Theatre, a gem of Victorian architecture is cleverly linked to the Derngate, a multifaceted entertainment centre.

The town also boasts a cosmopolitan range of café bars, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs. Annual events include the Music & Arts Festival (June), Northampton Balloon Festival (August), Heritage Open Days (September) and the St. Crispin Street Fun Fair (October).


Northampton is perfectly placed for exploring notable attractions nearby including Althorp (family home and burial place of Diana, Princess of Wales); Sulgrave Manor (home of the ancestors of George Washington) and Rockingham Castle.

For more Information please contact:
Northampton Visitor Centre
The Guildhall
St Giles Square
Northampton
NN1 1DE
Web:  www.northampton.gov.uk/tourism
Email:  tic@northampton.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1604 838800
Fax: +44 (0)1604 604180

Where to stay and things to do in Northamptonshire

Hotels | Bed and Breakfast | Pubs and Inns | Self Catering | Places to Visit | Antiques and Collectables | Museums and Art Galleries | Arts, Crafts and Fairs | Gardens | Castles | Cathedrals | National Parks | Railways | Wildlife | Weddings and Honeymoons | Apartments | Conferences, Seminars and Corporate Events | World Heritage Sites | Abbeys and Priories | Nature Reserves | Health Spas | Haunted Places | Churches | Theatres | Restaurants | Animal Sanctuaries | More Northamptonshire Information

UK Heritage links

Cadw | Heritage Britain | Historic Houses Association | richmond | The Churches Preservation Trust | The National Trust | The National Trust for Scotland | tunbridge |

England Heritage links

Bath | Bath | Bedfordshire | Bedford | Central and South Bedfordshire | Mid Bedfordshire | Berkshire | Historic Royal Windsor | Reading | Buckinghamshire | Aylesbury Vale | The Chilterns | Wycombe District | Cambridgeshire | Cambridge | Ely, Cambridgeshire | Peterborough | Cheshire | County of Cheshire | South East Cheshire | Vale Royal | Cornwall | County of Cornwall | Historic Restormel -
The Daphne Du Maurier Festival
| North Cornwall | Cumbria | Carlisle | Ulverston and Low Furness
The Lake District Peninsulas
| Derbyshire | Amber Valley | County of Derbyshire | Historic Derby | Devon | Clovelly | Historic Exeter | Dorset | Historic Christchurch | Historic Purbeck | Durham County | Derwentside | Easington | Sedgefield | Teesdale | Wear Valley | Essex | County of Essex | Historic Chelmsford | Saffron Walden | The District of Braintree | Gloucestershire | Cheltenham | Cotswolds and Severn Vale | Gloucester | Stroud | The Gloucestershire Cotswolds | Hampshire | East Hampshire | New Forest | Portsmouth | Test Valley | Hertfordshire | Hertford | St Albans | Kent | Chatham Historic Dockyard | Historic Rochester | Kent, England’s oldest county | Maidstone | Royal Tunbridge Wells | Lancashire | Wyre | Leicestershire | Historic Leicestershire | Historic Melton Mowbray | Lincolnshire | Boston | East Lindsey | East Lindsey | Hotels and Attractions in
Historic West Lindsey
| Lincoln | Merseyside | Liverpool, Merseyside, European Capital of Culture 2008 | Norfolk | South Norfolk | Northamptonshire | Corby | East Northamptonshire | Historic Kettering | Northampton | Northumberland | Berwick-upon-Tweed | Chillingham Castle | Historic Alnwick | Historic Northumberland | Nottinghamshire | Newark and Sherwood | Oxfordshire | Henley and South Oxfordshire | Historic North Oxfordshire | The Oxfordshire Cotswolds | Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire | Wallingford | Somerset | Exmoor and West Somerset | Frome | Taunton Deane and the Heart of Somerset | Staffordshire | Cannock Chase | County of Staffordshire | Stafford | Suffolk | Historic Suffolk Coast | Surrey | County of Surrey | Historic Guildford | Richmond upon Thames | Sussex | Ancient Rye | Chichester | Historic 1066 Country | Historic Mid Sussex | West Sussex | Warwickshire | Rugby | Warwickshire | Wiltshire | Heart of Wiltshire | Historic North Wiltshire | Historic Salisbury and Stonehenge | Swindon | Wiltshire | Worcestershire | Bromsgrove | Historic Worcestershire | Worcester | Wychavon | Yorkshire | Experience Wakefield | Harrogate | North York Moors National Park |

Scotland Heritage links

Fife | The Kingdom of Fife | Perth and Kinross | County of Perthshire |

Wales Heritage links

Cardiff | Cardiff | Conwy | Historic Conwy, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay | Gwynedd | Gwynedd and Snowdonia | Portmeirion | Merthyr Tydfil | Merthyr Tydfil | Powys | Mid Wales | Swansea | Swansea | Torfaen | Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
A UK World Heritage Site
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The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man Heritage links

Channel Islands | Guernsey | Historic Jersey | The Isle of Man | The Isle of Man |

County Information

England

Bath | Bedfordshire | Berkshire | Birmingham | Bristol | Buckinghamshire | Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | Cheshire | Cleveland | Cornwall | Cumbria | Derbyshire | Devon | Dorset | Durham County | Essex | Gloucestershire | Hampshire | Herefordshire | Hertfordshire | Isle of Wight | Kent | Lancashire | Leicestershire | Lincolnshire | Liverpool | London | Manchester | Merseyside | Norfolk | Northamptonshire | Northumberland | Nottinghamshire | Oxford | Oxfordshire | Rutland | Shropshire | Somerset | Staffordshire | Suffolk | Surrey | Sussex | Tyne and Wear | Warwickshire | West Midlands | Wiltshire | Worcestershire | York | Yorkshire |

Scotland

Aberdeenshire | Angus | Argyll, Mull, Bute | Ayrshire | Dumfries and Galloway | Dunbartonshire | Dundee | Edinburgh | Falkirk | Fife | Glasgow | Highlands and Islands | Isle of Arran | Kincardineshire | Lanarkshire | Lothian | Moray | Orkney Islands | Perth and Kinross | Renfrewshire | Scottish Borders | Shetland Islands | Stirlingshire |

Wales

Anglesey (Isle of) | Bridgend | Caerphilly | Cardiff | Carmarthenshire | Ceredigion | Conwy | Denbighshire | Flintshire | Gwent | Gwynedd | Merthyr Tydfil | Monmouthshire | Neath Port Talbot | Newport | Pembrokeshire | Powys | Rhondda | Swansea | Torfaen | Vale of Glamorgan | Wrexham |

Northern Ireland

Antrim | Belfast | Down | Fermanagh | Londonderry | Tyrone |

Ireland

Cavan | Clare | Cork | Donegal | Dublin | Galway | Kerry | Kildare | Kilkenny | Leitrim | Limerick | Mayo | Meath | Sligo | Tipperary | Waterford | Westmeath | Wexford | Wicklow |

The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man

Channel Islands | The Isle of Man |