The Northamptonshire castles stood mostly upon the lines of the Nene and the Welland. Northampton, built by Simon de St. Liz, certainly upon an earlier site, was a strongly walled and celebrated place, the scene of important events in English history. Its castle has long been reduced to a few earthworks and a fragment of masonry, and very recently these also have been destroyed. Of Fotheringay, a very ancient fortress, the scene of a siege by Henry III., there remains little in masonry, although the bank and mound are perfect. It was dismantled by James as the scene of his mother’s execution. Barnwell Castle is probably late, as is the fine fortified gatehouse of the Sapcote family, at Elton. At Castle Ashby, all trace of the castle is lost in the grand old house which has succeeded to it. Of Lilbourne, a moderate mound and a rectangular earthwork are the sole remains of the castle. Near Towcester at Moor End in Potterspury, and at Alderton, were castles, probably built and destroyed in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II. Towcester itself does not appear to have been fortified by the Normans, nor the curious burh at Earls Barton, the moot hill for the earldom of Countess Judith. But of all the Northamptonshire castles the most interesting, both from its history and its remains, is undoubtedly Rockingham, founded by the Conqueror upon an old site, standing in its old shire and forest, and which has been always inhabited and cared for. Near to Rockingham, but in Rutland, is Oakham, built by Walkelin de Ferrars in 1180, where the keep is gone, but the original late Norman hall is quite perfect and still in use. Of the defences of this remarkable fortress there remain ditches and banks, with a part of the curtain wall and a large outwork of earth. Belvoir, well deserving of the name, the only other Rutland castle, was the seat of the Todenis, ancestors of the D’Albini and Ros families, and of its present lords. Like Windsor, its circular keep, rebuilt nearly from its foundations, crowns a detached hill, and from its terrace is one of the richest views in England.