Kettering is a market and industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England. It lies west of Cambridge, south-west of Peterborough, south-east of Leicester and north-east of Northampton; it is west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ketter's people (or kinsfolk)".R.L. Greenall: A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, . p.7.
At the 2021 census, Kettering had a population of 63,150. It is part of the East Midlands, along with the rest of Northamptonshire.
Early history Kettering means "the place (or territory) of Ketter's people (or kinsfolk)". Spelt variously Cytringan, Kyteringas and Keteiringan in the 10th century, although the origin of the name appears to have baffled place-name scholars in the 1930s, words and place-names ending with "-ing" usually derive from the Anglo-Saxon or Old English suffix -inga or -ingas, meaning "the people of the" or "tribe".
Before the Romans, the area, like much of Northamptonshire's prehistoric countryside, appears to have remained somewhat intractable with regards to early human occupation, resulting in an apparently sparse population and relatively few finds from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.19. About 700 BC the use of iron spread into the area from the continent.R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.20. Between then and about 300BC two alignments of hill forts appear to have been constructed, with roughly even spacing between each fort on each chain. One of the alignments was along the north western side of the county with one of them possibly at Desborough. Iron Age finds have been discovered there including the Desborough Mirror but the existence of that fort cannot be proved because the probable site has been quarried away. The other alignment was along the Nene Valley, roughly parallel to the first. One of these forts was at Irthlingborough and it was discovered in 1984. An archaeological investigation there found early Iron Age pottery and showed that a wooden structure there with a stockade was burnt down at some stage.
Roman Like most of what later became Northamptonshire, from late in the 1st century BC the Kettering area became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, the Northamptonshire area forming their most northerly possession.Ingram. Northampton 5000 years of history Page 6 The Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in AD 43.
The town traces its origins to an early, unwalled Romano-British settlement, the remnants of which lie under the northern part of the modern town. Occupied until the 4th century, there is evidence that a substantial amount of iron smelting took place on the site.R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, . P. 9. Along with the Forest of Dean and the Weald of Kent and Sussex, this area of Northamptonshire "was one of the three great centres of iron-working in Roman Britain". The settlement reached as far as the Weekley and Geddington parishes. However, it is felt unlikely that the site was continuously occupied from the Romano-British into the Anglo-Saxon era.R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, . P. 10. Excavations have revealed that the site at Weekly had been used for agriculture during the later Iron Age and a fortified enclosure had been constructed during the first century BC. During the first century AD lime kilns and kilns for making pottery were constructed. The site appears to have been occupied until about a hundred and fifty years after the Roman conquest. That would be until about 190 to 200 AD.Jackson, Dennis;
work cited pp 81-87, 112,113,125,126,130,131,
. Pottery kilns have also been unearthed at nearby Barton Seagrave and Boughton.
Saxon Excavations in the early 20th century either side of Stamford road (A43), near the site of the former Prime Cut factory (now the Warren public house), revealed an extensive early Saxon burial site, consisting of at least a hundred cremation urns dating to the 5th century AD. This suggests that it may have been among the earliest Anglo-Saxon penetrations into the interior of what later became England. The prefix Wic- of the nearby village of Weekley may also signify Anglo-Saxon activities in the area; Greenall reports that it could be "an indication of foederati, Anglo-Saxon mercenaries brought in to boost the defences of the Empire." This was established imperial policy, which the Romano-British continued after Rome withdrew from Britain around 410, with disastrous consequences for the Romano-Britons.
By the 7th century the lands that would eventually become Northamptonshire formed part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.26. The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 with the death of the pagan king Penda.R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.29. From about 889 the Kettering area, along with much of Northamptonshire (and at one point almost all of England except for Athelney marsh in Somerset), was conquered by the Danes and became part of the Danelaw, with the ancient trackway of Watling Street serving as the border, until being recaptured by the English under the Wessex king Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great, in 917. 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.Michael Wood: The Domesday Quest, BBC Books, 1986 . p. 90.
It is unlikely, however, that Kettering itself existed as a village earlier than the 10th century (the county of Northampton itself is not referenced in documents before 1011).R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.34. Before this time the Kettering area was most likely populated by a thin scattering of family farmsteads. The first historical reference of Kettering is in a charter of 956 in which King Edwy granted ten "cassati" of land to Ælfsige the Goldsmith. The boundaries delineated in this charter would have been recognisable to most inhabitants for the last thousand years and can still be walked today. It is possible that Ælfsige gave Kettering to the monastery of Peterborough, as King Edgar in a charter dated 972 confirmed it to that monastery.
Medieval At the Domesday survey in 1086, Kettering manor is listed as held by the Abbey of Peterborough, the church owning 10 hides of land. Kettering was valued at £11, with land for 16 ploughs. There were 107 acres of meadow, 3 of woodland, 2 mills, 31 villans with 10 ploughs and 1 female slave.Domesday Book: A Complete Translation, Penguin Books, 1992, . p. 596.
The nearby stately home of Boughton House, sometimes described as the 'English Versailles',Michael McNay: Hidden Treasures of England, Random House Books, 2009, . p.271. has for centuries been the seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch, major landowners in Kettering and most of the surrounding villages; along with the Watsons of Rockingham Castle, the two families were joint lords of the manor of Kettering.R.L. Greenall: A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, . p.4.
Kettering is dominated by the crocketed spire of about of the Parish church of SS Peter and Paul. Little is known of the origins of the church, its first known priest becoming rector in 1219–20. The chancel is in the Early Decorated style of about 1300, the main fabric of the building being mostly Perpendicular, having been rebuilt in the mid 15th century (its tower and spire being remarkably similar to the tower and spire of St Peter's Oundle). Whether the current building replaced an earlier church on the site is unknown. Two medieval wall paintings, one of two angels with feathered wings, and one of a now faded saint, can still be seen inside the church.R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003. p.21.
The charter for Kettering's market was granted to the Bishop of Peterborough by Henry III in 1227.
17th century In June 1607 at the nearby village of Newton, the Newton Rebellion broke out,R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.41-42. causing a brief uprising known as the Midland Revolt, which involved several nearby villages. Protesting at land enclosures at Newton and Pytchley by local landlords the Treshams, on 8 June a pitched battle took place between Levellers – many from Kettering, Corby and particularly Weldon,R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, . p.42. – and local gentry and their servants (local militias having refused the call to arms). Approximately 40–50 local men are said to have been killed and the ringleaders hanged, drawn and quartered. The Newton rebellion represents one of the last times that the English peasantry and the gentry were in open conflict.
By the 17th century the town was a centre for woollen cloth.
Recent history (from 19th century to present day) The present town grew in the 19th century with the development of the boot and shoe industry, for which Northamptonshire as a whole became famous. Many large homes in both the Headlands and Rockingham Road were built for factory owners, while terraced streets provided accommodation for the workers. The industry has markedly declined since the 1970s,R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003. p.215. large footwear-manufacturers such as Dolcis, Freeman, Hardy and Willis, Frank Wright and Timpsons, having left the town or closed down in the face of stiff overseas competition, while others have outsourced their production to lower-cost countries. Only two smaller footwear-businesses remain.
William Carey, born in 1761 at Paulerspury, spent his early life in Kettering before leaving for India as a missionary in 1793. Carey Mission House and Carey Street were named after him. Andrew Fuller helped Carey found the Baptist Missionary Society and he is remembered in the Fuller Church and Fuller Street. In 1803 William Knibb was born in Market Street and became a missionary and emancipator of slaves; he is commemorated by the Knibb Centre and Knibb Street. Toller Chapel and Toller Place take their names from two ministers, father and son, who preached in Kettering for a total of 100 years. The chapel was built in 1723 for those who since 1662 had been worshipping in secret.
Politics in Kettering has not always been a sedate affair: in 1835, a horrified Charles Dickens, then a young reporter for the Morning Chronicle, watched aghast as a Tory supporter on horseback, intent (along with others) on taking control of by-election proceedings, produced a loaded pistol and had to be restrained by his friends from committing murder. The ensuing riot between Tory and Whig supporters led Dickens in his article to form various opinions of Kettering and its voters, none of them complimentary.R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, . P. 106.
After several false starts the Midland Railway opened Kettering railway station in 1857, providing a welcome economic stimulus to an ailing local economy, suffering as it was from the loss of wayfaring business since the introduction of railways nationwide. The line in 1857 ran through Kettering from Leicester to Hitchin, where it joined the Great Northern Railway. Trains ran from there into London King's Cross. The line was finally linked to London directly in 1868 when the Midland opened its own line from Bedford to London St Pancras.R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003. p.116.
John Bartholomew's 1887 Gazetteer of the British Isles described Kettering as: