The three centres have largely coalesced through ribbon development and infill, although Great Bowden continues to retain a strong village identity.

It is likely that Harborough was formed out of the Royal Manor with the intention of making it a place for tradesmen and a market when a new highway between Oxendon and Kibworth was established to help link Northampton and Leicester.

In 1569 the town was briefly in the news as the Privy Council debated whether a local girl, Agnes Bowker, had given birth to a cat.

Cromwell wrote a letter from "Haverbrowe, June 14, 1645" to the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Lenthall, announcing the victory.

An independent church was established in the Harborough area following the Act of Uniformity 1662, and a meeting house was built in Bowden Lane in 1694.

Other industries developed were a brickworks, brewery, wheelwright/coachworks and the British Glues and Chemicals works by the Canal at Gallow Hill.

In the 1830s a union of parishes around Market Harborough was formed to look after the poor and a workhouse was built in 1836 on the site of St Luke's Hospital.

The country between Billesdon and Harborough was considered severe, involving jumping the specially designed ox fences.

They expanded it by three additional floors in 1881 and then built a new factory opposite Church Square in 1884 which still remains today as the Council offices, library and museum.

Rows of cottages had been built in the yards of older houses with shared access to water and waste disposal.

The Public Health Act 1875 required local authorities to implement building regulations, or byelaws, which insisted that each house should be self-contained, with its own sanitation and water.

Land to the north of the town was selected and a scheme for 98 homes for rent developed as the Bowden Fields Estate.

The council developed a 100-dwelling extension to the Bowden Fields Estate by 1949 and acquired 140 acres (0.57 km2) of land to the southwest of the town to deal with the problem.

The Council laid initial access roads named after personalities of the Battle of Naseby since these fields were crossed by both armies on 14 June 1645.

This involved comprehensive re-paving and new street furniture to make the centre more pedestrian friendly whilst through-traffic with a 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limit.

The path continues south following the Brampton Valley Way, a long and narrow recreation area on the route of the former railway line to Northampton.

A cycle and footway along the river through the town was created called the Millennium Mile and links Welland Park with the railway station.

Market Harborough is in a rural part of southeast Leicestershire, on the River Welland and close to the Northamptonshire border.

[13] In 1946 the urban district council was gifted a large house called Brooklands at 34 Northampton Road by the Symington family, local factory owners.

The school was founded in 1607 and built in 1614, through the generosity of Robert Smyth, a poor native of the town who became Comptroller of the Lord Mayor's Court of the City of London and member of the Merchant Taylors' Company.

Royal Air Force Station Market Harborough opened in 1943 with its main tenant being the Wellington Bombers of No.

Flying operations ceased on the station on 18 August 1945, following which it was placed on care & maintenance before being transferred to the British Army in 1948, becoming 72 Brigade Vehicle Depot.

The army left the station in the late 1950s and today part of the former military site is occupied by HMP Gartree, with the rest given over to agriculture.

[18] Compared to the United Kingdom the Harborough district has a greater proportion of smaller organisations with fewer than 10 employees; 87.16% vs. 82.8% in the UK overall.

CDS Global have their UK office at Tower House on Sovereign Park, off the A508 – Northampton Road towards the leisure centre.

BabyGigs is a local initiative bringing live classical music performed by professional players to babies and young children.

Live music gigs take place at a number of venues and pubs across the town including Joules Yard, The Nag's Head, the Congregational Hall and the Waterfront.

An art club has existed in the town since 1963, known as the Market Harborough Art Club, meetings were at one time held on the last Friday of each month (except August and December) at the Langton Room of the Congregational Church Centre in Bowden Lane, but are currently held in the Youth Wing of the Methodist Church in Northampton Road on the first Monday of each month at 7:30pm.

The Northampton Road clubhouse has received Football foundation, council and Bowden's Charity grants and awards, as well as sponsorship money, for improvements.

Borough Alliance FC was founded in 2003 playing at Meadowdale School before moving to Symington's recreation ground in 2007.