Inspiration FM Has Evolved From A Growing Northampton Town

Inspiration FM will broadcast from the centre of Northampton and will serve both the town itself and the community over the wider county of Northamptonshire for which the town forms a base.

Northampton began as a farming settlement in the 7th century and in the 8th century was an administrative centre for the kingdom of Mercia. It was known as Hamptun until the Norman conquests and is recorded as having had a population of 1500 residents and 300 houses in the Doomsday Book. In the 12th century Henry II held court in the town, and Northampton Castle which was built by Simon de Senlis was the location of the trial of Thomas Becket, after whom Becket's park is named. Opposite the park is Becket's Well, from which Becket is said to have drank when he made his escape from captivity.

The town was originally controlled by officials acting for the King who collected taxes and upheld the law. In 1189 King Richard I gave the town its first charter. The first black person recorded to have lived in the town was "Peter the Saracen" who in 1205 was commissioned as a "maker of crossbows" by King John at 9d (pence) per day. In 1215 King John authorised the appointment of William Tilly as the town's first Mayor.

A university was established in 1261 by scholars from Cambridge, but was dissolved by Henry III in 1265 after the students rioted against him.

The first Battle of Northampton took place at the site of Northampton Castle in 1264 - when the forces of Henry III overran the supporters of Simon de Montfort. In 1460, a second Battle of Northampton took place in the grounds of Delapre Abbey - and was a decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, and King Henry VI was captured in the town by the Yorkists. In May 1328 the Treaty of Northampton was signed - being a peace treaty between the English and the Scots in which Edward III recognised the authority of Robert the Bruce as King of Scotland and betrothed Bruce's still infant son to the king's sister Joanna.

Northampton supported the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War and for this reason the medieval walls and castle were demolished on the orders of Charles II. The town was destroyed by fire in 1516 and again in 1675 by the Great Fire of Northampton.

In the 18th century Northampton became a major centre for footwear and leather manufacture but the industry declined in the 20th century. In the 1960s the town was designated a "New Town" by the government and the population expanded significantly from an initial 100,000 to about 200,000 today making Northampton the UK's third largest town without city status and the twenty first largest settlement in England. With the town's expansion came many new immigrants from abroad, including from the Caribbean, Somalia, India, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Poland and Eastern Europe.

Population Make-up of Northamptonshire

The 2001 census shows that 4.9% of the poulation of Northamptonshire comes from Non-White ethnic groups while there are 3.1% who are White but not White British and a majority of 92% who are White British.

Northampton and Wellingborough local authorities have the largest proportions of Black & Minnority Ethnic (BME) population in the county.

(source: Northamptonshire: study of Black and Minority Ethnic Housing and Support Needs Report of for the local Authorities of Northamptonshire.)

2001 Census
White British 92%
White Other 1.8%
White Irish 1.3%
Indian 1.3%
Black Carribean 0.8%
Mixed White and Black 0.6%
African and Other Black 0.4%
Bangladeshie 0.4%
Mixed White and Asian 0.3%
Chinese 0.3%
Other Mixed 0.2%
Pakistani 0.2%
Other Ethnic Group 0.2%
Other Asian 0.1%

Northampton has a population 84.4% of whom are White British, 4.5% Asian, 2.9% Black, 2.6% White other, 2.1% Mixed race, 1.7% White Irish, and 1.8% are from Chinese and other ethnicities. (Source: Office of National Statistics 2009)

Following Poland's entry into the EU along with seven other Eastern European countries the White Other population of Northampton has grown substantially from 1.9% in 2001 to 2.6% in 2006, with Northampton hosting the highest concentration of Polish immigrants in the UK, according to sources within the Polish community. The Asian population has also seen a substantial increase from 3.3% in 2001 to 4.5% in 2006 according to government projections.




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Enquiries to

Jenny Campbell
Inspiration FM
Community Radio
20 Sheep Street
Northampton
NN1 2LU
Tel: 01604 250544
Fax: 01604 250573

email:

info@pirationfm.com