Kettering, Northamptonshire
| Kettering | |
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 Kettering Market Place and restaurant buildings |
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 Kettering
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| Kettering shown within Northamptonshire | |
| Population | 67,635 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SP8778 |
| • London | 81 miles (130 km) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | KETTERING |
| Postcode district | NN14, NN15, NN16 |
| Dialling code | 01536 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | www |
Kettering is a town in Northamptonshire, England, about 81 miles (130 km) north of London and 15 miles (24 km) from Northampton. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough. Originally named Cytringan, Kyteringas and Keteiringan in the 10th century, the name Kettering is now taken to mean 'the place (or territory) of Ketter's people (or kinsfolk)'.
At the 2001 census, the borough had a population of 81,844 whilst the town proper had a population of 51,063. The town is twinned with Lahnstein, in Germany and Kettering, Ohio, in the United States. Being part of the Milton Keynes South Midlands (MKSM) study area along with other towns in Northamptonshire, the town is due to get around 6,000 additional homes mainly to the east of the town. The town, like other towns in the area, has a growing commuter population as it is located on the Midland Main Line railway, which has fast InterCity trains directly into London St Pancras International taking around 1 hour. This gives an interchange Eurostar services to Continental Europe.
Once believed obscure, the placename Kettering is now taken to mean 'the place (or territory) of Ketter's people (or kinsfolk)'. Spelt variously Cytringan, Kyteringas and Keteiringan in the 10th century, although the origin of the name appears to have baffled place-name scholars in the 1930s, words and place-names ending with 'ing' usually derive from the Anglo-Saxon or Old English word inga or ingas meaning 'the people of the' or 'tribe'...
Before the Romans the Kettering area, like much of Northamptonshire's prehistoric 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. About 500 BC the Iron Age was introduced into the area by a continental people in the form of the Hallstatt culture, and over the next century a series of hillforts were constructed, the closest to Kettering being at nearby Irthlingborough.
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Wikipedia