Irthlingborough

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Irthlingborough
latitude= 52.324
longitude= -0.614
civil_parish=
population = 9,000
shire_district= East Northamptonshire
shire_county= Northamptonshire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster= Corby
post_town= WELLINGBOROUGH
postcode_district = NN9
postcode_area= NN
dial_code= 01933
os_grid_reference= SP945705

Irthlingborough (originally called Artleborough)is a small town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England with a population of around 9,000 people. It is the smallest town in England to have possessed a league association football team, Rushden & Diamonds F.C..

For the first time in 2007 Irthlingborough decided to elect a Town Mayor.

The Parish Church has a lantern tower which is unusual for Northamptonshire churches. This was built to guide travellers across the Nene valley in foggy weather. It also has doors at the four cardinal points; of note are the 8 Misericords in the Chancel. Services still continue daily with the main service being at 10:00 am on Sunday Mornings.

In the past, ironstone was mined near Irthlingborough, and as part of the local ironstone mine, a tunnel was bored between Irthlingborough and nearby Finedon. The tunnel is still in existence although the Irthlingborough end has been landscaped over and the Finedon end sealed with concrete.

More recently the River Nene floodplains located between the town and its neighbour, Higham Ferrers, have been quarried for gravel. Quarrying in the area was extensive, stretching to Northampton in the West (upstream) and Thorpe Waterville to the North-Northeast (downstream). The quarries were later left to fill with water creating man-made lakes.

The town can be divided quite easily into areas with Pine Trees village to the South West, Victoria and Allen Roads in the centre running parallel to the high street on either side, Knightlands to the North, Crow Hill to the extreme North-East (over a mile from the town centre) and the football ground and training facilities to the East.

External links

* [http://www.irthlingboroughtowncouncil.org.uk/)
* [http://www.erdiburn.org.uk/ Irthlingborough Historical Society]
* [http://www.stpetersirthlingborough.org.uk/ Parish Church of Saint Peter, Irthlingborough]