Northamptonshire
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

Set in the very centre of England, Northamptonshire is sometimes called the “Rose of the Shires.” There are various hillforts in the county, as at Borough Hill and Rainsborough Camp, reflecting the divisions and tensions of Iron Age Britain. After the Roman invasion, the area became home to elite residences like the villa at Piddington as well as several Roman settlements, now beneath modern towns like Irchester and Towcester. Northamptonshire’s varied medieval heritage includes the rare Anglo-Saxon church at Earls Barton, the earthworks of Fotheringhay Castle, and the 13th-century Eleanor Crosses at Geddington and Hardingstone. One of the most unusual buildings in the county, and perhaps all of England, is the 16th-century Rushton Triangular Lodge. The county town of Northampton developed during the Middle Ages and later became a major international hub for shoemaking, a heritage explored at the Northampton Shoe Museum.