Kettering evolved from rural origins as one of the manors of the great Abbey of Peterborough. It grew into a market town and, on a main route from London to the Midlands, drew extra trade from serving wayfarers. After the Reformation, which severed its long ties with Peterborough, Kettering became a notable centre of Puritanism and from the time of Charles II was one of those Midland towns where Nonconformity survived, and then came to flourish. The rivalries of Church and Dissent played a major role in its 19th-century life.
An early centre of industrialisation, Kettering was first noted for its wool-combing and worsted-weaving and then, as they declined, struggled along with silk production. But the industry for which it became best known was the manufacture of boots and shoes; and from the mid-19th century until the Great War this generated rapid urban growth, still reflected in the appearance of the town. However, since the 1960s, in the face of cheap foreign imports, footwear production has declined to the point where there is now only one firm left. Contemporary Kettering increasingly depends on providing services and shopping. As in many other towns, adjustment to the loss of old industries and to the demands of the consumer society has been a painful, but materially successful process.
This new book is the first history of this important Northamptonshire town for more than a century. Its author, the leading local historian in the county, has been researching his subject for many years and has done full justice both to the human story – of the people of Kettering and their evolving way of life – and the wider economic, political and regional history of the town and its surrounding area.
Allied to a very readable text are superb illustrations. This book will be warmly welcomed by resident and visitor alike.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Part 1: Pre-Industrial Kettering, the Legacy of the Past
1. Local and Regional Setting
2. The Origins of Kettering
3. Manor, Market and Church: Medieval Kettering
4. The Reformation and Kettering
5. Kettering in the Seventeenth Century
6. Nonconformity and the Church
Part 2: The Rise of Industrial Kettering
7. Late Stuart and Georgian Kettering
8. Kettering in Crisis
9. The Rise of Industrial Kettering
10. The Expansion of Urban Kettering
11. Victorian Local Government Developments
12. Religion and Education
13. Part Politics and the Rise of Labour
14. Industrial Culture: Association, Leisure and Sport
15. The Great War and After
16. The Second World War and After
Part 3: Post-Industrial Kettering
17. Kedttering Since 1974
18. Conclusions: Kettering Past and Present
Notes
Index
