1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
East Midlands
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The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. The eastern part of the Midlands, it consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, the region has an area of 15,627 km2, and was home to over 4.5 million people in 2011. The regions relative proximity to London and its connectivity on the national motorway and it is also the location of East Midlands Airport in north Leicestershire. The high point at 636 m is Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop. Other upland, hilly areas of 95 to 280 m in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Leicester, and in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The regions major rivers, the Nene, the Soar, the Trent and the Welland, flow in a direction towards the Humber. The Derwent, conversely, rises in the High Peak before flowing south to join the Trent some 2 miles before its conflux with the Soar, the centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham, Nottinghamshire and Bottesford, Leicestershire. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on the Hill in west Leicestershire, some 88% of the land is rural in character, although agriculture accounts for less than three per cent of the regions jobs. Lincolnshire is the only county of the six, with a true North Sea coastline of about 30 miles due to the protection afforded by Spurn Head. Church Flatts Farm in Coton in the Elms, South Derbyshire, is the furthest place from the sea in the UK, in April 1936 the first Ordnance Survey trig point was sited at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and The Wildlife Trusts are based next to the River Trent, the National Centre for Earth Observation is at the University of Leicester. The region is home to large quantities of limestone, and the East Midlands Oil Province, Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old. 25% of the UKs cement is manufactured in the region at three sites in Hope and Tunstead in Derbyshire, and in Ketton Cement Works in Rutland. Of the aggregates that are produced in the region, 25% is from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire each produce around 30% of the regions sand and gravel output. Barwell in Leicestershire had Britains largest meteorite on 24 December 1965, the 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was 5.2 magnitude. Rockingham Forest was designated as a hunting forest by William the Conqueror. The National Forest is a project in central England run by The National Forest Company. It stretches from the outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west
4.
Northamptonshire
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Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 629,000, the county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and seven non-metropolitan district councils. Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands region, apart from the county town of Northampton, other large population centres include Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden and Daventry. Northamptonshires county flower is the cowslip, there are two more possible hill-forts at Arbury Hill and Thenford. In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, the Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in 43 AD. The Roman road of Watling Street passed through the county, there were other Roman settlements at Northampton, Kettering and along the Nene Valley near Raunds. A large fort was built at Longthorpe, after the Romans left, the area eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and Northampton functioned as an administrative centre. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 AD with the death of the pagan king Penda, Northamptonshire was conquered again in 940, this time by the Vikings of York, who devastated the area, only for the county to be retaken by the English in 942. Consequently, it is one of the few counties in England to have both Saxon and Danish town-names and settlements, the county was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as Hamtunscire, the scire of Hamtun. The North was added to distinguish Northampton from the other important Hamtun further south, Rockingham Castle was built for William the Conqueror and was used as a Royal fortress until Elizabethan times. In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Northampton took place, the now-ruined Fotheringhay Castle was used to imprison Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution. George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, was born into the Washington family who had migrated to America from Northamptonshire in 1656. George Washingtons ancestor, Lawrence Washington, was Mayor of Northampton on several occasions and it was George Washingtons great-grandfather, John Washington, who emigrated in 1656 from Northants to Virginia. Before Washingtons ancestors moved to Sulgrave, they lived in Warton, King Charles I was imprisoned at Holdenby House in 1647. In 1823 Northamptonshire was said to a pure and wholesome air because of its dryness. Its livestock were celebrated, Horned cattle, and other animals, are fed to extraordinary sizes, in summer, the county hosted a great number of wealthy families. Country seats and villas are to be seen at every step, Northamptonshire is still referred to as the county of spires and squires because of the numbers of stately homes and ancient churches. In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Northamptonshire and the area became industrialised
5.
Conservative Party (UK)
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The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently the party, having won a majority of seats in the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. The partys leader, Theresa May, is serving as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in government with 8,702 councillors. The Conservative Party is one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, the other being its modern rival. The Conservative Partys platform involves support for market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defence, deregulation. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives main rivals, Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Thatchers tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation, the Conservative Partys domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has led to them being referred to as one of the most successful political parties in the Western world. The Conservatives are the joint-second largest British party in the European Parliament, with twenty MEPs, the party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Europarty and the International Democrat Union. The party is the second-largest in the Scottish Parliament and the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly, the party is also organised in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The Conservative Party traces its origins to a faction, rooted in the 18th century Whig Party and they were known as Independent Whigs, Friends of Mr Pitt, or Pittites. After Pitts death the term Tory came into use and this was an allusion to the Tories, a political grouping that had existed from 1678, but which had no organisational continuity with the Pittite party. From about 1812 on the name Tory was commonly used for the newer party, the term Conservative was suggested as a title for the party by a magazine article by J. Wilson Croker in the Quarterly Review in 1830. The name immediately caught on and was adopted under the aegis of Sir Robert Peel around 1834. Peel is acknowledged as the founder of the Conservative Party, which he created with the announcement of the Tamworth Manifesto, the term Conservative Party rather than Tory was the dominant usage by 1845. In 1912, the Liberal Unionists merged with the Conservative Party, in Ireland, the Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed in 1891 which merged anti-Home Rule Unionists into one political movement. Its MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster, and in essence formed the Irish wing of the party until 1922. The Conservatives served with the Liberals in an all-party coalition government during World War I, keohane finds that the Conservatives were bitterly divided before 1914, especially on the issue of Irish Unionism and the experience of three consecutive election losses
6.
Higham Ferrers
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Higham Ferrers is a market town in the Nene Valley in East Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated population of 7,145. The town centre contains many buildings around the Market Square. Henry Chichele was born in Higham Ferrers and he was Archbishop of Canterbury and founded All Souls College, Oxford. In 1422 Higham Ferrers School was founded, the second Charter was granted in 1556 in the reign of Mary Tudor. For many years the town provided a seat for a supporter of the Crown nominated by the Duchy of Lancaster. When James I came to the throne the opportunity was taken to obtain a confirmation and further extension of civic powers, again after the Restoration of Charles II to the throne and the passing of the Corporations Act of 1662 the liberties were confirmed and extended. The town was a borough and sent one MP to the unreformed House of Commons until it was stripped of its representation by the Reform Act 1832. This Charter is the one of the towns charters written in English. The castle is thought to have been not long after the Norman Conquest in 1066. However towards the end of the 15th century the castle suffered years of neglect and it was finally demolished in 1523 and the stone removed to build Kimbolton Castle. A grass bank and a pond are all that remain of the defensive earthworks, in the garden of the Green Dragon Inn, formerly within the area of the outer ward of the castle, are the remains of a rectangular dove-house. Higham Ferrers is twinned with Hachenburg in Germany, historically, the town was at the crossroads of the A45 east-west route from Northampton to Cambridge, and the A6 north-south road from London to Leicester. It was a busy junction as both were long-distance transport corridors, the A45 bypassed the town in the early 1990s with a dual-carriageway, the former route becoming the B645. As the A6 carried less traffic, a bypass around Higham Ferrers and Rushden came later, opening on 14 August 2003, Higham Ferrers railway station was the terminus of a short railway branch line on the Midland Railway from Wellingborough. There was a station at Rushden. The station closed to services in 1959 and closed completely in 1969 with the end of goods services. Nowadays, the nearest operational station is at Wellingborough about four miles away
7.
William the Conqueror
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William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward, after a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Roberts mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, during his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047 William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy and his marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and his consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine. In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 and he made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 Williams hold on England was mostly secure, Williams final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France and his reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, Williams lands were divided after his death, Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England. Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century, permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement surrendering the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma of Normandy, sister of Duke Richard II, as his second wife in 1002
8.
RAF Spanhoe
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RAF Spanhoe is a former World War II airfield in Northamptonshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 4 miles east of Uppingham, about 80 miles north-northwest of London Opened in 1943, during the war it was used primarily as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1945, today, much of the airfield has been returned to agriculture, however one runway remains and the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft. The airfield was known as USAAF Station AAF-493 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war and its USAAF Station Code was UV. On 8 July 1944 two C47s of the 315th collided shortly after take-off for an exercise, one crew member managed to parachute safely but eight others and 26 Polish paratroops perished in the crash at Tinwell, near Stamford. Between 6/116 April 1945, the 315th TCG moved from Spanhoe to their Advanced Landing Ground at Amiens/Glisy airfield, in 1946 RAF Spanhoe was closed and returned to the farmers from whom it had been requisitioned. On 12 August 1960 a Vickers Valiant, BK1 XD864 of No.7 Squadron, while sorting it out the aircraft stalled and crashed into the ground at Spanhoe airfield. All five of the crew were killed, between 1964 and 1967 the airfield was used by Perkins Engines Gliding Club, laterly known as Welland Gliding Club. The gliding clubs origins were Perkins Engines Sports Association of Peterborough, in the 1970s, the north and west areas were excavated for iron ore and today little of the airfield remains. The 02/20 secondary runway is visible in aerial photography As of 2007. It is also the home of Windmill Aviation, the south-western taxiway is now runway 27, and the southeast section of the wartime 14/32 runway was re-opened in 2004. Some of the wartime Nissen huts are in use and a new hangar, a memorial obelisk on the approach road to the airfield commemorates the 315th Troop Carrier Group and a memorial in Tinwell Church commemorates US and Polish victims of the C-47 collision. List of former Royal Air Force stations This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, freeman, Roger A. UK Airfields of the Ninth, Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0 Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History, Crash of Vickers Valiant XD864,12 August 1960 Crash of Vickers Valiant XD864,12 August 1960 An alternative View
9.
RAF Polebrook
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Royal Air Force Station Polebrook or more simply RAF Polebrook is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 miles east-south-east of Oundle, at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England. The airfield was built on Rothschild estate land starting in August 1940, RAF Polebrook was the first airfield to be completed out of a number in the Northamptonshire/Huntingdonshire area which were laid down for RAF Bomber Command during late 1940 and early 1941. Like other airfields in the program at the time, Polebrook was built by George Wimpey & Co. The initial construction was of three runways, the concrete runway lengths were 08-26 at 1,280 yards, 14-32 at 1,200 yards, in addition, thirty square hardstands most on the eastern side, were reached by very long access tracks. The weapons store was unusual in that it lay within the track at the southern end. One Type J and two Type T-2 hangars were erected on the site outside the northern perimeter with the domestic sites dispersed in woodland beyond. One of the first units to operate from the airfield was No.90 Squadron RAF, several of the hardstands and taxiways were still under construction when the squadron arrived. No.90 Squadron was equipped with the American B-17C, called Fortress 1 by the RAF, although the US Army Air Forces did not consider the B-17C as being combat ready, the RAF was sufficiently desperate in 1941 that these planes were immediately pressed into front-line service. The Fortresses were used for very high-altitude attacks in daylight, the first operation from Polebrook being flown on 8 July 1941 when three Fortresses were dispatched on a raid to Wilhelmshaven. Engine trouble forced one of the planes to divert to a second target, unfortunately, the planes were not able to hit anything from such extreme altitudes. In addition, their crews found that the temperatures at this altitude were so cold that their machine guns froze up when they tried to fire them. However, all returned safely to base. Their last raid launched from Polebrook was on September 2,1941, RAF Fortresses had flown 22 attacks against targets such as Bremen, Brest, Emden, Kiel, Oslo, and Rotterdam. A total of 39 planes had been dispatched, out of eighteen planes had aborted. Eight Fortresses had been destroyed in combat or lost in accidents, discouraged by these losses, the RAF decided to abandon daylight bombing raids over Europe. Although two Fortresses were missing from operations, the only loss resulting from a raid flown from Polebrook involved a badly battle-damaged aircraft that landed at a south-coast airfield. Nevertheless, their British crews generally were quite pleased with the Fortress I, regarding it as easy to fly, very maneuverable, the short runways at Polebrook were found to be unsatisfactory for the operation of the heavy-loaded, four-engine B-17. In 1942 the airfield was improved to Class A airfield standards, the main runway was extended to 1,950 yards and the secondary runways to 1,400 yards each
10.
RAF Chelveston
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During the Second World War the airfield was occupied by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces. It was given the USAAF designation Station 105, during the Cold War, Chelveston housed some flying units, however its main role was that of a readiness station to receive USAF units from the United States in case of an emergency. Construction of Chelveston began in 1940 with short runways and three hangars grouped together. The airfield opened in August 1941 as a RAF station and it was first used for the Central Gunnery School, then the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment took over with its gliders. However, the landing strips were deemed unsuitable for heavy 4-engine bombers, so concrete runways were constructed along with taxiways. The airfield was upgraded to Class A airfield standards before being used by the U. S, Eighth Air Force as a heavy bomber airfield. The first USAAF unit to occupy Chelveston was the 60th Troop Carrier Group, the 60th consisted of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 26th squadrons, equipped with 53 C-47 aircraft. The 60th arrived in early July, but its stay was brief, after its training in the UK, the unit moved on to the 12th Air Force for operations in the Mediterranean theater. On 9 August 1942, the 301st Bombardment Group took up residence on the station, the 301st was assigned to the 1st Combat Wing at Brampton Grange. Its operational squadrons were the 32d, 352d, 353d, 354th and 415th Bomb Squadrons, the unit was the second heavy USAAF bomber group to arrive in England. It flew its first operational mission on 5 September 1942 to the Rouen marshalling yards in northern France, during its stay at Chelveston, the unit attacked submarine pens, airfields, railroads, bridges, and other targets on the Continent, primarily in France. The 301st BG was allocated to Operation Torch, and on 26 November 1942 it departed for the Twelfth Air Force, being moved to Tafaraoui Airfield, the next group to use Chelveston was the 305th Bombardment Group, moving in from RAF Grafton Underwood in December 1942. The 305th Bomb Group was one of the most decorated USAAF bomb groups in the European Theater, the 305th BG was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing at RAF Thurleigh. The group tail code was a Triangle G and its operational squadrons were the 364th, 365th, 366th and 422d Bomb Squadrons, each initially equipped with B-17Fs, then upgraded to the B-17G in 1944. During the winter of 1942/43, the 305th was commanded by Colonel Curtis LeMay and these fundamental procedures and techniques were later adapted to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress which fought the war to its conclusion in the Pacific. The 305th BG bombed the navy yards at Wilhelmshaven on 27 January 1943 when heavy bombers of Eighth AF made their first penetration into Germany. Through mid-1943, the group attacked strategic targets as submarine pens, docks, harbours, shipyards, motor works, and marshalling yards in France, Germany, during the second half of 1943, the unit began deeper penetration into enemy territory to strike heavy industry. A second Distinguished Unit Citation was awarded to the 305th for withstanding severe opposition to bomb factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944
11.
Corby
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Corby is a town and borough located in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is located 23 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton, the borough had a population of 61,300 at the 2011 Census. Figures released in March 2010 revealed that Corby has the fastest growing population in both Northamptonshire and the whole of England, the Borough of Corby borders onto the Borough of Kettering, the District of East Northamptonshire, the District of Harborough and the unitary authority county of Rutland. The town was at one time known locally as Little Scotland due to the number of Scottish migrant workers who came to Corby for its steelworks. Recently, Corby has undergone a regeneration process with the opening of Corby railway station and Corby International Pool in 2009. This is home to Corby Borough Council offices and also houses a 450 seat theatre, the Borough of Corby consists of the town of Corby, as well as the villages of Weldon, Rockingham, Gretton, Cottingham, Middleton, East Carlton, Stanion and Little Stanion. Mesolithic and Neolithic artefacts have been found in the area surrounding Corby, the first evidence of permanent settlement comes from the 8th century when Danish invaders arrived and the settlement became known as Koris by – Koris settlement. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Corbei, Corbys emblem, the raven, derives from an alternative meaning of this word. These Danish roots were recognised in the naming of the most southern of the housing estates, Danesholme. Corby was granted the right to two annual fairs and a market by Henry III in 1226. In 1568 Corby was granted a charter by Elizabeth I that exempted local landowners from tolls, dues, a popular legend is that the Queen was hunting in Rockingham Forest when she either fell from her horse or became trapped in a bog whilst riding. Upon being rescued by villagers from Corby she granted the charter in gratitude for her rescue, another popular explanation is that it was granted as a favour to her alleged lover Sir Christopher Hatton. The Corby Pole Fair is an event that has taken place every 20 years since 1862 in celebration of the charter, the next pole fair is to be held in 2022. The local area has worked for iron ore since Roman times. An ironstone industry developed in the 19th century with the coming of the railways, by 1910 an ironstone works had been established. In 1931 Corby was a village with a population of around 1,500. The start of construction in 1934 drew workers from all over the country including many workers from the depressed west of Scotland, the first steel was produced in October 1935 and for decades afterwards the steel works dominated the town. By 1939 the population had grown to around 12,000, at which time Corby was thought to be the largest village in the country, but it was at that point that Corby was re-designated an urban district
12.
Henry Chichele
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Henry Chichele, was an English archbishop and founder of All Souls College, Oxford. Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364, Chicheley told Pope Eugene IV, in 1443, in asking leave to retire from the archbishopric, that he was in his eightieth year. Chicheles occupation does not appear but his eldest son, William, is on the earliest extant list of the Grocers Company, on 9 June 1405 Chichele was admitted, in succession to his father, to a burgage in Higham Ferrers. His mother, Agnes Pincheon, is said to have been of gentle birth, there is therefore no foundation in fact for the account that Henry Chichele, as a poor ploughboy eating his scanty meal off his mothers lap, was picked up by William of Wykeham. This story was unknown to Arthur Duck, Fellow of All Souls, biog. to cover the mistaken supposition that St Marys College was not founded till 1393. St Marys College was in fact founded in 1382. Chichele appears in the Hall-books of New College up to the year 1392/93 and he was then already beneficed, receiving a royal ratification of his estate as parson of Llanvarchell in the diocese of St Asaph on 20 March 1391/92. In the Hall-book, marked 1393/94, but really for 1394/95 and he had then left Oxford and gone up to London to practise as an advocate in the principal ecclesiastical court, the Court of Arches. Like other ecclesiastical lawyers and civil servants of the day Chichele was paid with ecclesiastical preferments and this year Chicheles brother Robert was senior sheriff of London. On 7 May 1404, Pope Boniface IX provided him to a prebend at Lincoln, notwithstanding he already held prebends at Salisbury, Lichfield, St Martins-le-Grand and Abergwyly, and the living of Brington. On 9 January 1405 he found time to attend a court at Higham Ferrers, in 1406 renewed efforts were made to stop the schism, and Chichele was one of the envoys sent to the new Pope Gregory XII. On 31 August 1407 Guy Mone, bishop of St Davids, died, another bull the same day gave him the right to hold all his benefices with the bishopric. He was consecrated on 17 June 1408 and these, together with Benedicts revolting cardinals, summoned a general council at Pisa. In November 1408 Chichele was back at Westminster, when Henry IV received the cardinal archbishop of Bordeaux, obedience was withdrawn from both the existing popes, and on 26 June a new pope elected instead of them. Accordingly, he had to resign livings and canonries wholesale. In May 1410 he went again on an embassy to France, on 11 September 1411 he headed a mission to discuss Henry Vs marriage with a daughter of the duke of Burgundy, and he was again there in November. In the interval Chichele found time to visit his diocese for the first time, on 30 November 1411 Chichele, with two other bishops and three earls and the prince of Wales, knelt to the king to receive public thanks for their administration. That he was in favour with Henry V is shown by his being sent with the earl of Warwick to France in July 1413 to conclude peace
