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Did you know that the earliest record of a tournament being held in England, is in an 1120 charter of Osbert of Arden, a Warwickshire knight of English descent, which reveals that he traveled to Northampton and London but also crossed the Channel to join in events in France. Before 1154, the other sites were London, York and Worcester. Tournaments were then banned until 1194 when Richard I only licensed Brackley, Salisbury, Kenilworth, Stamford and Blyth to hold them. However by 1218 Northampton was once again considered the premier tournament site in England.Source : Tournament, Volume 4 By David Crouch, Bloomsbury 3PL; New edition (2006)
Where the tournament field was in Northampton is unclear. It may have been the St. James area where a great fair was held every year, but could have also been in the area of the modern racecourse or even Harlestone Heath. This was one of the earliest if not the earliest place for formal horse racing in England and it is recorded that in 1632 the corporation of Northampton covenanted to make an annual gift of a silver-gilt covered cup of the value of £16.
The new weekly blog on the history of Northants is now on line.
Source: Northampton Battlefield Conservation Plan published by Northampton Borough Council
There have been comments under the article about the damage to the battlefield in the local Chronicle newspaper
website that the Eagle Drive/ Golf Club side of the battlefield is mostly made up ground. So as to set the record straight, please see this section of the battlefield Lidar Survey, which clearly shows the medieval ridge and furrow across the area. In the area behind the clubhouse it appears that a spoil heap has been dumped on top (in a horseshoe), so the original ridge and furrow is probably still underneath. Actually, most of the ridge and furrow is in such good a condition, that you only have to look across the landscape to see for yourself.
November 2012, the Golf club withdrew from planning permission to extend their car park as it required a full archaeological survey, being in the middle of the registered battlefield. It looks like they may have gone ahead anyway?? Photos taken yesterday. The original application was N/2012/1065 You can see details and letters from consultative bodies all requesting a full archaeological survey before any work is carried out and planning granted. You can also read about how it is being reported in the press below. NBC appears to have stopped any further work. But it seems the damage has already been done.
Link to NBC planning portal: http://planning.northamptonboroughcouncil.com/…/plansearch.…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-30934498
If you missed my interview on the Battle of Northampton on the radio, you can hear it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02fjb7v starts 12:00. Back on this coming Tuesday morning talking about Northamptonshire and Magna Carta.
Northamptonshire Battlefields Society 