Northamptonshire
Malthouse Court
Towcester, the oldest town in Northamptonshire, has a history to match. It dates back at least to the middle of the Stone Age. Evidence exists of Iron Age burials and Neolithic remains. But it rose to importance in Roman times, as Lactodorum, a fortified walled garrison town, with four gates; two astride Watling Street, the main route to the North East. In 917, King Alfred’s son fortified the town against the Danes and it remained in Saxon hands until confiscated in the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror. In the Middle Ages the town came under the control of a series of Lords of the Manor, the most hated of whom was Richard Empson, tax collector for Henry VII. Happily for the town he ended his days beneath the executioner’s axe on Tower Hill. In the Civil War, Towcester was again fortified with Prince Rupert stationing his ordnance there. On his withdrawal the Parliamentary Army camped there too, on their way to defeating the Royalists at Naseby. But it was the age of the stage coach that brought elegance and wealth to Towcester in the 18th and 19th centuries. Watling Street by then had become the main route to Holyhead and Dublin, along which countless travelers passed - including Dickens and Swift - and stayed a night or changed their horses at The Saracen’s Head or The Talbot Inn (now Sponne House).
To-day, Towcester is a thriving market town with a wide range of shops and facilities, as well as a popular race course. It is served by a comprehensive road network - the A5 to Milton Keynes, the M40/A43 from London and the A43/M1 to the North. The nearest train stations are at Northampton and Milton Keynes.