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Histories of Northamptonshire

Explore the Histories of Northamptonshire Interactive Timeline

Modern

1837 to Present

Industrial development, the extension of transport links, and social reforms create a growing Northamptonshire with a vibrant and diverse history to explore.

View summary
Victorian 1819 - 1854

Northampton Delineated - Print showing 100 Houses and Stately Homes

Print by George Clarke of Scaldwell showing 100 houses and stately homes of Northamptonshire - the county of squires and spires.

Early 19th century print depicting houses and stately homes in Northamptonshire © NMAG
Victorian 1838

William Knibb's Box

Wooden box presented to William Knibb (1803 - 1845), Baptist minister and abolition campaigner.

Wooden box made from differently woods of Jamaican trees and presented in 1838 to William Knibb © NMAG
Victorian 1840s

Brunel Broad Gauge Bridge Rail

The railway came to Northamptonshire in the mid-1800s with the Broad Gauge track of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway and a station at Aynho.

Length of iron broad gauge railway track © NMAG
Victorian 1860 - 90

Shoemaker's Bench

This shoemaker's bench is evidence of the shoemaking trade before mechanisation aand factory manufacture when solitary shoemakers mostly worked in small workshops in their home.

Shoemaker's wood and leather work bench © NMAG
Victorian 1863

Fountain Ball

This copper ball was added in the 1950s to the Victorian ornate cast iron fountain installed in the Market Square, Northampton.

Large copper ball added to the cast iron Victorian Market Square fountain in Northampton in 1954. © NMAG
1863

A “Time Capsule” hidden in the early 1860s

This tin can, 10.8cm tall, diameter 4.9cm, was discovered in the 1960s during the demolition of a row of houses in Burton Latimer called Wallis’s or Maycock’s Yard.

old tin can and written note on paper
1870

The Engine Shed - University of Northampton

The Engine Shed is a Grade II listed former railway building which was restored for the building of the new Univesrity of Northampton campus at Waterside, Northampton.

Engine shed northampton © Univesrity of Northampton
Victorian 1874

Bradlaugh Riot Cobblestone

Cobblestone from the Market Square, Northampton thrown during the Bradlaugh Riots of 1874.

Cobblestone from Market Square, Northampton. Thrown during Bradlaugh Riot in 1874 © NMAG