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Desborough

Desborough is a town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, lying in the Ise Valley between Market Harborough and Kettering. It was an industrial centre for weaving and shoe-making in the 19th century and had a long association with the Co-operative movement.

Desborough's origins lie in the Bronze Age of about 2000 BC. Urns from that period have been found in and around the town.

Many archaeological finds from the Iron Age and the Anglo-Saxon period have also been made. Some, such as the 1st-century Desborough Mirror and the Anglo-Saxon Desborough Necklace, are now in the possession of the British Museum.

Domesday Book (1086) refers to Desborough as a "place of judgement". The name itself is thought to have derived from 'Disburg', which meant a sacred and fortified place. In the High Street centrepiece of what is now the Market Square stands a pillar that is called locally the Town Cross, though it is a square column topped by a stone ball. It is thought to have served as a gateway pillar from Harrington Hall.

From the 17th century, Desborough developed around the spinning and weaving industries. The town's factories used local wool and flax to produce fine cloth and linen until the mid-19th century. Silk weaving then developed in a Paddock Lane factory and shoe-making also gained importance.

Desborough lies five miles (8 km) south-east of Market Harborough, north-west of Kettering, and south-west of Corby. The A6 Rothwell–Desborough bypass opened on 14 August 2003.

Between 1857 and 1968, Desborough had a railway station, opened and operated by the Midland Railway (later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and, after nationalisation, British Rail). This was part of an extension of its network from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin, but it was closed under the Beeching cuts.

Desborough has an Anglican parish church, St Giles's, along with a Baptist church, a United Reformed Church, and the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity.

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