Southampton, for example, was incorporated in 1775 and included parts of the territories of modern Montgomery (incorporated in 1780) and Easthampton. By 1606 an ongoing struggle between the Mahican and Iroquois confederacies led to direct attacks on the Pocumtuc by the Iroquoian Mohawk nation. Executive: Conservative The town was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460. [2][3] One of the largest towns (as opposed to cities) in England,[4] it had a population of 212,100 at the 2011 census (223,000 est. [40] It is now known simply as Northampton railway station. [19], The War ended with a Parliamentary victory, resulting in England becoming a Commonwealth, which lasted a decade. 26-30 Abington St is the latest shop to rent (889 sq ft), listed by Chown Commercial. [18] The town was rapidly losing its wealth and its importance as a national centre. [19] Town government alternated between the Liberals and Conservatives, and the town achieved independence from Northamptonshire in 1888 when it became a county borough. The Mercury was one of the oldest newspapers still in circulation first published in 1720, founded by William Dicey, an ancestor of the public law commentator, A.V. 1883, p. 537-554. Both the A45 and A43 link Northampton with the other major towns in Northamptonshire, and can be accessed by a partially completed ring road. It was built in 1100 on the orders of the first Earl of Northampton, Simon de Senlis and based on a plan of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.[108]. Some have been completed, including the opening of the Radlands Plaza Skatepark and the development of Becket's Park Marina just south of Northampton's town centre, as well as the improvement of the town's Market Square, the building of the new North Gate bus station, the rebuilding of the railway station and the designation of a Cultural Quarter. [86] There are also two indoor shopping centres in the town centre: the Grosvenor Centre, which was built in the 1970s, and Market Walk (previously Peacock Place), which was constructed in 1988. In the winter of 1734 and the following spring it reached such intensity that it threatened the town's businesses. [25], The Pocumtuc confederacy occupied the Connecticut River Valley from what is now southern Vermont and New Hampshire into northern Connecticut. [6][22] The importance of Northampton at this time is underlined by the fact that only London, York and King's Lynn had mayors by this date. [88] Smaller theatres include the Northampton Playhouse and the Cripps Theatre, which is part of Northampton School for Boys. 1883, p. 2. The corporation of the town, having already refused to provide troops to the King in 1632 or to pay the notorious ship money tax in 1636, petitioned Parliament in 1642 against papists and bishops. Other out-of-town retail parks exist: Weston Favell Shopping Centre, built in the 1970s, and Riverside Retail Park in the east of the town, as well as Sixfields in the west.