Northamptonshire

Northants
Northants
Ceremonial county
	Coordinates: 52°18′N 0°48′W / 52.300°N 0.800°WCoordinates: 52°18′N 0°48′W / 52.300°N 0.800°W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East Midlands
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	7 MPs
Police	Northamptonshire Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	James Saunders Watson
High Sheriff	Amy Louise Crawfurd (2024/25)
Area	2,364 km2 (913 sq mi)
• Ranked	24th of 48
Population (2005 est.)	651,800
• Ranked	33rd of 48
Density	275/km2 (710/sq mi)
Ethnicity	85.7% White British; 4.7% Other White; 2.5% Asian British; 2.5% Black British; 4.6% Other;
Unitary authorities
Councils	West Northamptonshire Council; North Northamptonshire Council
Districts
	; Districts of Northamptonshire; Unitary:; West Northamptonshire; North 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 (52°6′N 1°17′W / 52.100°N 1.283°W / 52.100; -1.283) 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.^[3]^[4] The golf club is used by various local residents.

Places

A photo-montage of the village of King's Sutton in western Northamptonshire. It lies just south east of Banbury in Oxfordshire.

A photo-montage of the village of King's Sutton railway station in western Northamptonshire. It is served by both First Great Western and Chiltern Railways servaces to and from Banbury.

These are the main settlements in Northamptonshire with a town charter, a population over 5,000, or otherwise notable.

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.

Northamptonshire Media

The historic boundaries of the county shown in John Speed's map of the county in his Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, c. 1611. A depiction of the town of Northampton is inset in the top left, and the city of Peterborough in the bottom right.
Kilworth Wharf on the Grand Union Canal
Silverstone adds millions every year to the local economy - Kimi Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Silverstone in April 2006
Brackley bypass on the A43
The Grand Union Canal at Braunston
An East Midlands Trains service approaching Wellingborough on the Midland Main Line
Sywell Aerodrome Tower and Hangars
BBC Radio Northampton's Broadcasting House