Much of Northamptonshire's countryside appears to have remained somewhat intractable with regards to early human occupation, resulting in an apparently sparse population and relatively few finds from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.
[4] At some time in the 7th century the district which is now Northamptonshire suffered a simultaneous invasion by the West Saxons from the south and the Anglian tribes from the north.
Relics discovered in the county testify to a mingling of people, at the same time showing that West Saxon influence never spread farther north than a line from Daventry to Warwick, and with the extension of the Mercian kingdom under Penda and the conversion of the midland districts ceased altogether.
[5] Abbeys at Medehamstede (now Peterborough) and Pipewell were begun by Peada in 655, and at about the same time foundations were established at Peakirk, Weedon Beck, Castor and Oundle.
[5] From about 889 the area was conquered by the Danes (as at one point almost all of England was, except for Athelney marsh in Somerset) and became part of the Danelaw – with Watling Street serving as the boundary – until being recaptured by the English under the Wessex king Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great, in 917.
[7] As a shire Northamptonshire was probably of Danish origin, representing in the 10th century the area which owed allegiance to Northampton as a political and administrative centre.
At the time of the Domesday survey the chief lay-tenant in Northamptonshire was Robert, earl of Mortain, whose fief escheated to the crown in 1106.
[citation needed] The Geld roll of the time of William I and the Domesday Survey of 1086 mention 28 hundreds in Northamptonshire, and part of Rutland is assessed under this county.
[8] The iron-mines and stone-quarries of Northamptonshire were worked in Roman times, but the former were entirely neglected from the Plantagenet period until their rediscovery in 1850, while the two most famous quarries, those of Barnack and Stanion, were exhausted about the 16th century.
Only a large mound and visible earthworks remain of the castle at Fotheringhay, famous as the scene of the imprisonment, trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Barnwell Castle, founded by William the Conqueror, an interesting example of the defensive construction of the period, is still a fine ruin, which includes four of the round towers and an imposing gateway.
[8] Holdenby Manor House, where Sir Christopher Hatton (1540–1591) was born, and where Charles I was staying when he was carried away by Cornet Joyce, is largely restored.
[8] Among ancient mansions are Castle Ashby, the seat of the Comptons, the oldest portion belonging to the reign of Henry VIII; Althorp, the seat of the Spencers, of various dates; Drayton House, of the time of Henry VI; the vast pile of Burghley House, Stamford, founded by Lord Burghley (1553), but more than once altered and enlarged; Kirby Hall, a beautiful Elizabethan building once the residence of Sir Christopher Hatton;[8] and Lilford Hall a fine example of a Jacobean mansion.