South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in 2011 was 85,189.[1]
The largest town in the district was Brackley, which had a population of 14,000 in 2008[2] followed by Towcester which has a population of nearly 10,000.[2] Other significant settlements in size included Deanshanger, Bugbrooke, Roade, King's Sutton, Silverstone and Middleton Cheney. Many of the villages listed have populations exceeding 1000.[n 1]
Geography
Elevations and shape
The northern half of the district was generally higher than the south, reaching 192m AOD[3] northeast of the centre of Aston-le-Walls, and 182m on the road east of Culworth, a village which also rests on top of the ridge following the general WSW line of the county and of the district but except for this is north of the district. This ridge is part of the Jurassic Way.[n 2] Lower parts are at 85m AOD (above mean sea level) in the southwest corner[n 3] and 50m (160ft) AOD in the northeast.[n 4]
The district was shaped approximately like the Christian cross in an ENE orientation extending from its top at the southeast of Northampton and reaching to a north–south line south-by-southeast of Banbury, Oxfordshire. An additional arm near its foot reached north through the large village of Chipping Warden to Upper Boddington.
Soil and geology
Land was taken up with for the most part with arable agriculture peppered by villages, however allows space for two towns of significant size. Supporting this [4] is a regular interspersion of two high fertility types of soil for most plants and crops: freely draining slightly acid but base-rich; and lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage soils, on a default (generally slightly lower) soil of slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils (of medium fertility). The district in terms of watercourses had sources and headwaters of the rivers Cherwell, Great Ouse and Nene.[3]
With just over 79,293 people in 2000[5] and 91,000 in 2008, a 14.8% increase.[2]
The growth in population between 2001 and 2007 was the third largest of all districts in the country and consisted of 35,700 households.[6]
The district was notable for the proportion of and growth in detached houses, and the district was one of a tiny proportion to have seen a growth in the proportion of this type of home relative to other types between 2001 and 2011.[7]
In March 2018 at Northamptonshire County Council, following financial and cultural mismanagement by the cabinet and officers, the then Secretary of State for Local Government, Sajid Javid, sent commissioner Max Caller into the council, who recommended the county council and all district and borough councils in the county be abolished, and replaced by two unitary authorities, one covering the West, and one the North of the county.[8] These proposals were approved in April 2019. It meant that the districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire were merged to form a new unitary authority called West Northamptonshire, whilst the second unitary authority North Northamptonshire consists of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough districts. These new authorities came into being on 1 April 2021.[9] Elections for the new authorities were due to be held on 7 May 2020, but were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]
1 2 3 South Northamptonshire Council (2009). "State of the Districts Economy in 2009" base on Office for National Statistics data. Towcester: SNC. p.5.
Northamptonshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is known as "The Rose of the Shires".
Towcester is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council.
Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, 19 miles (31 km) from Oxford and 22 miles (35 km) from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham, the Midlands, Cambridge and Oxford. Brackley is close to Silverstone and home to the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.
Harpole is a village 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Northampton, England, along the A4500 road about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the M1 Motorway junction 16.
Potterspury is a populous village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population was 1,453 people.
The Honour of Grafton is a contiguous set of manors in the south of Northamptonshire, England up to the county's eastern border with Buckinghamshire. Its dominant legacies are semi-scattered Whittlewood Forest and a William Kent wing of Wakefield Lodge in the body of that woodland.
Daventry is a constituency in Northamptonshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Chris Heaton-Harris of the Conservative Party, who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2022.
Northampton South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Andrew Lewer, a Conservative.
Bugbrooke is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Nene.
The Northamptonshire Combination Football League is a football competition based in England. It has a total of five divisions with many reserve teams competing in the bottom three. The most senior league is the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 of the National League System.
South Northamptonshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 recreation by Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative who served as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy until 13 February 2020. She was Leader of the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019, and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2017. The seat of South Northamptonshire is considered a Conservative safe seat with having elected a Conservative MP at every election for 110 Years. Current Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom was re-elected in 2019 with an increased majority.
Deanshanger is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, west-northwest of Milton Keynes. In 2007 it was joined with the civil parish of Wicken to form Deanshanger ward, returning two councillors. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 3,817. Deanshanger is 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London, 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Milton Keynes and 52 miles (83 km) southeast of Birmingham.
Gayton is a rural village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Northampton town centre. The village is situated on a hill close to the larger villages of Bugbrooke, Milton Malsor and Blisworth, with a linked public footpath network. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 544.
Kislingbury is a village in Northamptonshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) west of Northampton town centre, and close to junctions 15A and 16 of the M1 motorway.
West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other significant towns are Daventry, Brackley and Towcester; the rest of the area is predominantly agricultural villages though it has many lakes and small woodlands and is passed through by the West Coast Main Line and the M1 and M40 motorways, thus hosting a relatively high number of hospitality attractions as well as distribution centres as these are key English transport routes. Close to these is the leisure-use Grand Union Canal.
The Elizabeth Woodville School, in Northamptonshire, England, is a secondary school with academy status, run by the Tove Learning Trust. It was formed by the merger of Roade Sports College and Kingsbrook Specialist Business and Enterprise College in 2011. It is located at two sites in the villages of Deanshanger, and Roade, both in South Northamptonshire. The merged school was named after Elizabeth Woodville, who was born in Grafton Regis, halfway between the two sites, and was Queen consort of King Edward IV.
The Northamptonshire Football Association, also simply known as the Northamptonshire FA, is the governing body of football in the English county of Northamptonshire.
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