Editing Kettering (section)

==Early history==
Kettering means "the place (or territory) of Ketter's people (or kinsfolk)".<ref name="R.L. Greenall 2003, p.7" /> 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.<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.19.</ref> About 700 BC the use of iron spread into the area from the continent.<ref name="Greenall20">R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.20.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ingram |first=Mike |title=Northampton:5,000 years of history |publisher=Northampton Tours Publications |year=2020 |isbn=9798579592910 |pages=5}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Dennis |title=A Northamptonshire Archaeologist |publisher=Northamptonshire Archaeological Society |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-9507151-4-8 |pages=122–124}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="Greenall20" /><ref>Ingram. Northampton 5000 years of history Page 6</ref> The Catuvellauni were in turn conquered by the Romans in AD&nbsp;43.

The town traces its origins to an early, unwalled [[Roman Britain|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.<ref name="Greenall9">R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, {{ISBN|1-86077-254-4}}. P. 9.</ref> 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".<ref name="Greenall9" /> 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.<ref>R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, {{ISBN|1-86077-254-4}}. P. 10.</ref> 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.<ref>Jackson, Dennis;

work cited pp 81-87, 112,113,125,126,130,131,

{{ISBN|978-0-9507151-4-8}}.</ref>  Pottery kilns have also been unearthed at nearby [[Barton Seagrave]] and [[Boughton, Northamptonshire|Boughton]].

===Saxon===
[[Excavation (archaeology)|Excavations]] in the early 20th century either side of Stamford road ([[A43 road (England)|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."<ref name="Greenall9" /> 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]].<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.26.</ref> The Mercians converted to Christianity in 654 with the death of the pagan king [[Penda]].<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.29.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]]: The Domesday Quest, BBC Books, 1986 {{ISBN|0-563-52274-7}}. p. 90.</ref>

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).<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.34.</ref> Before this time the Kettering area was most likely populated by a thin scattering of family farmsteads.<ref name="Greenall9" /> The first historical reference of Kettering is in a charter of 956 in which [[Edwy of England|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 [[Edgar the Peaceful|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 [[Hide (unit)|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.<ref>Domesday Book: A Complete Translation, Penguin Books, 1992, {{ISBN|0-14-100523-8}}. p. 596.</ref>

The nearby stately home of [[Boughton House]], sometimes described as the 'English [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]]',<ref>[[Michael McNay]]: Hidden Treasures of England, Random House Books, 2009, {{ISBN|1-905211-83-X}}. p.271.</ref> 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.<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, {{ISBN|1-86077-254-4}}. p.4.</ref>

Kettering is dominated by the [[crocket]]ed spire of about {{convert|55|m|ft|order=flip}} of the [[St Peter and St Paul's Church, Kettering|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<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Peters Church Oundle |url=http://www.oundlestpeters.org.uk/ |website=www.oundlestpeters.org.uk}}</ref> [[Oundle]]). Whether the current building replaced an earlier church on the site is unknown.<ref name="Greenall20" /> 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.<ref name="R.L. Greenall 2003. p.21">R.L. Greenall, A History of Kettering, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003. p.21.</ref>

The charter for Kettering's market was granted to the [[Bishop of Peterborough]] by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1227.<ref name=bartholomew/>

===17th century===
In June 1607 at the nearby village of Newton, the Newton Rebellion broke out,<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.41-42.</ref> 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 [[Tresham baronets|the Treshams]], on 8 June a pitched battle took place between [[Levellers]] – many from Kettering, [[Corby]] and particularly [[Weldon, Northamptonshire|Weldon]],<ref>R.L. Greenall: A History of Northamptonshire, Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 1979, {{ISBN|1-86077-147-5}}. p.42.</ref> – 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 [[peasant]]ry and the [[gentry]] were in open conflict.

By the 17th century the town was a centre for woollen cloth.