Twelfth-century Northampton was one of the intellectual powerhouses of England. Fuelled by the wealth of the town and a long-standing tradition of teaching, it was by the 1180s well on its way to becoming the first serious university in the country.1 It was so attractive that scholars fleeing problems in other places often sought sanctuary there. Indeed, that was Northampton’s undoing. In 1265, the nascent university was crushed to prevent it from luring in anyone else from Oxford. Not until 2005 would Northampton finally get its university and not for another 13 years would the university get its own purpose-built campus. On its opening in September 2018, the Northampton Chronicle announced that this was ‘The week Northampton became a “student town”’.2 It was a status that had been a long time coming.
An ambitious piece of urban regeneration, the university’s buildings include student accommodation, a six-storey ‘Learning Hub’, and a five-storey ‘Creative Hub’. New bridges and picturesque footpaths connect the campus to the surrounding area. As a result, the university now features as a key part of the Great Northampton Run, which has been designed ‘to take in all that is great about the town’.3 At its opening, the ViceChancellor, Nick Petford, set out his ambitions for the project:
Our civic approach to innovation, impactful research and the economic benefits this brings, will support Northampton more widely to become a more attractive place in drawing talented and skilled young people to study and, importantly, stay after they graduate.4
