Stand in the right spot in Northampton, somewhere between Marefair, Gregory Street, and Free School Street, and you’ll find… a car park. Nothing remarkable. A stretch of… Read more “The Car Park in the Centre of England”
Author: Jack Preston
Magna Carta and the First Barons’ War – Northamptonshire
The Magna Carta was signed and sealed Runnymede by King John in 1215. But the story didn’t begin in Surrey. It began here, in Northamptonshire. From Brackley… Read more “Magna Carta and the First Barons’ War – Northamptonshire”
Northamptonshire and the Anarchy – England’s First Civil War
Long before “the” English Civil War of the 1640s, England had already torn itself apart in a number of other brutal internal conflicts. The first of these… Read more “Northamptonshire and the Anarchy – England’s First Civil War”
How Northampton Caused the Norman Conquest
People tend to think the Norman Conquest began in 1066, on a battlefield. But the fuse was lit a decade earlier, and rather closer to home. It… Read more “How Northampton Caused the Norman Conquest”
Jury Trials – Made in Northamptonshire
Trial by jury feels like one of those things that has always existed, part of the natural furniture of English justice. But it had to start somewhere.… Read more “Jury Trials – Made in Northamptonshire”
The Petrifying Spring of Boughton
During his travels across Britain, writer Daniel Defoe stopped by Boughton House. His hosts showed him a spring which they insisted would “petrify” anything left within its… Read more “The Petrifying Spring of Boughton”
When Medieval Monarchs Spent Christmas in Northamptonshire
1164, Northampton Castle During the Autumn and Winter of 1164, Northampton stood at the centre of royal drama. King Henry II was at Northampton Castle for one… Read more “When Medieval Monarchs Spent Christmas in Northamptonshire”
The World’s First Gas Cooked Dinner Party
In the early 1830s, while most households still relied on smoky coal ranges and temperamental open fires, something remarkable was happening in Northampton. Inside a lecture room… Read more “The World’s First Gas Cooked Dinner Party”
Kettering’s Shoemaking Revolution
Kettering in the early Nineteenth Century was a centre of the shoemaking trade; not yet with the great factories of later years, but a growing trade that… Read more “Kettering’s Shoemaking Revolution”
The Demon Doll of Finedon
As the nights grow longer and the mists settle over Northamptonshire’s lanes, tales begin to stir … tales of strange happenings and things best left behind locked… Read more “The Demon Doll of Finedon”
Jack Preston 