Where is Northamptonshire?
In both episodes visiting this historic county, we referred to loads of interesting Northamptonshire-based things - and promised links and photos, so here they are:
Cobblers Nibble
Gary Bradshaw started making cheese professionally in 2013, producing the delicious ‘Cobblers Nibble’. His range has now increased to include ‘Northamptonshire Blue’, ‘Little Bertie’ and more.
The county’s first commercial cheesemaker for as long as most people can remember, Hamm Tun cheeses are made by hand in traditional open vats using pasteurised cows’ milk from a Northamptonshire Friesian herd.
Cobblers Nibble is a hard cheese described by Gary as a cross between Wensleydale, Brie and Stilton – a type of cheese unique to the county. Northamptonshire Blue is a semi-soft blue cheese with citrus notes. They are both delicious and dangerously moreish. Both have a distinctive natural rind produced during the ageing process.
Northamptonshire Boots
Northamptonshire’s shoemakers have almost 900 years experience in making boots and shoes. The plentiful supply of oak bark and water for tanning, abundant supply of leather from local cattle markets and a central location for trading links has made Northamptonshire the perfect place for shoemaking to flourish. Over the centuries, our craftsmen and designers have perfected their skills, processes and materials to make the finest shoes.
Almost every town and village in the county has had a flourishing footwear industry, each with its own distinct specialism. Long Buckby was famous for the very high quality of its long boots, Wollaston for its work boots. Towns like Rushden owe their character and size to the shoe industry.
Contemporary shoe makers such as Stamp Shoes bring modern style to traditional craft
Northamptonshire’s shoemakers have made the county famous across the globe as the place to buy your shoes. Northamptonshire makers provided boots for the American War of Independence and over two thirds of the 70 million pairs of footwear for the 1st World War.
Clangers
Clangers were a widely popular dish in Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, especially with farm labourers. These men, unlike factory workers, were not near enough to their home that they could get back for lunch. Instead they had clangers, a solid, filling meal to keep them working. Interestingly it managed to combine two different courses in one pastry. You could start eating at the meat end for the main course and move on to the jam end for pudding! The recipe here is a modern variation.
Ingredients
Pastry:
325g (11oz) self-raising flour
1tsp salt
100g (3½oz) shredded beef suet
50g (2oz) butter, chilled and chopped
1 egg, beaten
Garnish:
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp granulated sugar
Savoury filling:
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
225g (8oz) minced pork
1 tsp dried sage
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cooking apple
50g (2oz) frozen peas
Salt and black pepper to taste
Sweet filling:
2 cooking apples
50g (2oz) dates, stoned and chopped
Grated rind of 1 orange
50g (2oz) sultanas
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. To make the savoury filling, put the onion and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat for 2-3 mins, until the onion is soft and golden. Stir in the pork and sage and cook gently for 5 mins, stirring often. Peel, core and chop the apple and add it to the pork mix along with the Worcestershire sauce. Cook for a further 5 mins, then stir in the peas, season to taste and leave to cool.
To make the sweet filling, peel and chop the apples, then place in a mixing bowl and stir in the dates, orange rind, sultanas and sugar.
To make the pastry, mix the flour, salt, suet and chopped butter into a course breadcrumb-like consistency. Mix in about 125ml water and the beaten egg to form a smooth dough and knead for a minute. Roll the pastry on a floured surface to about ½cm thick and cut into two rectangles about 15cm (6in) long by 8cm (3in) wide, then brush the edge of the long end with beaten egg.
On one side of each pastry rectangle, put half of the savoury filling, and on the other put half of the sweet filling. Roll the pastry over the filling to form a sausage roll shape, and press the centre lightly so that the dividing strip sticks to the top. Push the edges together, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle the sweet half with sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 mins, then lower the heat to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 and bake for a further 25 mins. Serve hot or cold.
A Curious Fresh Cheese from Kirby Hall
This unusual version of a cheese came from the Kirby Hall Receipts (Recipes), and comes from the times of King Charles I. It’s rather different from anything we are likely to eat today!
Ingredients
3 pints cream
The whites of 12-20 eggs
The yolks of 8 eggs
Quarter of a pound of blanced and beaten Jordan almonds
Sugar (for seasoning)
Rosewater (for seasoning)
Method
Take three pints of creame, the whites of 20 or 12 eggs & the yolkes of 8. Beat them together and when your creame boyleth, put in your eggs, and when they are curdled draw the whey clean away from them, then rub them through a sieve with the back of a silver spoone. Mingle with the curds a quartron pound of Jordan Almonds blanched & finely beaten. Season with Sugar and Rose-water, remembering to boyle Mace in the creame. Fashion the curds thus prepar’d like a Hedge-Hog & in a silver bason with 2 Rasons for the eyes. Stick it with Almonds, being cut with prickles like a hedge-hogs backe. The prickles must be standing backwards & soe serve it up with creame & sugar.
Delapre Abbey
Northampton’s heritage treasure located just a mile or so from the town centre is alive with the possibilities of the present and surrounded by the echoes of the past.
Threatened with destruction many times during its 900 year history, Delapré Abbey has managed to survive and was part restored with support from West Northants Council, devoted volunteers and a £3.65 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. It opened to the public for the first time in 2018.
Delapré Abbey, a former Cluniac nunnery founded in 1145, has a rich history spanning nearly 900 years. Once a family home and battlefield site, it has evolved into a stunning heritage destination, offering visitors a glimpse into its fascinating past and beautiful gardens.
The Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby was fought on 14 June 1645 during the British Civil Wars. Sir Thomas Fairfax, Captain-General of Parliament's New Model Army, led his troops to victory over King Charles I.
Charles escaped, but the destruction of his forces meant that his ultimate defeat was simply a question of time.
A sombre procession of spectral men has been sighted numerous times, pushing carts down an old drovers’ road on the site.
In one sighting from 1949, a young couple taking a rest from a cycle ride was alarmed by the appearance of a group of dishevelled looking men clothed in leather jerkins and high boots, who disappeared promptly in front of their eyes.
In another incident, the sound of cannon fire was heard at the site, though nothing was to be seen for miles around…
Hunsbury Hill
Hunsbury Iron Age Hill Fort dates back to between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. The internal rampart at Hunsbury appears to have been burnt down and vitrified – such forts are rare in England.
Hunsbury Iron Age hill fort can be found in the middle of Hunsbury Hill Country Park. It is a scheduled monument currently on the “at risk” register.
The writing of a Conservation Management Plan followed by a successful Heritage Lottery bid submitted by the Friends of West Hunsbury Parks means that over the past year events and surveys have been carried out in the hillfort and surrounding parkland.
It is an important archaeological site and two surveys have been carried out in 1998 and 2008 and made recommendations which were never carried out because of a lack of funding.
Rockingham Castle
The earliest records of Rockingham is stated in the Domesday Book in 1066, which states that the site was held by the Saxon lord Bovi.
The Roman colonisers established a mining community, and remains of Roman coins and tiles have been found to the north of the Castle providing evidence for these settlements.
William The Conqueror, the new King of England, set about constructing a large number of stone castles, and recognised the site of Rockingham as a base for administration and hunting.
Originally, the Castle followed a standard Norman pattern with an outer bailey, curtain wall, square towers and a stone keep.
Edward I spent vast sums of money modernising the castle, adding windows and fireplaces into the Great Hall, and building a bedroom into the eaves for Queen Eleanor. He even added the surviving round towers, replacing the original square ones.
Commander Sir Michael Saunders, nephew of Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, arrived in Rockingham in 1971, alongside his wife Georgina and their children.
In 1999, Michael handed over the Castle and Estate to his eldest son James who continues to use it as his family home along with his wife Elizabeth, and their three children Eleanor, Beatrice and Henry.
The Great Fire of Northampton
The Great Fire of Northampton occurred in September 1675 in Northampton in Northamptonshire, England.
The blaze was caused by sparks from an open fire on St. Mary’s Street, near Northampton Castle. The fire devastated the town centre, destroying about 700 of the town's 850 buildings, including All Saints church, in six hours.
Kirby Hall
Kirby Hall, near Gretton in Northamptonshire, was built from Barnack stone between 1570-1575, for Sir Humphrey Stafford, whose motto, ‘Je seray loyal,’ and the date 1572, were to be seen over the porch of the great hall, and on some of the panels of the parapet one noted the inscription, ‘Hum Fre Sta fard.’
It had one-time represented the high-water mark of Renaissance building, before it degenerated into heaviness and over ornamentation.
Canons Ashby House
Canons Ashby was home to the Dryden family for over 400 years and has a rich history.
The name is made up of ‘Ashby’ meaning ‘farmstead’ and ‘Canons’ from the group of canons who founded the Augustinian Priory in the 12th century.
Within Canons Ashby's parkland is a mysterious mound, previously believed to be remains of the medieval village, geophysical surverys suggested there may actually be a great deal more going on.
Archaelogical digs were undertaken in 2014 and there is conjecture the mound could be home to the foundations of a Norman motte and bailey castle, located not far from the site of the medieval village.
The canons who founded the original Augustinian Priory at Canons Ashby, were a small order of no more than 13.
The Augustinians were ordained priests, who worked amongst the lay community with pastoral care part of their ethos.
In 1551, John Dryden from Cumberland married Elizabeth Cope, whose father owned the Canons Ashby estate. John and Elizabeth were given Wylkyn’s Farm by Sir John Cope.
John and Elizabeth built the tower house sometime after 1551 and then eventually joined the farmhouse to the tower house, creating the H-shaped manor house.
Lyveden New Bield
Set in the heart of rural Northamptonshire, Lyveden is a remarkable survivor of the Elizabethan age.
Begun by Sir Thomas Tresham to symbolise his Catholic faith, Lyveden remains incomplete and virtually unaltered since work stopped on his death in 1605.
There are tranquil moats, viewing terraces and an Elizabethan orchard to explore, as well as an enigmatic garden lodge covered in religious symbols. The full extent of Sir Thomas's symbolic design remains unexplained to this day.
Rushton Triangular Lodge
This delightful triangular building was designed by Sir Thomas Tresham (father of one of the Gunpowder Plotters) and constructed between 1593 and 1597.
It is a testament to Tresham’s Roman Catholicism: the number three, symbolising the Holy Trinity, is apparent everywhere.
There are three floors, trefoil windows and three triangular gables on each side.
On the entrance front is the inscription ‘Tres Testimonium Dant’ (‘there are three that give witness’), a Biblical quotation from St John’s Gospel referring to the Trinity.
It is also a pun on Tresham’s name; his wife called him ‘Good Tres’ in her letters.
Apethorpe Palace
Among England's greatest country houses, Apethorpe Palace holds a particularly important place in English history because of its ownership by, and role in, entertaining Tudor and Stuart monarchs.
Elizabeth I once owned the building, which she had inherited from Henry VIII. For a period, Apethorpe was a royal palace lived in regularly by James I and Charles I.
James I so loved Apethorpe that he personally contributed to its extension to make it more suitable for his 'princely recreation' and 'commodious entertainment', particularly for hunting in the nearby royal forest of Rockingham.
The resulting series of state rooms, including the King's Bedchamber and the impressive Long Gallery, is one of the most complete to survive from the Jacobean period.
Apethorpe Palace is a private residence but is open to the public by pre-booked guided tours during July and August.
The Drumming Well at Oundle
The earliest account of the Drumming Well is to be found in a letter of 29 February 1667/8 written from Coventry by Ralph Hope to 'Joseph Williamson Esqr. Secretary to the R'. Honble the Ld Arlington at Whitehall'.
This reads:
"...Here is much discourse of a strange well at Oundle in Northamptonsh: wherein has bene heard by many a kind of Druming in maner of a March for ye most part; and is said to be very Ominous, haveing bene heard heretofore, and always precedes some great accident.
"I wrote toth towne for an account of it, from whence I was informd of ye certaine truth of it, that it beat for about a fortnigh the ktter end oth last moneth and the begining of this, and in the very same maner was heard before the King's death, the Death of Crumwell, the King's coming in, the fire of London; this I had from a good hand, an inhabitant there: ye well is in the yard of one Dobbs..."
The Ruins of St John The Baptist Church
Boughton is a chocolate-boxy village just north of Northampton where for decades the wealthy of that town have chosen to live. Today it is threatened by its remorseless expansion.
But less than a mile to the east everything changes. This is the original site of Boughton and there you will find the ruins of the church of St John.
It has the reputation of being the most haunted site in Northamptonshire.
The Dun Cow's Rib at St Peter's, Stanion
from Wikipedia
Stanion existed before the Norman conquest, carrying the Old English place name of Stanerc – "stone arc."
The village church is dedicated to St Peter. Within the church there is a curious antiquity. This is a 7 ft long bone; tradition avers that it is actually part of the skeleton of a Dun Cow.
This was a fabled beast from English folklore, and according to various versions of the story the Stanion cow was either killed or died of a broken heart after being tricked by a witch.
The Hexham Heads
In February 1971, Colin and Leslie Robson were working in the garden of their family home when they stumbled onto what they thought was a treasure.
Digging in the garden, the boys hit something strange. As they dug around the strange object it appeared to them that it might be some sort of toy.
What they brought up were two, carved stone humanoid heads. Although these objects were small their impact on the family were anything but.
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