Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or N'hants) is a county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). It has borders with Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire (including the Borough of Milton Keynes), Oxfordshire, and Lincolnshire (England's shortest county boundary: 19 metres). The county town is Northampton.

Northamptonshire has often been called the county of "squires and spires" due to its wide variety of historic buildings and country houses.

Northampton is by far the largest town in the county, with a population of 194,122. This is followed by Corby (53,174), Wellingborough (48,428), Kettering (47,000), Rushden (25,849) and Daventry (22,367). Most of the county's population is concentrated in a central north-south.

Cherwell Edge in Northamptonshire () is near the River Cherwell, north-west of Banbury, England. The once heavily wooded hill and valley was mostly cleared many years ago. The area now also covers the nearby Cherwell Edge Golf Club that was recently built by it too. The golf club is used by various local residents.

 Places 

These are the main settlements in Northamptonshire with a town charter, a population over 5,000, or otherwise notable.
 Brackley
 Braunston
 Brixworth
 Corby
 Daventry
 Kettering
 Long Buckby
 Naseby
 Northampton
 Oundle
 Pitsford
 Raunds
 Rothwell
 Rushden
 Silverstone
 Towcester
 Thrapston
 Weedon Bec
 Wellingborough

Two major canals - the Oxford and the Grand Union — join in the county at Braunston.
A branch of the Grand Union Canal connects to the River Nene in Northampton.
Two trunk railway routes, the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line traverse the county.
Before nationalisation of the railways in 1948 and the creation of British Railways, Northamptonshire was home to three of the "Big Four" railway companies; the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London and North Eastern Railway and Great Western Railway. Only the Southern Railway was not represented.

Related pages
 Aynho
 Aynho House
 King's Sutton
 King's Sutton Railway Station

References

 Other websites 

 1894/5 description 
 Northants Forum


Category:Ceremonial counties of England